---
id: KB-TZ-009
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/traceability-and-compliance/exporting-everything-to-change-system
idioma: en
categoria: trazabilidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-TZ-002, KB-TZ-005]
citadoPor: [KB-IN-013, KB-LE-023]
---

# If one day you want to change system

_What you can take, in what format, and why it is worth knowing beforehand._

**Responde a:** export all my documents · move to another platform · how do i get all my information back · migrate documents to another system

This is a question worth asking before you start, not after three years inside. And it is a reasonable one: what you store here are your documents, and getting locked into a tool is a real risk.

## What you can take

| What | In what format |
| --- | --- |
| The documents | Exactly as uploaded, untransformed |
| Extracted data | In spreadsheet format |
| Dates and history | With the export, not separately |
| Signature evidence | Inside the signed copy |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> That documents come out **exactly as they went in** is what genuinely matters. A system returning your PDFs converted to another format returns files that no longer match their fingerprint, and with that you lose the ability to verify them.

## What does not travel the same

The processes you built, templates and workflows are specific to each tool and do not transfer as-is to any other. What transfers is what matters: the documents, their data and their dates.

**En corto**

- Test the export once at the start, not when you need it.
- Keep a copy of critical material outside, if your sector requires it.
- And confirm signatures still verify after exporting.

> [!WARNING]
> If you export and someone then converts the files "to tidy them up", you will have lost the verifiability of everything signed. Originals are kept as they came out; copies in other formats are additional copies, not replacements.

> [!NOTE]
> Asking this before contracting any tool — this one or another — is a good habit. A clear answer is a signal; a vague one is too.

**Can I export only part?**

Yes, by client, by site or by period.

**Does an exported signature still hold?**

Yes, as long as you keep the original file untransformed.

**How long does a large export take?**

It depends on volume; test it on a portion before needing it whole.

## Ejemplos

**A company tests a full export six months in, without needing it.**

- Checks the PDFs come out untransformed
- Verifies an exported signature

→ They know exactly what they can retrieve, and that confidence lets them put the important material inside.

**A contract is signed without asking how to get out.**

- Asks the export format and cost before signing

→ The exit is verified rather than assumed.

**Documents come out loose without their context.**

- Checks the export preserves the structure

→ What is exported stays usable.

**Migration happens and the history stays in the old system.**

- Includes the history in the migration plan

→ Migration does not cut the history.

**The export is requested once you already want to leave.**

- Asks for a test export beforehand

→ The exit is known without pressure.

**Nobody knows what happens if the provider closes.**

- Keeps a periodic copy of what matters

→ A third party failing does not take the archive.