To keep a copy of your budgeting data, use your app’s export feature, download the file, and check what it contains. An export is not always a complete archive—and it is not necessarily a backup you can restore. The steps and limits depend on the app, so use the section for yours and verify the downloaded file before relying on it.
Export, sync, and backup are different
An export gives you a file, often CSV or TSV, that you can retain or inspect in spreadsheet software. It may include only selected records or omit details such as notes, targets, or photos. Cloud sync keeps data synchronized between an app and its connected service; it does not automatically give you an independent copy or a way to restore your data. A restorable backup is a copy that the app supports using to recover its data.
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Quicken explicitly warns that syncing to Quicken Cloud does not create a backup and that Quicken data cannot be restored from that sync. If you use desktop Quicken, follow its backup and restore instructions and confirm that your local backup can be restored.
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Export data from your budgeting app
YNAB
YNAB’s plan export is available in the web app. Select the plan name at the top of the left sidebar, then choose Export Plan. The plan data—including categories and category groups—and transaction history download as separate CSV or TSV files. TSV is offered for currencies that use a comma. The plan export does not include targets or category notes.
#1 Best Overall
- Easily store and access 2TB to content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
To export only some transactions, select them in an account register, choose More, then Export # Transactions. Photos can be downloaded individually, but not in bulk. YNAB also describes web-only exports for selected transactions, transactions and categories, and reflection data such as Spending Breakdown, Spending Trends, Income v Expense, and Net Worth. The specific export options depend on what you select. See YNAB’s plan export instructions and its tax-season export guide.
Copilot Money
Copilot documents transaction exports on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and the web. On iOS, go to Settings > Account > Export your transactions, then use the share control to save or share the CSV. On iPadOS, macOS, and web, open Transactions; you can export selected transactions after filtering or searching.
Rank #2
- Easily store and access 5TB of content on the go with the Seagate portable drive, a USB external hard Drive
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
Copilot’s documented export fields include date, name, amount, pending or posted status, category and parent category, exclusion flag, transaction type, account and account mask, notes, and associated recurring items. For platform-specific details, see Copilot’s export instructions.
Monarch Money
Monarch documents several CSV downloads. To download one account’s transaction history on desktop, open Accounts, select the account, choose Edit, then Download transactions. An individual account download is limited to 10,000 transactions; Monarch recommends batches of 5,000 or fewer to avoid errors.
Rank #3
- Easily store and access 1TB to content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive.Specific uses: Personal
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop. Reformatting may be required for Mac
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
For all-account transactions, use Settings > Data > Download Transactions. You can download an account’s balance history, or use Download CSV on the Accounts page to download all account balances. Monarch says transaction and balance history remain downloadable after a subscription or trial ends. Consult Monarch’s account-history download guide for the current steps.
Check the file before treating it as an archive
Open the downloaded file and confirm that it contains the records you expected. An export can be useful without being complete: YNAB’s plan export, for example, omits targets and category notes, and its photos cannot be downloaded in bulk. Keep the original file unchanged. If you need to edit or reformat a CSV for another app, make a copy first; spreadsheet software can alter values or formatting.
Rank #4
- Easily store and access 4TB of content on the go with the Seagate Portable Drive, a USB external hard drive.Specific uses: Personal
- Designed to work with Windows or Mac computers, this external hard drive makes backup a snap just drag and drop
- To get set up, connect the portable hard drive to a computer for automatic recognition no software required
- This USB drive provides plug and play simplicity with the included 18 inch USB 3.0 cable
- The available storage capacity may vary.
- Check the row count and date range against the records you intended to export.
- Inspect dates, amounts and their signs, account names, and categories before relying on an edited file.
- Keep the untouched download separately from any working or import copy.
Import carefully when moving to another app
Do not assume an import simply adds missing records. The destination app may skip, retain, add, or replace transactions when date ranges overlap. In Monarch’s web app, manual transaction import cannot be undone, and the available overlap choices have different consequences:
- Prioritize CSV: can delete existing transactions in the overlapping date range and replace them with the CSV data.
- Prioritize Monarch: keeps existing data and may skip some imported transactions.
- Import all: adds every transaction in the CSV.
Before a full migration, try a small CSV and inspect the result. Monarch’s manual import is web-only; its manual import guide explains its options.
Best Value
- Plug-and-play expandability
- SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps)
Keep a second copy if you need one
You can retain an export on a separate drive, such as a USB flash drive or external SSD, if you want another local copy. That is optional and does not make the export restorable in the app. Financial files can expose sensitive information, so consider encryption and protect the device or storage location.
Quick Recap
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