What you can export from Mural before the subscription ends
If a renewal, a price change or a residency concern is forcing a move, your first job is getting your boards out in a form you can keep. PDF and PNG are the documented export paths for murals, and both are static. They capture how a board looked at the moment of export, so sticky notes, shapes, connectors and text arrive as a picture rather than as objects you can edit later. Plan on rebuilding anything you need to work with again, such as templates, workshop frames and facilitation layouts. Whether comments, board-level sharing or other metadata survive an export is something to confirm, not assume. Check the current options for your plan and workspace in your admin view and in Mural's own documentation before you build a plan around them.
Work out the sequence before you click export. Start with an inventory: every board, its owner, when it was last edited, whether it is tied to a client deliverable, a workshop record or a retention obligation, and whether it will be rebuilt or only archived. Confirm whether your workspace offers any bulk export option and what it produces. If it does not, or if the output is not what you need, use a tracking sheet and export board by board. Exports are delivered by an emailed link, so decide which mailbox receives them, download each file promptly, and note any link that has expired so you can request it again. Keep the subscription active until the inventory is fully processed, because nothing in the sequence works once access ends.
Verification matters as much as the files. Open a sample of each export type and check that text is legible at the size you will print or share, that every page or frame is present, and that PNG resolution holds up when you zoom. Match every board on your inventory to exactly one file, and record who exported it, when and in which format. Store the files in a location with access controls and a retention setting that fits your policy, and generate checksums so you can prove later that an archive copy has not changed. Do this before the subscription ends, while you can still reopen a board and re-export it if a file turns out to be incomplete.
Which Mural content exports, by method and format
This table compares the export methods Mural offers with the open-source destinations a team can move archived content into. Rows marked confirmed rest on documented capabilities of the destination tool, while rows marked verify need a check in Mural's own help documentation or a test export. The main takeaway is that PDF and PNG files preserve how a board looks, but they do not preserve its editable content.
| Path or destination | Status | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| PDF export by emailed link | Mural export path, verify details | Confirm page layout, file size and link expiry in Mural's documentation. |
| PNG export by emailed link | Mural export path, verify details | Confirm resolution and whether large murals export as one image. |
| Format and size limits per board or workspace | Verify in Mural admin or help docs | Get the exact limits in writing before starting a bulk archive. |
| Editable objects, sticky notes and comments | Not carried by static PDF or PNG | Plan to rebuild any board that must stay editable. |
| Excalidraw destination | Confirmed: PNG, SVG, .excalidraw JSON | Confirm whether Mural content can be imported directly; none is documented here. |
| draw.io destination | Confirmed import: Visio, Gliffy, Lucidchart | Mural is not a listed import source; keep PDF or PNG as reference images. |
| Nextcloud Whiteboard destination | Built on Excalidraw, boards stored in Nextcloud | Confirm any Mural import path with a test board before relying on it. |
What static Mural exports cannot carry and how to work around it
A PDF or PNG keeps the picture of a board but not the working parts. The cards below cover what a static export loses, from editable notes and connectors to permissions and facilitation settings, with a workaround for each. Plan these steps before the subscription ends, because some of them take manual effort that grows with board complexity.
Editable sticky notes
A PNG or PDF shows each sticky note as flat text, so the wording can be read but not edited, tagged, assigned or moved. Once the subscription ends, the notes stop being a working backlog and become a picture. Export a dated PNG as the record, then copy the note text into a spreadsheet or document with one row per note, the author, the section and the date. Check that each note's text appears in the export before you rely on it, since very small or overlapping notes can be hard to read in a flattened image.
Shapes and connectors
Static exports keep the appearance of shapes and lines but drop the connections between them. A flowchart or dependency map becomes a set of unlinked graphics that cannot be reflowed or extended. Where the diagram matters for process or architecture work, rebuild it in draw.io, which imports Lucidchart and Visio files and saves diagrams where you choose. Treat the rebuild as manual work whose effort depends on how many connectors and layers the board contains.
Templates and reusable frames
Templates and frame layouts used for recurring workshops exist only inside Mural's template library, so a board exported to PDF gives you the output but not the structure that produced it. Save a blank copy of each frame layout as a PNG and write a short note on its purpose, timing and prompts. In the target tool, rebuild only the templates your team actually reuses, and keep the rest as archive images so the effort stays proportional to use.
Facilitation settings and voting
Timers, voting rounds, private sticky notes and facilitator-only views are session features, not board content, so no static export carries them. Record the agenda, the voting criteria and the vote totals in a document alongside the exported image, because the export shows where a decision was made but not how it was reached. Ask whether any of these features are needed in the replacement tool, since Excalidraw and Nextcloud Whiteboard offer collaboration without a built-in facilitation layer, and confirm this in the current release notes before you plan the workshops.
Comments and discussion history
Comment threads, reactions and the attribution that goes with them are lost in a PDF or PNG unless you capture them separately. Decisions often live in these threads, so the archive can omit the reasoning that made a board useful. Export the comments through whatever method Mural provides for your plan, or copy them into the archive index with the author, date and the element they were attached to. Confirm with Mural what comment data your plan can export before you rely on this method.
Sharing permissions and access records
Who could view, edit or comment on a board, and when those rights changed, is not part of a flattened file. An archive that omits this loses the access history that an audit or data subject request may need. Keep a list for each archived board that records its owner, the groups or people with access at closure, the date the board was closed and where the archive is stored. Store that list with the exports so that access questions can be answered after the subscription ends.
Export sequence: inventory, export, archive and verify
This sequence turns an exit from Mural into a dated, checked archive of every board the organization still needs, so nothing is lost when the subscription ends. Each step has a named output that the next step depends on.
Inventory every board and its owner
Start by listing every mural your organization holds, including the workspace or team it sits in, the board owner, the last edit date and the people who still open it. Owners are usually the only people who can confirm whether a board is still in use, so ask them directly and record their answers. The output is a single inventory sheet with one row per board, and the step is done when every board has an owner and a status column is filled in for each row.
Decide which boards to archive or rebuild
For each row in the inventory, decide whether the board will be kept as a static file or rebuilt as an editable board on the new platform. Static exports keep the layout and text visible but do not carry editable objects, so boards that teams will keep working in should be rebuilt, while finished workshop outputs and reference boards can usually be archived. Record the decision and the name of the person who approved it in the same sheet. The step is done when every board carries one of the two decisions and an approver.
Export archive files in batches
Export the boards marked for archiving in small batches grouped by workspace or owner, using the PDF or PNG export that Mural offers and delivering each file through the emailed link it generates. Download each file as soon as the email arrives, because a link is only useful while it stays valid and you should not rely on the mailbox as storage. Keep the batch size small enough that one person can check it in a single sitting. The output is a folder of raw exported files that match the batch list.
Store files with a naming and folder convention
Move the downloaded files into a folder structure that matches the inventory, for example one folder per workspace and one file per board, and name each file with the board title, the owner's team and the export date in a fixed order. Use one convention for every batch so that search and sorting work years later. Store the files on the organization's own storage, not on a personal device. The step is done when every file sits in the agreed structure and the inventory has a file path for each archived board.
Verify each file against its board
Open every exported file and compare it with the original board. Check the page count against the number of frames or pages in the board, confirm that sticky note text, labels and key headings are legible and complete, and confirm that images and embedded items appear where they should. Where a board has a large number of notes, sample a fixed set of notes from different areas instead of reading every one. Mark each file as passed or failed, and re-export any failures before moving on. The output is a checklist with a result for every archived board.
Record the export log
Create an export log with one entry per file that records the board name, the file path, the date of export, the name of the person who exported it, the name of the person who verified it and the verification result. Keep the log in a system that the archive owner controls, and update it at the end of each batch. Auditors and future users will ask who moved a board and when, so the log should answer both questions without anyone needing to remember. The step is done when every archived file has a complete log entry.
Confirm the archive with your own checks
Before the subscription ends, ask the archive owner and at least one business user to open a sample of archived files on a machine that has no Mural access, and confirm that they can read and find what they need. Also confirm with your Mural administrator that every board in the inventory is either archived and verified or marked for rebuild, and that no board has been left without a decision. Mural's own export features do not replace this confirmation, so treat the sample review as your evidence. The step is done when the owner signs off on the inventory and the log in writing.
Where the archive should live once it leaves Mural
An exported archive is only useful if the organization can still open and retrieve it in five years, so the first decision is where the PDF and PNG files will live after the Mural subscription ends. A self-hosted Nextcloud file share on your own servers is a common choice because the organization sets the folder structure, the access groups and the retention rules, and nothing depends on a vendor's export portal staying available. Whatever you choose, decide the owner, the naming convention (for example, board name plus export date) and who may restore files before the first bulk export runs. The platform underneath the archive also has a lifecycle. Nextcloud Server is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Nextcloud publishes a new major version every four months, supporting each one for about a year through monthly maintenance releases. Treat that cadence as a planning input: an archive location that nobody upgrades will fall out of support, so assign an operator and a recurring review date. Nextcloud does not allow skipping major releases, so upgrades must go one major version at a time, with a backup taken before each step and third-party apps disabled until they are confirmed compatible. Confirm the current supported versions on the maintenance and release schedule before you commit to a version. When you size the archive, ask your Nextcloud partner or internal team to confirm the backup method, restore test frequency and the cost of a support tier if you need one, since those recurring costs follow the upgrade rhythm rather than the export itself. Keep the archive separate from the new whiteboard workspace so that a failed upgrade of one does not block access to the other.
Common questions about exporting Mural data
How much effort does a full Mural export take?
Effort scales mainly with the number of boards, how complex each board is, and how many people must check the output. A workspace with a few simple boards is a short task, while hundreds of boards with sticky notes, linked frames, embedded files and nested sections take much longer to export, label and verify. Mural's current export limits and bulk options can change, so confirm them in Mural's help documentation or with your account contact before you plan the schedule. Also ask how exports are delivered, since PDF and PNG files arrive by emailed link and large batches need a plan for downloading and storing them.
Can our own team run the Mural export without outside help?
In most cases yes, because the export itself is a set of actions in Mural that any board owner can perform. The harder part is the inventory and verification: deciding which boards must be kept, naming files consistently, storing them in an approved archive, and checking that each file opens and is complete. Teams that lack a records owner or a clear retention policy often benefit from an outside plan for that work. DeployOpen plans, implements and documents this kind of migration as fixed-scope work, with scope and deliverables agreed in writing before work starts.
What do we need from the Mural workspace admin?
The admin's main role is access and inventory. Board owners can export only the boards they can open, so the admin needs to confirm which members hold owner or edit rights, which boards are shared across teams, and whether any boards belong to people who have left. Ask the admin to produce a list of boards with owners and last-edited dates before the export starts. Confirm with your Mural account contact which export actions are available to admins and which require the board owner, because permissions and plan features can differ by plan.
Does editable content survive a Mural PDF or PNG export?
No. PDF and PNG files are static pictures or print layouts, so sticky notes, text, shapes, connectors, comments and frame structure are not editable once exported. Anyone who opens the file can read the board, but they cannot move objects, edit text or reuse the board as a working canvas. This matters most for workshop boards that teams will continue to build on. If you need the editable content, plan to rebuild those boards in the target tool and keep the static exports as the historical record.
Should we rebuild Mural boards or archive them?
Archive boards that are finished, referenced for decisions or needed for audit trails, and rebuild only the boards that people will keep working on. Rebuilding is the more expensive option because it takes design time and checking, so limit it to templates, active workshop formats and boards with ongoing ownership. Keep the static PDF or PNG exports with a clear naming and retention record for everything else. Your records and compliance owners should decide the retention period before the export begins.
Which compliance evidence should the archive keep?
Keep a record of what was exported, when, by whom and where it was stored, along with the board inventory and any retention decisions. This gives auditors a traceable chain from the source boards to the archive. DeployOpen prepares systems, controls and evidence for compliance assessments, but it does not issue audit reports or certifications, and independent auditors decide whether your controls meet a given framework. Ask your compliance lead which evidence format they need before the work starts.
What happens to exports if the subscription ends first?
Start the archive well before the end date, because access to boards and export actions depends on your active subscription. Confirm with your Mural account contact how long data remains available after a subscription ends and what options exist for members who need to export their own boards. Do not assume a grace period. Once the archive is verified, record the storage location and access rules so that the files remain available after the cloud workspace is closed.
What to plan before the Mural contract renewal or termination
Most export problems come from timing, not tooling. The cards below cover the decisions that should be settled before the subscription end date, so the archive is complete, signed off and defensible when access closes. Each one depends on terms you must confirm in your Mural contract and with Mural directly.
Set the export window
Work backward from the access end date and allow time for every board to be exported, checked and stored. Ask Mural in writing what happens to workspace access, board viewing and exports on the final day, and whether any grace period applies. The notice period and renewal terms are in your order form, not in this page, so confirm them before you set any internal deadline.
Freeze new board creation
Ask migrating teams to stop starting new murals once the export window opens, or to mark new work as provisional. Without a freeze, boards created in the final weeks are often missed by the archive run and surface later as gaps. An illustrative example: a workshop board created the week before termination that nobody exported. Record the freeze date in the migration plan so every team knows the cutoff.
Name the archive approver
Decide who signs off that the archive is complete: usually a business owner for each workspace plus a records or IT owner for the whole set. The approver should confirm the board inventory, the export format for each board and the storage location. Sign-off should be written and dated, so the record shows who accepted responsibility for what was kept and what was left behind.
Set retention for legal and audit needs
Boards often hold workshop decisions, risk discussions and approvals that legal, audit or regulators may later request. Agree with legal and compliance how long exported files must be kept, who can read them and how they are deleted. Static PDF or PNG files cannot carry editable objects or comments in every case, so decide whether the archive also needs a written record of decisions.
Time user de-provisioning
Remove access in the right order: first confirm each user's exports are complete, then remove sharing and workspace membership, and last disable identity provider accounts or SSO links. Removing accounts too early can block a user from exporting their own boards. Confirm with Mural how deleted users, orphaned boards and data deletion timelines are handled, and whether that timeline is stated in your contract.
Confirm deletion timelines in writing
Ask Mural for its data deletion timeline after termination, including backups, and get the answer in writing. Compare it with your own retention rules so that deletion at the vendor does not destroy material you are required to keep, and so that you can confirm later that the vendor has deleted what it should. Treat any figure you hear in a sales call as provisional until it appears in the contract.
What a scoped export and exit engagement covers
A scoped export and exit engagement starts with a written scope, and that document decides what gets archived. It should list which murals and workspaces are in, which export formats apply to each (PDF and PNG for visual records, plus any editable source you can retrieve), where the archive will be stored, who holds access to it, and how the team will check that the files open and match the originals. Deliverables and timeline are agreed in writing before work starts, so the exit date, the retention period and the sign-off owner are set by your organization, not by the work itself. Ask for the scope to name each board by its ID or title so that nothing is archived by accident or left out after the subscription ends.
DeployOpen prepares the archive, documents the export process, and records what was exported and what could not be carried over, such as editable sticky notes, connectors, comments and template structure that a static file cannot hold. The engagement does not include an audit report, attestation or certification. If a records retention policy, legal hold or data protection review requires independent assessment, your auditor or certification body performs that work, and DeployOpen supplies the documentation and process evidence they will ask for. Confirm with your compliance lead which evidence they need before the scope is signed.
Before you sign, confirm three points with Mural directly: which export options your plan and seat type provide, how long the emailed download link stays valid, and whether any board content falls outside the export. Also confirm your own environment: where the archive will live, whether it must stay in a particular region, and who can restore it. These answers shape the scope more than any template does, and they belong in the written scope rather than in a conversation that is never recorded.
How DeployOpen works on this
DeployOpen treats a Mural exit as a data project first and a tool change second. We plan and deliver the export, archive and handover inside your own infrastructure, so board content, exports and records stay under your control from start to finish.
How we scope
- We inventory which boards, workspaces and exports must be archived, and which can be retired without export.
- The written scope states what Mural content is exported as PDF or PNG and what is recorded as editable content lost.
- Engagements are fixed-scope, with deliverables and timelines agreed in writing before any work starts.
How we build
- We set up the archive store on your servers or cloud accounts, with folder structure and naming rules agreed upfront.
- We run test exports on a sample of boards and check that exported files open and read correctly.
- Where boards are rebuilt in Nextcloud Whiteboard or Excalidraw, we document which objects are recreated by hand.
How we hand over
- We deliver an export log listing each board, its export format, date and archive location.
- We document the archive layout, access rules and the steps your team needs to find and retrieve a board.
- We confirm with you, before the subscription ends, that every board in scope is present in the archive.
How we support
- Ongoing support, upgrades and continuous testing are available as a retainer if your rebuilt boards need maintenance.
- Support covers the self-hosted platform you choose, so questions about the archive or whiteboard server go to one team.
- Ask us to confirm in writing which export formats and bulk options your Mural plan includes before we start.
