# Exporting dashboards
<a name="v12-dash-exporting"></a>

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This documentation topic is designed for Grafana workspaces that support **Grafana version 12.x**.  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 10.x, see [Working in Grafana version 10](using-grafana-v10.md).  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 9.x, see [Working in Grafana version 9](using-grafana-v9.md).  
For Grafana workspaces that support Grafana version 8.x, see [Working in Grafana version 8](using-grafana-v8.md).

You can use the Grafana UI or the HTTP API to export dashboards.

The dashboard export action creates a Grafana JSON file that contains everything you need, including layout, variables, styles, data sources, queries, and so on, so that you can later import the dashboard.

**Making a dashboard portable**

If you want to export a dashboard for others to use, you can add template variables for things like a metric prefix (use a constant variable) and server name.

A template variable of the type `Constant` will automatically be hidden in the dashboard, and will also be added as a required input when the dashboard is imported.

**To export a dashboard**

1. Open the dashboard that you want to export.

1. Select the share icon.

1. Choose **Export**.

1. Choose **Save to file.**

**Note**  
Grafana downloads a JSON file to your local machine.