Download all attachments and receipts: a guide for Xero users

Year-end audit, a client leaving, a retention archive, or simply wanting your own backup of every receipt. Those files live in Xero, attached to invoices, bills and other transactions, and getting them out in bulk is a long-running request on Xero's Product Ideas board. This guide covers the manual routes Xero gives you, their limits, and how to bulk download supported invoice, bill and credit-note attachments as dated ZIP folders with an index.

Download steps and bulk export request re-checked on 25 October 2026.

The native way

One transaction at a time. Xero's help page on viewing, downloading and deleting files in transactions gives these steps:

• Invoice: open it, click Attach files, click View next to the file, then click Download.
• Bill: in the Purchases menu, select Bills, click the view icon for the bill, click Files, click View next to the file, then click Download.
• Credit note or prepayment: open it, click the file icon, click the file name, then use the download icon (or Download for a spreadsheet or document).

Repeat for every file on every document.

From the document library. In the Accounting menu, select Documents, open the file and click the download icon (Organise your document library). Files attached to a transaction move to the Archive section of the library, where you can browse by folder.

Export to CSV. Xero can export invoices, bills, credit notes, prepayments and overpayments as CSV, up to 500 transactions per export (Export invoices and bills out of Xero). CSV export does not include the attached files. Keep the transaction export alongside your file downloads if you need both the accounting data and receipts.

Where the native way runs out

• No bulk download. On the bulk export request (close to 700 votes, "Accepted"), Xero's latest reply, dated 20 November 2025, says it isn't in their plans at the moment, though they would like to explore bulk downloading in the longer term. It points to third-party apps for now.
• The library may not hold everything. Xero says that when you attach a file from your device to a bill or expense claim, it is saved in the library archive automatically. For other transactions, including invoices, it isn't saved unless you upload it to the library first (Attach a file to a transaction). So the library is not a complete copy of your attachments.
• Files carry no context. A file keeps the name it was uploaded with, so a receipt called scan001.pdf tells you nothing about the invoice, contact or date it belongs to. Working that out afterwards is the real cost.
• Data exports leave files out. Xero's list of exportable data covers general ledger, contacts, invoices and bills, reports and more, but attached files are not on it.
• Deleting in the wrong place is permanent. Xero warns that deleting a file from the document library removes it from every transaction it is attached to, and that deleted files can't be retrieved.
• It is slow and easy to get wrong. Every file is several clicks, and Xero's help pages describe no way to ask for "everything from the 2024 financial year" or to keep track of which files you have already saved.

The faster way: Unapprove

Unapprove is a web app that works with Xero. Its attachment export reads the files attached to your documents and streams them to you as ZIP files. Nothing in your books changes: the export only reads.

What you get

• Files from sales invoices, bills, credit notes and, if you choose, bank transactions (spend and receive money).
• Dated folders and readable names, in this layout: Bills/2025/2025-03/2025-03-14_INV-8812_Acme Supplies_receipt.pdf. The folder is the document type, then year and month, and the name carries the date, document number, contact and original file name.
• A manifest.csv listing every file with its document number, date, contact, status, total and the Xero identifiers, so each file traces back to its record.
• Files byte for byte as Xero returned them. Nothing is converted or compressed.

How it works

1. Connect: you sign in at Xero and choose the organisation.
2. Scan. This is free. It reads which documents have files attached and how big they are. Leave the dates empty for everything, or set a range, for example the last seven years for a retention archive.
3. Tick "only files not downloaded through Unapprove yet" if you want an incremental backup. Unapprove remembers which files it has delivered, by identifier only.
4. Download the ZIP parts. Large organisations come in several parts; keep the tab open until each one finishes. A file Xero does not return is listed in _ERRORS.txt and in the manifest, and is not counted as downloaded.
5. Check the manifest and _ERRORS.txt before treating the archive as complete. Match the files to the scan, keep every ZIP part and investigate files that Xero did not return.

What it covers, and what it doesn't: invoices, bills, credit notes and bank transactions. It does not cover the library inbox, or files attached to other things such as quotes, purchase orders, manual journals or contacts. Deleted documents are skipped; voided ones are included. If an auditor is asking for the files, the audit guide sets out the steps.

What access it asks for: the same connection as the clean-up tools, which includes read and write on invoices and attachments, plus read-only on settings and contacts. Bank transactions need an extra read-only permission, requested only if you tick them. The export itself only reads.

What it never does: see your Xero password, change anything in your books during an export, or keep your files. They are streamed from Xero straight to your download and never stored. A scan's list of documents (number, date, contact, status, total) and their file names and sizes is kept encrypted for 30 days after the scan, or until you disconnect.

Price: the scan is free, and the free trial (14 days, three documents processed in total) includes one sample download of 25 files. The export is included in the monthly plan ($29 per organisation per month) and during a Clean-up Pass ($49, 7 days), where it doesn't count against the pass's 500 documents. Fair use is 5 GB per organisation per 30 days. Prices are in US dollars and exclude VAT and sales tax (added at checkout); the pricing page has the details.

If the files are part of a correction job, the same plans include bulk void with a preview and draft copies with the same number where supported. These are separate actions that require your confirmation; downloading a ZIP does not void or unapprove anything.

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Questions

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