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How to export your client list from Square, Booksy, or Vagaro

Export clients from Square and Vagaro, request your list from Booksy, check the file, and see what stays behind, like saved cards and SMS consent.

Desk Team

10 min read

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What you'll take away

  • Where the client export lives in Square, Booksy, and Vagaro
  • What stays behind in your old app, like saved cards and appointment history
  • A 5-point check for the file before you import it
  • A safe order for switching without losing clients

Square and Vagaro exports are self-serve. Booksy sends the file after you request it.

Square and Vagaro let the account owner download the client list from their dashboards: Square as a CSV file, Vagaro as an Excel or PDF file. With Booksy in the US, you request a data export by email and get the file back. Saved cards stay behind on every platform, and text-message consent doesn't reliably come with the file. Keep your old account open until the new app is working.

What can you take with you, and what stays behind?

Short answer: you can take names, phone numbers, emails, and usually birthdays and addresses. Saved cards never leave the old app in a client file, and appointment history needs a separate export or a request.

The three apps differ in who can export and how the file reaches you:

Square Booksy (US) Vagaro
Self-serve export Yes No Yes
Who can do it Account owner (Square doesn't list other roles) Request from the owner's email Business owner only
Where Square Dashboard in a web browser Email request to Booksy Reports > Customers, on a computer or in the app
File you get Customer CSV and notes CSV CSV in a password-protected ZIP Excel or PDF
Appointment history Separate CSV export Ask in the same request Not in the customer file

Three things stay behind on every platform:

  • Saved cards. Card numbers are protected by payment-industry rules (PCI), so they don't appear in a client export. Square can move cards only to another PCI DSS Level 1 payment processor, and only at the owner's request.
  • Text-message consent. A client's agreement to get texts from you in one app doesn't carry over as a checkbox you can trust. The consent section of this guide explains why.
  • Photos, forms, and some notes. Most platforms keep attachments and signed forms on each client's profile. Notes depend on the platform, so check them after the export.

How do you export your client list from Square?

Short answer: sign in to Square Dashboard in a browser, open your Customer Directory, and use the Import / Export menu. Export customers gives you the client list, and Export notes gives you the notes.

  1. Sign in to Square Dashboard on a computer (not the Square Point of Sale app).
  2. Go to Customers > Customer directory > Directory.
  3. Click Import / Export > Export customers.
  4. Choose All Customers or specific groups, then click Export.
  5. When the CSV file is ready, click Download.
  6. Open Import / Export again and choose Export notes to download the client notes as a second CSV file.

If a client belongs to several groups, Square exports that client once. Square also creates profiles from card payments, so the file may include rows with a name but no phone number or email.

Appointment history is a separate file. In Square Dashboard, go to Appointments > Settings > History and click Export to download a CSV.

Before you close anything: Square's help center says deactivating a Square account can't be undone. It also says Square charges per transaction, so an open account with no paid subscription costs nothing and keeps your client records as a backup.

How do you get your client list from Booksy?

Short answer: email us.dataexport@booksy.com from the address on your Booksy account and ask for your client data. Booksy sends the file as an encrypted ZIP by email and the password by text message.

  1. Write to us.dataexport@booksy.com from the email address linked to your Booksy business account, so Booksy can match the request to your account.
  2. Ask for a copy of your client list with contact details, as a CSV file. If you need appointment history, ask for it in the same email.
  3. Keep your phone nearby. The file arrives as an encrypted ZIP by email, and the password comes by text message to the phone on the account.
  4. Unzip the file with that password and save the CSV somewhere private.
  5. Wait for the file before you cancel your subscription. Booksy doesn't publish a turnaround time or say how long it keeps data after you leave.

Booksy's help center also lists general support at info.us@booksy.com (Booksy Biz Help Center). Use it if the export request doesn't get a reply.

How do you export your client list from Vagaro?

Short answer: only the business owner can export the Vagaro customer list. Open Reports > Customers, clear the filters, set the widest date range, and export as Excel.

On a computer or tablet:

  1. Go to Reports > Customers.
  2. Remove any filters and set the date range to cover all the years you've used Vagaro.
  3. Select Export in the bottom-right corner and choose Excel.

In the Vagaro app on your phone:

  1. Tap More > Reports > Customers.
  2. Remove filters and widen the date range.
  3. Open the Action menu in the top-right corner and choose Excel.

Vagaro's help center explains that the report shows only the customers you gained during the dates you set, so a short range leaves out older clients. If you work under someone else's Vagaro account, you can't export the list yourself; the business owner has to do it.

For saved cards, the report shows only the card type and the last four digits. If you plan to cancel, export first. Vagaro's help center says that getting your data after closing means reactivating the account, and reactivation brings back the subscription charge.

Once you have the file, the next step is bringing it into the new app. Desk reads the export files from Square, Booksy, Vagaro, and DIKIDI directly, and the free plan includes unlimited clients. SMS credits and payment processing are charged separately.

How do you check the file before you import it?

Short answer: open the export in Google Sheets or Excel and check five things: the row count, the phone column, missing numbers, duplicates, and notes. Fixing them in the file is faster than fixing clients one by one after the import.

  1. Row count. Compare the number of rows with the client count in your old app. A big gap usually means a filter or a short date range.
  2. Phone numbers. Look for numbers turned into something like 4.15E+09. That happens when a spreadsheet treats phone numbers as math. Re-open the file with the phone column set to Text. US numbers are safest in the full +1 format, for example +14155552671.
  3. Rows without a phone number. Most booking apps, including Desk, need a phone number to create a client. Fill in the ones you can, or accept that those rows will be skipped.
  4. Duplicates. The same person may appear twice with slightly different names. Merge them in the old app before you export, or delete the extra row in the file. Vagaro and Square both have a merge tool.
  5. Notes and formulas. If you keep color formulas or allergy notes, find a few clients you know well and check that their notes are in the file. If they aren't, copy the important ones by hand before you cancel.

Keep the file somewhere private. It holds your clients' personal information, so delete extra copies once the import is done.

Do text-message consent and saved cards move with the list?

Short answer: not reliably. Saved cards never move in the file, and a consent checkbox from another app isn't proof you can text someone. Plan to collect text consent again for promotional messages, and expect clients to add a card again the first time the new app needs one.

The mobile industry's messaging guidelines say a consumer's opt-in "should not be transferable or assignable." It should apply only to the sender it was given to (CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices). Carriers expect business texting to follow these guidelines. So treat the consent a client gave through your old app as something to confirm again, not something the file proves.

In practice:

  • Appointment reminders about a visit the client booked are informational messages. They are the safest texts to send.
  • Promotions, discounts, and "we miss you" texts need the client's written agreement. Don't send them to an imported list until each client has opted in again, for example when they book or check in next time.
  • Opt-outs travel with you. If a client replied STOP in the old app, don't text them from the new one.

Rules for business texting have changed in the past two years. In 2026, a federal appeals court decision changed the written-consent rule only for Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This article is general information and isn't legal advice. If texting is central to your marketing, ask a lawyer who knows the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Saved cards follow payment-industry rules. Square moves cards only to another PCI DSS Level 1 processor, at the owner's request, and it can take up to two weeks. For a small business, the simpler path is usually to let clients add a card again at their next booking or checkout.

When is it safe to cancel your old booking app?

Short answer: cancel only after the new app has your clients, your upcoming appointments, and working reminders. Until then, the old account is your backup.

A safe order for the switch:

  1. Export the client list, and the appointment history if you need it.
  2. Check the file for row count, phone numbers, duplicates, and notes, then import it into the new app.
  3. Re-create upcoming appointments in the new app, or let clients rebook through your new booking link.
  4. Turn off reminders in the old app, so clients don't get two texts for the same visit.
  5. Update the booking link in your Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, and website.
  6. Cancel the paid plan only after a week or two of normal bookings.

With Square, keep the free account instead of deactivating it. With Vagaro, getting data after you close the account means paying to reactivate it. Booksy doesn't say what happens to your data after you leave, so get every file before you cancel.

How do you bring the file into Desk?

Short answer: open Dashboard > Clients > Import on the Desk website or Profile > Import clients in the app. Pick the old app as the source and choose the export file. Every client needs a phone number.

What Desk expects from each source:

Source File to choose
Square Two CSV files from Import / Export: Export customers and Export notes. Desk asks for both and tells them apart on its own.
Booksy The customer card CSV from the Booksy data export. Unzip the ZIP with the password from the text message first.
Vagaro The customer report exported as Excel (.xlsx). The older .xls format isn't supported.
DIKIDI The client export CSV.

A few things to know before you press Import:

  • Phone numbers. Full US and Canadian numbers are saved in the +1 format, so texts and duplicate checks work. Rows without a name or phone number are skipped and counted in the summary.
  • Import each file once. Running the same file again adds the clients a second time.
  • Text consent. Desk texts only clients marked as agreeing to texts, and clients can reply STOP at any time. Square, Vagaro, and DIKIDI exports have no consent field, so those clients start with texts off. A Booksy file can include the client's texting choice from Booksy, and Desk keeps it. Confirm consent yourself before you send anything beyond appointment texts.
  • History stays behind. The import brings client records only. Past appointments and payments stay in the old app.

The full list of supported fields is in the Desk help center.

Sources

Square, Booksy, Vagaro, and DIKIDI are trademarks of their owners. Desk isn't affiliated with them; the steps above come from their public help centers and a Booksy data export request, as of September 2026. If you're moving your clients to Desk, the download links are below.

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