Export keys

Export downloads the file of one language from the last published version of the keys, in one of the output formats of the project. This page covers where the export opens, the screen, what the file contains, and the messages an export can end with.

Open the export

In the project settings, select Export keys in the Languages section.

Export reads a published version, so a project that has never published gets a dialog instead of the screen. Publish a version describes it. Exporting changes nothing in the project and spends no credits.

Export a language

1. Under Format, pick one of the output formats of the project. A project has one or two, set under Output in the project settings. With a single format there is nothing to pick, and with none the screen asks you to enable one first.
2. Under Language, select a card. The base language reads source and its number of keys. Every other language shows how many keys of the version the file will hold, as in 14 / 14.
3. Select Export. The browser downloads the file and the screen answers "Exported" with its name.

What you get depends on the format:

Format	Download
ARB, flat JSON, nested JSON, Angular JSON, gettext PO	One file for the language, such as app_es.arb or es.json
iOS strings, Android XML	A zip with the folder the platform expects, because the language is part of the path
String Catalog	One .xcstrings file that holds every language, whichever card you selected

The file formats reference has a sample of each file and its limits.

What the file contains

The file is a copy of the published version named at the top of the screen, with its number and the day it was published. A change you made after that publish is not in it. Publish again, then export.

The count on a language card is the number of keys the selected format writes for that language. It can differ between the two formats of a project: a plural that lacks its other form is written by gettext PO and left out by the other formats.

A version published with Source fallback holds a value for every key in every language, and where a translation was missing that value is the base-language text. The card then reads the full count and the file carries that text. A version published with Skip leaves those keys out of the language. Publish a version explains the two settings.

Take this into account before you import an exported file back into a project. The import cannot tell a fallback from a translation: it stores the base-language text as the translation of that language, and it replaces translations that were imported after the publish. Remove from the file the rows you do not want written.

Key names are written the way each format expects, so the same key is authSignIn in an ARB file and auth.sign.in in flat JSON. See key names in the formats reference.

Messages after an export

Message	Meaning
Exported and the file name	The file was downloaded with every key it could hold
Exported with a note	The file was downloaded. Some key names have no dots and were split on a guess for this format. Add dots to those names to control the split
Exported with keys left out	The file was downloaded without some keys: a plural that lacks its other form has no valid output in this format. Open those keys and fill the form in
Can't export	Nothing was downloaded. The text gives the reason

Can't export can mean that two keys come out with the same name in the format. The message gives that name and how many keys share it. Rename one of them, or disable or delete it when the message says so, then publish and export again. If the message says that the published version could not be read completely, publish again.

Other ways to get the files

Export is the manual way. A build that needs the files on every release takes them with the CLI's pull or through the API, and the macOS app can write them into a folder at each publish. Delivery lists the three.