How to Export a Mailchimp Campaign with Images

The plain answer

There is no documented Mailchimp export that downloads a campaign with its image files bundled inside it. No help page opened for this guide describes an export images button, a download campaign with images option, or a ZIP that pairs campaign HTML with its image files. Do not look for that button. It is not in the docs, and building a workflow around it will waste the time you meant to spend archiving the campaign.

What Mailchimp does document is a split. The message and the images live in different places, and they are exported through different routes. The message can be viewed as a campaign page, read as HTML through the API, or included in an account export. The image files can be recovered through the account export gallery, or referenced by address from the content studio.

Why the split exists

Email images in Mailchimp are hosted files, referenced by address in the campaign HTML. The content studio keeps those files handy when you are coding templates, and Mailchimp documents copying a file's source URL from the content studio and pasting it into code. The campaign HTML therefore points at hosted images rather than carrying them. An HTML export, on its own, is a set of references, not a self contained package. If the hosted files are removed, the HTML alone will not show the images.

Workaround 1: the campaign archive page and campaign page

For a viewable copy of the campaign as recipients saw it, use the campaign page. Mailchimp creates a browser based copy of each sent campaign that you can share around the web. For each audience, it compiles links to the campaigns sent to that audience on an email campaign archive page. That archive page is a free, shareable landing page that displays links to the audience's 20 most recent campaigns.

To find the archive page URL, Mailchimp documents these steps: click Forms, then click Settings; click Edit to the right of All system forms; if you have more than one audience, click the Audience drop-down and choose the one you want to work with; click the Forms and response emails drop-down, and choose Campaign archive page; under the Campaign archive page URL heading, copy the URL.

For a single sent regular, RSS, or plain text campaign, click Campaigns, click the campaign, click the Edit drop-down menu, and choose View email. The campaign page shows the images as hosted, in place. It does not download the image files. Note the 20 campaign limit on the archive page. Older campaigns fall off the archive list, so do not rely on the archive page as a long term record. Save the campaign page address, and the HTML described below, while the campaign is still listed.

Workaround 2: the account export gallery

For the image files themselves, run the account export described in the back up your Mailchimp account data guide. In that export, the Gallery folder holds all the images and content stored in the My files section of the content studio. The Emails folder in the same ZIP holds the campaign HTML and TXT files. Store the whole ZIP together, so the message files and the image files stay paired.

Workaround 3: template HTML export, with its limit

Mailchimp documents HTML export only for custom coded templates. If you have saved a template or imported an HTML file to the Saved Templates page, you can export an HTML file of that template to your computer, to edit the HTML code or upload the template to a different Mailchimp account. The process is only for templates that you have custom coded. Drag and drop templates cannot be exported.

To export a custom coded template as HTML, Mailchimp documents these steps: navigate to Campaigns, then select Email templates; select the template you want to work with, to view the More options button; click the More options drop-down menu, and choose Export as template. The exported template downloads as an HTML file. To copy the code instead, locate the template, click the More options drop-down, choose Edit Template, and in the code editor, highlight all the code and copy it to your clipboard.

This route gives you template HTML, not campaign images, and not a sent campaign. It is useful when the design itself is what you need to keep, and when the template is custom coded. It does not help for a drag and drop campaign that was already sent.

Workaround 4: the campaign content API

For a programmed copy of the campaign message, the Mailchimp API documents a Get campaign content endpoint. It returns the HTML and plain text content for a campaign, given a campaign identifier. Its response fields include the raw HTML, the archive HTML, and the plain text portion. The HTML returned will reference images by address. It does not return image files. Pair the API HTML with the gallery folder from the account export to complete the archive.

What not to do

Do not present a browser save or screenshot as a Mailchimp image export. No Mailchimp help page opened documents such a feature. Do not claim a template export will work for a drag and drop template. Mailchimp states plainly that it will not. For the full set of destinations, see the Mailchimp exports by destination directory.

Open flags

No Mailchimp help page opened documents an export that bundles a campaign with its image files, or a bulk download of content studio files on their own. The exact contents of the campaigns_content folder beyond HTML and TXT files, and whether every image address in a campaign HTML has a matching file in the gallery folder, were not stated in the pages opened. Check both against your own downloaded export.

Source

• Mailchimp Help, Find Your Sent Email Campaigns
• Mailchimp Help, Export and Back Up Account Data
• Mailchimp Help, Export Template HTML
• Mailchimp Help, Where to Edit Template Code
• Mailchimp Marketing API, Get Campaign Content

Facts verified 2026-10-31. Open flags are listed in the section above.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to your state motor vehicle agency or court.