COPY INTO

Statement

COPY INTO writes the results of a query to a file in object storage. Use it to export result sets that are too large to download from the query editor, which returns at most 10,000 rows.

Syntax

COPY INTO '<storage path>'
FROM (<query>)
[ MAX_FILE_SIZE <bytes> ]
[ SINGLE <boolean> ];

Parameter	Description
`<storage path>`	Full path of the output file, for example `s3://sample/unloads/call_center.csv`. Must be a file path, not a folder.
`<query>`	The query whose results are written.
`MAX_FILE_SIZE`	Maximum output file size, in bytes.
`SINGLE`	`false` (default) or `true`. See Limitations.

Example

COPY INTO 's3://sample/unloads/call_center_files.csv'
FROM (SELECT * FROM call_center ORDER BY cc_call_center_sk)
MAX_FILE_SIZE 5000000000
SINGLE false;

Before you start

You need the DataExport role to run COPY INTO from the query editor. See Roles and permissions.
The workspace needs write access to the target bucket. See the CloudPrem prerequisites.

Output format

Files are written as CSV with these settings:

TYPE = CSV
RECORD_DELIMITER = '\n'
FIELD_DELIMITER = ","
FILE_EXTENSION = null
SKIP_HEADER = 0
DATE_FORMAT = "YYYY-MM-DD"
TIME_FORMAT = "HH24:MI:SS"
TIMESTAMP_FORMAT = "YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS"
ESCAPE = NONE
ESCAPE_UNENCLOSED_FIELD = "\\"
TRIM_SPACE = false
FIELD_OPTIONALLY_ENCLOSED_BY = '\"'
NULL_IF = ('\"\"')
COMPRESSION = Auto
EMPTY_FIELD_AS_NULL = true
ENCODING = UTF8
SINGLE = false

Limitations

AWS S3 is the only supported destination.
CSV is the only output format, and files aren’t compressed.
The path must point to a file. Folder paths such as s3://sample/unloads/ aren’t supported.
Exports are written to a single file.
NULL values are written as "" in every column, whatever the column type.
Dates are written as YYYY-MM-DD and timestamps as YYYY-MM-DD HH24:MI:SS.

Last modified on October 16, 2026

Query Engine

Get started

Connect data

Run clusters

Query

Connect your tools

Secure and govern

Troubleshoot

Reference

Concepts

Syntax

Example

Before you start

Output format

Limitations

​Syntax

​Example

​Before you start

​Output format

​Limitations

Syntax

Example

Before you start

Output format

Limitations