By Alpit Patel and the aibrevo team · October 22, 2026 · 6 min read
How Do You Export Contacts from Follow Up Boss?
Quick answer
In Follow Up Boss, go to People > All People, filter and select the contacts, click the Export arrow and tick Export All Columns to get every field. Exporting is on for account owners by default, downloads a CSV and never removes contacts. Emails and call recordings cannot be exported.
Key takeaways
- Go to People > All People, filter to the contacts you want, select them, click the export arrow, tick Export All Columns and confirm. The CSV downloads at once and exporting never removes contacts (help center article updated Apr 21, 2026, checked Oct 22, 2026).
- Account owners can export by default. An owner grants access to other users under Admin > Teams with the Can Export checkbox, and the owner gets an email each time an agent or admin completes an export.
- Without Export All Columns you get only the contact name plus the columns shown on the People screen, and only the first phone, email and address per contact. With it, up to 6 of each are exported.
- All-columns exports include each contact's most recent 50 calls, 50 texts and 50 notes, and up to 4 relationships with spouses always included.
- Emails and call recordings cannot be exported from Follow Up Boss. Pond names are not exported either, so add the pond as a tag before you export.
To export contacts from Follow Up Boss, go to People > All People, filter and select the contacts, click the export arrow, tick Export All Columns and confirm. A CSV downloads at once, and exporting never removes anyone from the account. The tick box is the part people miss: without it you get only the visible columns and the first phone, email and address per contact.
This page covers the steps, who is allowed to export, what the file contains and the things that cannot leave Follow Up Boss at all. The source is Follow Up Boss’s help center article “Export Contacts to a Spreadsheet” (updated April 21, 2026), read on October 22, 2026.
How do you export contacts from Follow Up Boss step by step?
Open the People page and work through the numbered steps in Follow Up Boss’s export article.
- Go to People > All People.
- Filter to the contacts you want. A Smart List filter works here.
- Tick the box next to Name, then choose Select All (an optional blue link) to take every contact in the filter.
- Click Export (the downward arrow icon).
- Tick All Columns if you want all contact information. This step is optional but matters, as the next section shows.
- Click Yes, Export People.
- The file downloads to your computer immediately.
The file is a standard CSV. It opens in Excel or Google Sheets and can be uploaded to another system, which is why the same fields appear in the Follow Up Boss import template.
Who can export contacts from Follow Up Boss?
Account owners can, and nobody else can until the owner turns it on. Owners grant or revoke the right under Admin > Teams with the Can Export checkbox. Each time an agent or admin finishes an export, the account owner receives an email naming who ran it. That is useful as a control and worth telling your team about, since exports are visible to the owner.
If you cannot see the export arrow, you almost certainly lack the permission. A third-party help article we saw says export needs admin permission, which differs from Follow Up Boss’s own article, so trust the owner-and-Can-Export rule above and check Admin > Teams.
What does Export All Columns change?
It decides whether you get a thin file or a full one.
| Without All Columns | With Export All Columns | |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Full name | Full name, first name, last name |
| Other columns | Only the exportable columns enabled in your People view for that Smart List | Every exportable field (list below) |
| Phones, emails, addresses | The first one shown per contact | Up to 6 of each, in numbered columns |
| Relationships | Not included | Up to 4 per contact, spouses always included |
| Calls, texts, notes | Not included | Most recent 50 of each per contact |
Source: Follow Up Boss Help Center, “Export Contacts to a Spreadsheet”, checked Oct 22, 2026.
The all-columns file includes: Date Added, Name, First Name, Last Name, Stage, Lead Source, Assigned To, Last Assigned, Is Contacted, Listing Price, Tags, Timeframe, email, phone and address fields with their types, property address, city, state, post code, MLS number, price, beds, baths, area and lot, Message, Description, Notes, Calls, Texts, Background, Deal Stage, Deal Close Date, Deal Price, the five campaign fields and Custom Fields. Relationship columns carry first name, last name, type, phone, email and address details for each relationship.
Figures from Follow Up Boss Help Center, “Export Contacts to a Spreadsheet”, checked Oct 22, 2026.
What can’t you export from Follow Up Boss?
Emails and call recordings cannot be exported, and pond names and anything past the 50-item caps will be missing. Plan for each before you rely on the file as a backup.
| Item | Exported? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Emails | No. Emails are stored only in Follow Up Boss | Sent and received emails remain in the agent’s connected email account |
| Call recordings | No | Nothing in the article offers a workaround; ask Follow Up Boss support if you need them |
| Text messages | Most recent 50 per contact, with Export All Columns | Keep the file; older texts are not in it |
| Calls and notes | Most recent 50 each per contact | Same |
| Pond name | No, only the assignment | Add the pond name as a tag first, then export |
| Zip codes starting with 0 | Exported correctly, shown wrong in Excel | Format the column as custom number 00000 |
| Tasks, appointments, deals as records | Not listed in the column list; only deal stage, close date and price appear | Use reports, or ask support, if you need task or appointment history |
Source: Follow Up Boss Help Center, “Export Contacts to a Spreadsheet”, checked Oct 22, 2026. The last row is our reading of the column list, not a statement in the article.
If you are leaving Follow Up Boss, this table is the checklist for what you will lose. The cancellation article recommends exporting first, as covered in how to cancel Follow Up Boss. Our export guide for 8 CRMs shows how other systems compare, and how to export contacts from GoHighLevel covers the platform most real estate teams move to.
Can you export Follow Up Boss reports?
Yes. The article says multiple reports in Follow Up Boss can be exported, and links to a separate “Exporting Reports to a Spreadsheet” article. We did not read that article, so this page does not list which reports or what they contain.
What should you do with the file after you export?
Treat it as personal data. It contains phone numbers, emails, addresses and message history, so store it somewhere access-controlled, delete downloads you no longer need and check it before it goes to a new vendor. Our CRM data migration security checklist lists the handling steps, and CRM data cleaning before migration covers de-duplicating the file before you load it elsewhere.
When to get help
A one-time export of a few thousand contacts is a ten-minute job. Get help when the destination needs deals, tasks and message history in the right places, when the 50-item caps cut off history you need, or when you are choosing the next CRM and want the data mapped before you commit. aibrevo implements Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, monday.com, Airtable and GoHighLevel, and quotes Follow Up Boss work per project. You can book a short call or send a message, and the GoHighLevel service page describes the build most teams ask for.
Sources
- Follow Up Boss Help Center, Export Contacts to a Spreadsheet, updated Apr 21, 2026, checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Follow Up Boss Help Center, Cancel Your Account, checked Oct 22, 2026.