📚 Importing or exporting a document: what’s the difference?

Last week, the difference between the terms extract and import was explained, two actions that are often encountered when managing digital documents and files.

This week continues with another very common confusion: the difference between import and export.

These two terms are used every day in many software programs, applications and online services. Yet they refer to two opposite operations that can sometimes be confusing for beginners.

So what does it really mean to import a document? And above all, what does it mean to export a file? This is what is explored in this new digital concept.

📥 What does it mean to import a document?

Importing means bringing a file into software, an application or a system in order to use it.

The document usually comes from a computer, a phone, a USB stick or another service.

Example:

Canva is opened and a photo stored on the computer is added.

➡️ This image is imported into Canva to be used in the design.

Other examples:

• Importing contacts into a smartphone.
• Importing a video into video editing software.
• Importing a PDF document into a document management system.

💡 Import = bring data or a file into a system.

📤 What does it mean to export a document?

Exporting means sending a file out of software or a system so that it can be used elsewhere.

Exporting usually makes it possible to create a final version or one that is compatible with other software.

Example: