Export a website to a folder or ZIP
These instructions are reviewed against the app source. Final-installer walkthroughs are still pending. Check platform availability and requirements before installing. Windows is an updates list, outside the 1,000 beta places.
Generate website files locally so you can inspect them or hand them to another workflow. Keep a .modo copy too: the website output and the editable MODO project are different artifacts.
Before you start
Use a local project you recognize, with its Website target enabled and its changes saved. Inspect Preview first. Build or trust errors must be resolved before export can complete. No hosting account or provider token is needed for Folder or ZIP.
Prepare the export
- Choose File → Export and publish… and select Web in the Publish panel.
- Under Destination, choose Folder or ZIP.
- For Folder, enter a Destination folder inside your home directory, outside the project, with no hidden path segments. Use a new empty destination, or one previously used by MODO. Reusing a destination can remove files recorded by the previous export; review the plan.
- Choose Save destination. Leave remote provider settings and custom domains out of this local workflow.
- Choose Prepare the publish. The current interface uses publishing terminology for local exports too.
- Review the destination, checks, warnings and proposed changes. Resolve blocking checks. Read any warning before acknowledging it.
- Choose Publish and confirm the displayed local destination. If the project changed or the plan expired, prepare a new plan first.
Find the output
Wait for the job to finish successfully. For Folder, inspect the chosen destination. For ZIP, use the artifact's copy control in the completed job to copy its location. A location beginning with file:// refers to a local file; use the corresponding filesystem path to locate it in your file manager. Copy the ZIP to a lasting location outside the job's output directory. The ZIP includes README-deploy.md.
The interface may say Site published after a successful local export. With Folder or ZIP selected, that result means local output was created; it does not mean a website has been put online.
Check your result
Confirm that the expected pages and assets exist. For ZIP, extract it into a separate folder and read its included instructions. Use MODO Preview for the immediate visual check; hosting the exported files is a separate step.
Common problems
- Folder is rejected: check that it is inside your home, outside the project and an acceptable destination. Do not use a folder containing unrelated work.
- A plan is stale: choose New plan to review the current output.
- The job fails: inspect its error and log. A prepared plan is not a completed export.
- A sketch is missing: free-canvas and Playground content are excluded from publishable output.
Related guides
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