How do you export attachments?

[Richard]

How can you export all the PDFs/images/etc in attachment fields?

[Justin_Barrett]

Currently attachment exporting must be done item by item. I’m not aware of a bulk-export option. There might be a way to pull this off via an integration service like Zapier or Integromat, though, by creating a scenario where you save all attachments to something like Dropbox.

[Mark_Hernandez1]

Any word on how to do this in bulk versus one at a time? For our ‘Accounts’ table, we have a logo for each Account. I’d like to export all of these to use for our website to create a ‘scrolling logo’ section.

[Jason · Accepted solution]

Hi @Mark_Hernandez1, while it isn’t currently possible to bulk export attachments from Airtable, you can set up a Zapier integration that moves all files in an attachment field to Google Drive, where it’s easy to bulk-download files.

To do so, first create a new grid view on the table with the attachments you’d like to export. Name this view “Exports.” In this view, create a new checkbox field and check off just a single record that has an attachment. Then, configure a filter in this view that only shows records where the checkbox field is checked. Likewise, only the one checked record should be visible.

Next, create a new Zap in Zapier. (If you’re new to Zapier, I’d recommend taking a look at this guide.) Set a new record entering the export view as the trigger for the zap. For the Trigger Step, select the following: Trigger App: Airtable Airtable Trigger: New record in view Account: Here you’ll need to provide your API key (from Airtable.com/account) to grant Zapier access to your Airtable Account. Set up Options: Select the Export View

Test this step and click Continue. For the next (action) step, set up the following: Action App: Google Drive Google Drive Action: Upload a file Choose Account: Select your Google Drive account. Set up template: It’s possible to precisely specify where the files are uploaded to in Google Drive. It’s most important to set File to {Name of attachment field} URL. In this case, since the attachment field is named Attachments, it’s “Attachments URL”

If you like, the File Name can be pulled from the table’s primary field.

After testing, save the Zap and turn it on. The file(s) in the attachment field in Export View should now be in your Google Drive. If it is, check the checkbox field for all the records with attachments that you’d like to export to Google Drive. As these records enter the Export View, Zapier will send their attachments to Google Drive. Depending on your Zapier plan, it may take as long as fifteen minutes for this to happen. Finally, navigate to the “Recent” section in your Google Drive. Select many files at once by shift-clicking. With the files selected, you can download them all at once.

[Bill_French]

Mark_Hernandez1:

… we have a logo for each Account. I’d like to export all of these to use for our website to create a ‘scrolling logo’ section

Hey Mark,

The lazier side of me says don’t export anything - simply repurpose the already hosted logos on your site.

• Each attachment has an immutable URL which is also public - ergo, it’s already hosted and readily available for rendering on any web site. You simply need to embed the URL into the page.

• Gathering up the list of names and URLs can be done with Zapier or the API.

• The API approach presents opportunities to make this a lights-out process as well. Imagine your web app simply pulling the latest list of accounts directly from Airtable and dynamically rendering the list with logos straightaway in the web site.

Making copies of anything is a bad idea when it can be avoided. Best to render fluid content like this by reference, not by value.

[Zvi]

Jumping in for anyone who finds this thread in the future - I have created a (paid) Airtable extension that allows you to download multiple attachments, it has two modes "remote download" and "local script", you can read more about the differences in this blog post I wrote.

Hope this would save someone many hours of manually downloading 🙂

[ng010105]

Jumping in for anyone who finds this thread in the future -

I have created a (Free) python script that allows you to download your attachments,

you can read the code I wrote on github https://github.com/garygng/Airtable_python.

[ng010105]

Jumping in for anyone who finds this thread in the future -

I have created a (Free) python script that allows you to download your attachments,

you can read the code I wrote on github https://github.com/garygng/Airtable_python.

[kotrfa]

Thanks a ton!