Skip to main content
Draft. This article depends on an open product question and is not ready to publish.
Elephas does not have an export feature yet. Your documents are never locked in, though: Elephas works from copies of files you already have, so your originals stay where they were. For answers and chats, you can copy text out of Elephas today.

​
Before you start

  • Nothing here needs a particular plan. It works the same on Mac and Windows.
  • If you are leaving Elephas or deleting your data, do these steps first. See Delete your data and account.

​
What you can do today

​
Keep your original files

When you add a file to a Brain, Elephas keeps its own copy and leaves your original untouched. Your PDFs, Word files, spreadsheets and notes are still in the folders you added them from. That is your export: Elephas never changes or moves them. To find where a document came from:
1

Open the Brain

Go to Brains (⌘3 on Mac, Ctrl+3 on Windows) and open the Brain that holds the document.
2

Copy the original path

Open the document’s menu and choose Copy Path. This copies the location of the original file you added. The item is not shown for web pages, or when the original location was not kept.
From an answer, you can also open the Sources panel, select a cited source, and choose Show in Finder (Mac) or Show in File Explorer (Windows) to go straight to the original file.

​
Copy an answer or a question

1

Find the answer in Ask

Open the chat in Ask (⌘2 on Mac, Ctrl+2 on Windows).
2

Copy it

Open the More actions menu under the answer and choose Copy. The answer text is copied to your clipboard. Your questions have the same Copy action.
3

Paste it where you keep your work

Paste into a document, email or note.
There is no way to export a whole chat, or all chats, at once today.

​
Move to a new computer instead of exporting

If you want your Brains and chats on another computer, you don’t need an export. With Personal Sync (Professional plan), your Brains, documents and chat history move between your own computers end-to-end encrypted. See Move to a new computer.

​
How it works

​
What cannot be exported today

​
Why the data folder is not an export

Elephas stores its copies of your files in its data folder, under random IDs rather than your file names, and stores extracted text and chats in an encrypted database. The folder is built for Elephas to read, not for you to browse. Use your originals instead. See Where your data is stored.

​
Troubleshooting

The document is a web page, or Elephas did not keep the original location. Find the original in your own folders, or use Copy Name to search for it by name.
The original was moved, renamed or deleted after you added it. Elephas still has its own copy, so the Brain keeps working, but the original location no longer exists.

​
FAQ

There is no export in Elephas today. This page will be updated if that changes.
Your documents stay on your computer, and your original files are never touched. See When your plan ends for what still works.
Use your original files. Any tool that reads PDFs, Word files or text can index them again.

Where your data is stored

Delete your data and account

Manage chat history

Move to a new computer