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Exporting downloads a snapshot of your database to your laptop. Use it before risky changes, when migrating to another host, or when handing the data to a developer for local testing. For long-term backups, use JetBackup instead. It runs nightly, stores off-server, and includes the whole account, not just one database.

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Quick export (the fast path)

1

Pick the database from the left tree

Click the database name. Don’t click into a single table unless you only want that table.
2

Open the Export tab

Top of the page.
phpMyAdmin Export tab with Quick option selected
3

Leave defaults, click Go

Export method: Quick. Format: SQL. The browser downloads database_name.sql straight away.
That’s the 90% case. For everything else, switch to Custom.

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Custom export

Custom mode reveals every option. Useful when:
  • You only want some tables, not all
  • You want compressed output (.zip or .gz)
  • You want the dump in CSV, JSON, or another format
  • You need INSERT IGNORE instead of INSERT, or no DROP TABLE statements
phpMyAdmin Custom Export with all options visible

Custom export with table selector and format options

The options most people change:

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Format choices

For backups, always SQL.

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Export a single table

1

Drill into the table

Click the database in the left tree, then click the table name.
2

Open the Export tab

Same tab as for whole-database export. The scope is now just this one table.
3

Pick the format and click Go

The download is a single-table dump.

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Common issues

Browser blocked the download, or the export hit a timeout. Switch to Custom, tick Save output to a file, and pick gzipped compression. Smaller files finish before any timeout.For very large exports, use SSH and mysqldump:
Custom export → scroll to Object creation options → untick Add CREATE PROCEDURE / FUNCTION / EVENT statement if you’re moving the dump to a host that doesn’t run procedures. Or use the SSH route with mysqldump --skip-definer.
Tick Add DROP TABLE / VIEW / PROCEDURE / FUNCTION / EVENT / TRIGGER statement in the Custom export. This makes the dump self-replacing. Re-importing replaces existing tables instead of failing on duplicates.Watch for utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci if exporting from MySQL 8 to a MariaDB target. See the import common issues for the workaround.

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Next

Re-import the dump elsewhere

Same Import tab on another phpMyAdmin or another host.

Set up nightly off-server backups

JetBackup runs without you needing to remember.

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Need a hand?

Open a ticket

Best for anything that needs an account check or a config change on our end.

Live chat

Faster for quick questions during business hours.