How to Back Up Your Zola Guest List, RSVPs, and Registry Before Anything Changes

You can back up everything that matters on Zola in about 30 minutes from a laptop: export the guest list, export RSVPs with meal choices, download the gift tracker as a CSV, transfer any cash fund balance, screenshot the website, and request a copy of your personal data. None of it requires leaving Zola. With The Knot Worldwide agreeing to buy Zola on October 14, 2026, and nothing yet said about what happens to couples' accounts, a backup is the calm move. Every step below is from Zola's own help center as of October 2026. Zola changes its interface from time to time, so if a button has moved, search its help center for the step name.

The six steps

Step 1: Export the guest list

On a computer, open your Guest List, click the dots in the top right corner, and choose the export. Zola offers the full list, just the addresses for your invitations, or RSVPs with meal choices for your caterer. Take the full list. Zola's help page is plain about the app: right now this option isn't available from the app, so if you've only ever used Zola on your phone, this is the step to open a laptop for. Save the file somewhere that isn't your downloads folder, and name it with today's date.

Step 2: Export RSVPs with meal choices

From Track RSVPs, click Export RSVPs in the upper right. You get a CSV or Excel file with each guest's response and meal choice. If you're within a couple of months of the wedding, this file is the one your caterer and your seating chart depend on, and it's the one I'd least like to have only in one place. If you're still collecting answers, export again the day after your RSVP deadline so the backup matches the final count.

Step 3: Download the gift tracker

In your registry's gift tracker, download the CSV. Zola's help page says it includes every gift's order number, name, quantity, value, the gift message, the giver's address, the order status, and whether you've written the thank-you note. That's the thank-you list, done for you, and it's the file people regret not saving when they're writing notes in month two of marriage. I couldn't find a Zola export for the registry item list itself, the things you've added that nobody's bought yet. If that list matters to you, screenshot it.

Step 4: Move your cash fund balance

Zola holds cash fund gifts until you start a transfer. Its page says your first transfer usually takes up to 10 business days and later ones 2 to 4. Zola also offers to convert the balance to store credit with a 5 percent bonus; that's a fine choice if you're shopping on Zola anyway, and a reason to transfer to your bank if you're not sure you will be. On fees: Zola charges 2.5 percent on cash fund contributions by card, and its terms say you choose whether the guest or the couple absorbs it, so check the setting while you're there.

Step 5: Save your wedding website

Zola has no export or transfer for the website itself; its help pages cover changing the URL and connecting a domain you bought elsewhere, which redirects to Zola rather than hosting there. So save it the low-tech way: open each page and print to PDF, or screenshot it on your phone. The text you wrote, the schedule, the travel details, and the FAQ answers are the parts worth keeping, because they're the parts you'd rewrite if you ever moved.

Step 6: Request a copy of your personal data

Zola's privacy policy lets you request a copy of your personal information up to two times every 12 months, through its Privacy Center or by phone at (866) 243-2344. It's a formal request rather than a download button, so start it now; it's the record of what Zola holds, which is useful to have before any company changes hands. Here's what Zola's and The Knot's privacy policies say about sharing.

Should you delete your Zola account?

Not because of the news. Your guests have the website link and the registry, and both work. If you do want out later, Zola's help page says you can set the website and registry to private or not visible, and full deactivation is by emailing support from the address on your account. Do steps 1 to 6 first. A backup is reversible; a deletion isn't.

Where Altessa fits

The guest list CSV from step 1 imports into Altessa in a minute, and from there it's one row per person with household, group, plus-one, RSVP, meal, and table, connected to a seating chart on a to-scale floor plan and a budget where the per-head lines move with the count. Altessa doesn't run a registry or a vendor marketplace and doesn't sell or share your planning data, so the plan is the whole product. Core is 80 dollars once, Premium with the layout builder is 120, and you can import the list and look around free.

Questions people ask

How do I export my guest list from Zola?

On a computer, open Guest List, click the dots in the top right, and choose the full list, addresses only, or RSVPs with meal choices. Zola says this isn't available in the app.

Can I download my Zola registry?

You can download the gift tracker as a CSV with each gift, the giver's address, and thank-you status. I couldn't find a Zola export for unpurchased registry items as of October 2026; screenshot that list.

Can I move my Zola wedding website to another platform?

Zola doesn't offer a website export. Save each page as a PDF or screenshot so you can rebuild it elsewhere if you ever need to.

How long does a Zola cash fund transfer take?

Zola says the first transfer usually takes up to 10 business days and later transfers 2 to 4 business days.

Armin Korsos is a filmmaker who spent nine years shooting weddings before building Altessa (altessa.studio), an all-in-one wedding planning workspace that replaces the spreadsheet.