XML Site and Space Export — End of Life in Confluence Cloud
Platform Notice: Cloud Only - This article only applies to Atlassian apps on the cloud platform.
Summary
XML Site Export and XML Space Export in Confluence Cloud are reaching End of Life (EOL) on December 1, 2026. The features will continue to work but Atlassian will no longer fix bugs, accept support tickets, or provide SLAs for them. CSV export is the fully supported alternative and is available on all plans. This article explains what is changing, how to switch to CSV export, and the one known limitation (Cloud-to-Data Center migration).
⚠️ Action required before December 1, 2026
Identify any automated scripts, scheduled jobs, or internal runbooks that use XML Site Export or XML Space Export
Switch each to CSV export (see instructions below)
Update internal documentation to reference CSV instead of XML
If you rely on XML export for Cloud-to-Data Center migration, contact Atlassian Support to discuss alternatives — CSV cannot be imported into DC
After December 1, 2026, XML export will still function but receives no bug fixes, no support, and no SLA.
Solution
What's changing
As of December 1, 2026, XML Site Export and XML Space Export in Confluence Cloud are End of Life (EOL). This means:
The features continue to work — they have not been removed from the product
Atlassian will no longer fix bugs, accept support tickets, or provide SLAs for XML export
You use XML export at your own risk
What's NOT changing
CSV Site Export and CSV Space Export are fully supported and unaffected
XML Import is not in scope for this change
All other Confluence Cloud backup and export functionality remains unchanged
Why is this happening?
XML export is a legacy format that is rarely used and costly to maintain. CSV export provides equivalent functionality and is actively supported. This change allows us to focus investment on features that better serve the majority of customers.
What should I do?
We recommend switching to CSV export, which covers the same use cases and is available on all plans (Free, Standard, Premium, Enterprise).
For Site Backup/Restore
Go to Confluence Settings → Backup Manager
Select CSV as the export format instead of XML
Proceed as normal
For Space Export
Go to your Space Settings → Export
Select CSV as the export format instead of XML
Proceed as normal
Verify your switch to CSV
After performing your first CSV export (site or space level):
Download the generated
.zipfile.Extract it and confirm it contains the expected spaces, pages, and attachments.
Spot-check a few pages against the live Confluence content to ensure completeness (remember: only content visible to the exporting user is included — site admins see all content in CSV/XML exports).
If you use the export for disaster-recovery or compliance archiving, confirm your downstream tooling can parse the CSV format correctly.
Tip: Keep one final XML export as a transitional backup until you've fully validated your CSV workflow.
Known limitations of CSV export
CSV export covers the vast majority of use cases. The one known gap is Cloud to Data Center migration (e.g. due to a company merger) where the Data Center site restore only accepts XML format. If this applies to you, please contact Atlassian Support to discuss your options.
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