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Export Android Digital Wellbeing Data and Analyze Screen Time

18 min read Step‑by‑step guide to export Android Digital Wellbeing usage data, import it into a spreadsheet, and create charts that reveal your screen‑time habits. September 29, 2026 20:30

Most Android users glance at the Digital Wellbeing summary and think, “I spend too much time on apps, but I don’t know exactly how much.” The built‑in dashboard is great for a quick look, yet it hides the raw numbers you need to spot trends, set realistic goals, or prove a point to a manager. This tutorial walks you through the entire workflow: enable the export feature, pull the CSV file, open it in a spreadsheet, and build charts that answer the questions you actually care about.

Before you start

Charge your phone to at least 50 % – the export process can take a minute on older devices.
Ensure you have Wi‑Fi or a USB cable ready to move the file to a PC or laptop.
If you plan to keep the data long‑term, create a backup folder on your computer (e.g., ~/DigitalWellbeingBackups/).
Know the Android version on your device. The export menu appears natively from Android 12 onward; older releases need a workaround described later.

1. Enable Digital Wellbeing on your device

Open Settings → Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls. On some OEM skins the path may be Settings > Digital Wellbeing or Settings > Battery & performance > Digital Wellbeing.
If you see a toggle labeled Show on home screen, turn it on – this makes the dashboard easier to access later.
Tap Dashboard to view the list of apps and the time you spent on each.

Why this matters: the export file is generated from the same usage statistics that power the dashboard. If the dashboard is disabled, there is nothing to export.

2. Export the usage data (Android 12+)

In the Digital Wellbeing screen, locate the three‑dot menu (usually top‑right) and tap Export data. If you do not see this option, skip to the “Older Android” section.
A system dialog asks where to save the file. Choose Downloads (or any folder you can easily locate later). The file will be named something like digital_wellbeing_2024-09-28.csv.
Tap Save. Android will generate the CSV in a few seconds and display a toast confirming the export.

What you should see: a notification that says “Digital Wellbeing data saved to Downloads.” The CSV contains columns for Date, App name, Screen time (minutes), and Number of launches.

3. Locate the exported CSV file

Open the Files app (or any file manager).
Navigate to Internal storage > Download (or the folder you selected).
Find the file whose name starts with digital_wellbeing_. Long‑press and choose Share → Save to Drive if you prefer cloud storage, or Copy to move it to a USB‑OTG drive.

If you cannot find the file, double‑check that you saved it to Downloads. Some OEMs place the folder under Internal storage > Documents instead.

4. Transfer the CSV to your computer

You have three safe ways to move the file without exposing it to third‑party apps:

USB cable: Connect the phone, select File Transfer (MTP) mode, then drag the CSV from the Download folder to your computer.
Wi‑Fi transfer: Use the built‑in Nearby Share (Android 12+) to send the file to a Windows 10/11 PC with the “Nearby Share” companion app installed.
Cloud sync: If you trust a cloud provider, upload the CSV to a private folder in Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, then download it on your PC.

Make sure the destination folder on your PC is encrypted or at least password‑protected if you care about privacy.

5. Open the CSV in a spreadsheet program

Launch Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice Calc.
Choose File → Open and navigate to the CSV you just copied.
If prompted for import settings, keep the default Comma delimiter and ensure the first row is treated as headers.
Click OK. The data should appear in a table with four columns: Date, App name, Screen time (minutes), Number of launches.

Tip: In Google Sheets you can also drag the CSV directly onto an open sheet – the platform auto‑parses it.

6. Clean up the data (optional but recommended)

Digital Wellbeing logs a row for every app each day, even if the usage was zero. To keep charts readable you may want to filter out those empty rows.

Select the Screen time (minutes) column.
Apply a filter (Excel: Data → Filter; Google Sheets: Data → Create a filter).Uncheck the value 0. The view now shows only apps that had activity on each day.

You can also sort by Date descending to see the most recent usage first.

7. Build a basic screen‑time chart

The goal is to visualise how much total time you spend on your phone each day, and which apps dominate.

Create a pivot table:
- Excel: Insert → PivotTable → select the whole data range.
- Google Sheets: Data → Pivot table → set the range.
In the pivot configuration:
- Drag Date to the Rows area (group by day).
- Drag Screen time (minutes) to the Values area and set aggregation to Sum.
Insert a line chart based on the pivot table:
- Excel: Insert → Line → Line with markers.
- Google Sheets: Insert → Chart → Chart type → Line chart.
Label the axes – X‑axis = Date, Y‑axis = Total screen time (minutes).

Result: a visual trend line that shows spikes (e.g., weekend binge‑watching) and troughs (e.g., workdays).

8. Drill down to app‑specific usage

Sometimes you need to know which app is responsible for a spike.

In the same pivot table, add App name to the Columns area.
The pivot now shows a stacked bar for each day, each colour representing a different app.
Convert the pivot to a stacked column chart (Excel: Change Chart Type → Stacked Column).
Hover over a bar to see the exact minutes per app.

This chart instantly tells you whether a single social app or a collection of games is the culprit.

9. Identify patterns with filters

Use spreadsheet filters to answer questions like “How much time did I spend on social media on weekdays?”

Add a new column called DayOfWeek using a formula:
- Excel: =TEXT(A2, "dddd") (assuming Date is column A).
- Google Sheets: =TEXT(A2, "dddd").
Apply a filter on DayOfWeek and select Monday‑Friday.
Optionally, add another filter on App name to keep only social‑media apps (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, Twitter).
Sum the Screen time (minutes) column to see the total weekday social media usage.

Repeat the process for weekends to compare.

10. Automate the analysis (optional advanced step)

If you export Digital Wellbeing data weekly, you can let the spreadsheet update itself.

In Google Sheets, go to Extensions → Apps Script.

Paste the following script (replace YOUR_DRIVE_FOLDER_ID with the ID of the folder where you store CSVs):

function importLatestDW() {
  var folder = DriveApp.getFolderById('YOUR_DRIVE_FOLDER_ID');
  var files = folder.getFilesByName('digital_wellbeing_*.csv');
  var latest = null;
  while (files.hasNext()) {
    var f = files.next();
    if (!latest || f.getDateCreated() > latest.getDateCreated()) {
      latest = f;
    }
  }
  if (latest) {
    var csv = Utilities.parseCsv(latest.getBlob().getDataAsString());
    var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName('RawData');
    sheet.clearContents();
    sheet.getRange(1,1,csv.length,csv[0].length).setValues(csv);
  }
}

Save and run the function. Grant the required permissions.
Set a trigger (clock icon) to run daily at 02:00 AM – the script will pull the newest CSV from Drive and overwrite the RawData sheet.

Now your charts always reflect the latest data without manual copying.

11. Troubleshooting

Export option missing

Make sure you are on Android 12 or newer. On Android 11 and earlier the system UI does not expose the export button.
Some OEM skins hide the three‑dot menu; look for a More button at the bottom of the Digital Wellbeing screen.
If the option is still absent, use the adb method described below.

Using ADB to pull the data (Android 11‑)

Enable Developer options → USB debugging on the phone.
Connect the phone to a PC and run:
```
adb shell dumpsys usagestats --daily
```
The command prints a long XML block. Save it to a file (e.g., dw.xml) and use an online XML‑to‑CSV converter.
Import the resulting CSV into your spreadsheet as described earlier.

This method is more technical but works on any Android version that supports usagestats.

File not found after export

Check the Downloads folder again; some devices place the file under Internal storage > Documents > DigitalWellbeing.
Search the device using the Files app: type digital_wellbeing_ in the search bar.

Spreadsheet shows garbled characters

Ensure the CSV is opened with UTF‑8 encoding. In Excel, use Data → From Text/CSV and select UTF‑8.
If you see � symbols, the file may have been corrupted during transfer – re‑export and copy again.

12. Privacy and security considerations

The CSV contains a full log of every app you opened and for how long. Treat it like any other personal data – store it in an encrypted folder or use a password‑protected spreadsheet.
If you upload the file to a cloud service, review its sharing settings. A stray link could expose your habits to strangers.
When using the ADB method, the usagestats dump includes package names of system apps. Avoid sharing the dump publicly.

13. Edge cases and manufacturer quirks

Samsung One UI: The export button is labelled Export usage data and appears under the three‑dot menu inside Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls > Dashboard.
Pixel devices: The CSV is saved directly to ~/Download with a timestamp in the filename.
Android Go: The feature may be disabled to save storage. In that case, the ADB method is the only reliable path.

14. Alternative tools (if you prefer not to use spreadsheets)

Power BI Desktop – import the CSV and use its built‑in time‑series visualisations.
Tableau Public – free version that can create interactive dashboards you can host online (keep the file private).

Python pandas – for programmers, a short script can read the CSV, aggregate by week, and plot with matplotlib.

import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

df = pd.read_csv('digital_wellbeing_2024-09-28.csv')
weekly = df.groupby(pd.Grouper(key='Date', freq='W'))['Screen time (minutes)'].sum()
weekly.plot(kind='bar')
plt.show()

These options are useful if you already have a data‑analysis workflow.

15. Frequently asked questions

Can I export data for a specific date range? The built‑in export always includes the entire history stored on the device. To isolate a range, filter the CSV in your spreadsheet.
Does exporting affect battery life? No. The operation is a simple read of the usage stats database and takes only a few seconds.
Will the export include app usage from the previous Android version after an OS upgrade? Yes, as long as the new system retained the usage‑stats database (most upgrades do).
Is my data sent to Google when I export? No. The export is performed locally; the file never leaves the device unless you choose to upload it.

Wrap‑up

By following this tutorial you have turned a hidden CSV file into a powerful visual tool that tells you exactly where your screen time goes. The workflow is repeatable: export, copy, open, filter, and chart. With the optional automation script you can keep the analysis up‑to‑date without manual steps. Remember to keep the CSV safe, because it is a detailed diary of your digital habits.

Tip: Schedule a monthly export reminder in your phone’s Calendar app. A quick 30‑second export each month gives you a long‑term trend without any extra effort.

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