Unable to view the export history

Question & Answer
, , , , ,
1

In QuickSight, after downloading an Excel or CSV file, the export history is visible in the ‘View Exports’ area of the dashboard. However, if I refresh the tab or browser, the export history disappears. Is there a way to make the export history persist permanently so that users can see past exports even after refreshing the page?

2

Hi @Unni

Please note that the View Exports list in QuickSight is session-based. This means the export history is cleared when you refresh the browser/tab or log in again. Currently, QuickSight does not retain export history for dashboard downloads beyond the active session.

I have tagged this as a feature request.

3

Hi @Unni,
As this has been tagged as a feature request already, I wanted to follow up and see if you had any additional questions or comments relating to this topic?

If we do not hear back within the next 3 business days, I’ll close out this topic.

Thank you

4

Hi Brett ,

I would like to request visibility into the download activity of shared QuickSight reports. Specifically, it would be helpful if QuickSight Admins can track and share the following details:

  • Which user has downloaded a report
  • The name of the report that was downloaded
  • The date and time of the download

This information will help us better track and verify the report usage and validation process, especially for critical reports shared with multiple teams.

Please let us know if this tracking is possible through QuickSight or if there’s any workaround or feature that supports this.

Thank you

1 Like
5

Hi @Unni

QuickSight does not natively support tracking of report download activities (e.g., exports to CSV or Excel) per user. However, you can implement a workaround using AWS CloudTrail and other AWS services to approximate this functionality.

Workaround Using AWS CloudTrail

  1. Ensure that AWS CloudTrail is enabled for your account. CloudTrail records API calls made on your account, including those related to QuickSight.
  2. Identify Relevant Events: While direct tracking of export actions isn’t available, certain events can indicate export activities. For example, the QueryDatabase event with a queryIntent attribute set to EXPORT_TO_CSV or EXPORT_TO_EXCEL can suggest an export action. Refer this - Is it possible to track user 'Export to Excel/CSV' activity? - #2 by Kellie_Burton
  3. Configure CloudTrail to deliver logs to an Amazon S3 bucket for storage and further analysis.
  4. Use AWS Glue to catalog the logs and Amazon Athena to query them.
  5. Import the processed data into QuickSight to create dashboards that display user activities, including inferred export actions.

Limitations:

If users are provisioned directly in QuickSight (not through IAM), CloudTrail may log them as unknown, limiting the ability to identify specific users.

1 Like