How to Export GoHighLevel Workflows & Automations

Can you export a GoHighLevel workflow (automation)?

Yes — just not with a single button inside GoHighLevel. A GoHighLevel "workflow" is the same thing people call an "automation" (you'll find them under Automation > Workflows), and GHL gives you no "export to file" option for one. The practical way to get a workflow out of an account is to save it to a cloud library with ExportGHL Workflows and deploy it wherever you need it, with every reference remapped by name so it actually runs in the destination.

Does GoHighLevel have a native export or Copy Workflow button?

There is no export-to-file button. GoHighLevel does have a native Copy Workflow to Sub-Account (open the workflow list, click the three-dot menu, choose Copy to Sub-Account), but it is narrowly gated:

• It appears only for agency-admin users.
• It only lists sub-accounts inside your own agency that you can access.
• The copied workflow always lands as a draft.

For anything outside those lines — a different agency, a client account you don't own, or an off-platform backup — there is no native path, which is why GoHighLevel's own Ideas board still carries standing requests to export and import workflows as JSON.

How to export a GoHighLevel workflow, step by step

1. Save the workflow to your library. Open the source workflow in the ExportGHL Workflows side panel and save it to your cloud library — every trigger, action, wait step, if/else branch and setting is captured.
2. Open the destination account. Open the sub-account or agency account you want to export the workflow into. It does not have to be in the same agency, and you do not need agency-admin rights.
3. Deploy the workflow. Deploy the saved workflow — on a cross-account deploy, cross-account remap runs automatically, so pipelines, stages, tags, users, custom fields and email templates are matched to the destination by name and the ids are rewritten.
4. Review anything left as a draft. Review anything ExportGHL left as a draft because it had no name match in the destination, then create or map the missing reference so nothing publishes broken.
5. Publish, or roll back a version. Publish the workflow — or, from version history, roll back to and redeploy any earlier saved version at any time.

How do I transfer GHL automations between accounts and across agencies?

Native Copy Workflow stops at your own agency and needs admin rights, so it can't move an automation to a different agency or to a client who owns their account. ExportGHL Workflows routes through a cloud library instead: save from the source, then deploy into any account you can open — whichever agency owns it — with references remapped by name. The full walkthrough is in copy a workflow between accounts.

How do I download a GoHighLevel workflow to keep an off-platform copy?

GoHighLevel has no native JSON download for a workflow. A few Chrome extensions — GHL Workflows Pro, GHL Workflow Importer/Exporter and GHL Workflows JSON Exporter — dump raw workflow JSON to a file, but the ids inside that JSON only resolve in the source account, so references break on import. ExportGHL stores a portable copy in your cloud library and remaps the ids on deploy instead of handing you a file that breaks elsewhere. For what a raw export actually contains, see export a GoHighLevel workflow as JSON.

How do I back up GoHighLevel automations before editing or cancelling?

Snapshots don't reliably capture single workflows and leave behind contacts, conversations, integrations, phone numbers and A2P registration — and once an account is cancelled or a workflow deleted, GoHighLevel keeps no recoverable backup. The only true backup is an off-platform one: save each workflow to your cloud library, where version history lets you roll back to and redeploy any earlier save. The full routine is in back up your GoHighLevel workflows.

What does the native Copy Workflow carry over — and what gets cleared?

When it is available, the native Copy Workflow to Sub-Account carries a narrow set: contact tags, contact custom fields (only where the field type matches), sub-account custom values, opportunity custom fields, pipelines and stages, and email/SMS text templates. Email-builder templates are not included, and most other references are cleared. The copy lands as a draft every time. ExportGHL instead matches those references by name in the destination and rewrites the ids, and flags anything it can't match as a draft rather than clearing it — covered in tags & custom fields not mapping.

Native duplicate vs Copy Workflow vs snapshot vs ExportGHL

A fuller breakdown is in the best GoHighLevel workflow cloner comparison and snapshots vs workflow export.

Can I export all my workflows at once (bulk)?

GoHighLevel's native copy has no reliable bulk Select-All, so agencies copy workflows one at a time. With ExportGHL you save each workflow to your library once and deploy them into as many sub-accounts as you manage — each one remapped by name and left as a draft if a reference can't be matched, so a bulk roll-out never publishes broken. See bulk clone workflows between accounts.

Why is my exported or copied workflow stuck in draft?

A draft is usually a good sign: the native copy always lands in draft, and ExportGHL deliberately leaves a workflow as a draft when a reference couldn't be matched by name — so nothing goes live pointing at the wrong thing. Open the flagged items, create or match them, then publish. The full fix is in imported workflow stuck in draft.

Frequently asked questions