# Export to Word

URL: https://engiprose.com/help/finalize/export-to-word
Updated: 2026-09-02
Audience: all

Download the final Word document, and understand draft exports, your firm's template, and the watermark.

Once a proposal is [marked final](/help/finalize/mark-a-proposal-final), the
Export step is where you download the Word document you actually send.

:::checklist title="What you'll do"
- Download the final document, and see what "first exported" means
- Understand draft exports, versus the final download
- Know which styling your export used, and why
:::

## Download the final document

:::figure src="/help-figures/finalize/export-to-word-1.png" srcDark="/help-figures/finalize/export-to-word-1-dark.png" alt="The Export screen after downloading, showing the firm template mode line, the Download final .docx button and a First exported on date with its cycle-time explanation" caption="The Export screen after downloading" route="/proposals/$proposalId/finalize/export"
:::

Select **Download final .docx** to get the file. The first time you
download a proposal's final document, that moment is recorded: "First
exported on {date}. This is when the export step of this proposal's cycle
time is recorded. Cycle-time reporting measures from creation to this
export date." Downloading again later does not move that date, unless the
proposal is [re-opened from the Final
screen](/help/finalize/mark-a-proposal-final), which clears it so the next
final download records a new one.

Every tracked change on the proposal is resolved before the export is
built: insertions are kept and deletion marks are removed, so the file you
send never carries review markup.

## Draft exports, while you are still writing

Before a proposal is final, the editor toolbar carries its own **Download
Draft .docx** button, for sharing a work-in-progress copy.

:::figure src="/help-figures/finalize/export-to-word-2.png" srcDark="/help-figures/finalize/export-to-word-2-dark.png" alt="The editor toolbar with a Download Draft .docx tooltip reading Draft export uses your firm's styling and includes a DRAFT watermark" caption="The draft export tooltip" route="/proposals/$proposalId/write/edit"
:::

A draft export always carries a large diagonal **DRAFT** watermark, so it
can never be mistaken for the file you send to a customer. Hovering the
button states which styling it will use: "Draft export uses your firm's
styling and includes a DRAFT watermark." when a template is active, or
"Draft export uses default styling and includes a DRAFT watermark." when
it is not.

## Which styling your export used

On the Export step, a mode line above the download button names exactly
what you are about to get:

- **Your firm's template**, when an [export
  template](/help/set-up-your-firm/word-export-template) is active and the file
  can be patched directly: "This download uses your firm's template
  ({filename})."
- **Your firm's styling**, a fallback one step down from patching the
  template file itself: "This download uses your firm's styling."
- **Default styling**, in two wordings. When your organization has no export
  template at all, the line names the work that is outstanding: "This download
  uses default styling. An Admin can upload an export template in Settings."
  When a template is already on file but cannot carry this download, because it
  is not active, or because it can be neither patched nor read for styling, the
  line is the shorter "This download uses default styling." on its own: the
  upload is already done, so it is not asked for again.

"Styling limited" on the [export template settings
page](/help/set-up-your-firm/word-export-template) marks a template whose firm
styling could not be read from the uploaded file. That template still carries a
final export it can be patched into; where it cannot, there is no firm styling
left to fall back on, and the download lands on the short default-styling
sentence above.

If an export that expected your firm's template has to fall back, a toast
says so honestly: "Export complete with firm styling. Your firm template
could not be applied." or, one step further down, "Export complete with
default styling. Your firm template could not be applied." Either way, you
get a document, never a failure.

:::note
The Export step says it at the moment of download: "Figure numbers
continue any figure numbering already in your firm's template, so they may
shift when Word updates fields." A number you saw in the editor can differ
in the delivered file for that reason alone.
:::

::::faq title="Common questions"
:::q question="Why does my export look plainer than I expected?"
Your organization likely has no export template active yet, or the active
one could not carry full styling. The mode line above the download button
always names which of the three you got.
:::
:::q question="Is a draft export the same file I should send to a customer?"
No. A draft export always carries a DRAFT watermark. Mark the proposal
final and download from the Export step to get the customer-ready file.
:::
::::