Download Search Results

You can download search results from Congress.gov for any search against a single collection. Downloading search results for a multi-collection search, such as All Sources, is not available at this time.

Follow these steps to download legislation search results.

1. Execute a search from any search page including the search bar, search form, query builder or advanced legislation search form.
   NOTE: Downloading results for a command line search is not available at this time.
2. Look for the Download Results link on the top left side of the search results page, next to the Save this Search link.
3. Click on the Download Results link.
4. Choose which data fields to include in your download using the checkboxes on the popup.
5. Click Download Results on the popup when you have completed your selections.
6. Use your browser controls to open or save the file.

Follow these steps to download search results from a collection other than legislation.

1. Execute a search from any search page including the search bar, search forms or query builder.
   NOTE: Downloading results for a command line search is not available at this time.
2. Look for the Download Results link on the top left side of the search results page, next to the Save this Search link.
3. Click on the Download Results link.
4. Click OK on the popup that appears.
5. Use your browser controls to open or save the file. Only the data fields that appear on your search results page are available in the downloaded file.

Congress.gov search results are delivered as a comma-separated file, with a .csv filename extension. This format works well when opened by a spreadsheet application, such as Microsoft Excel.

When you open the file as a spreadsheet, you will see the date and time of your download in the first row, and the URL of the search used to retrieve the results in the second row.

After a blank third row, column headers are included in the fourth row. Data from your search results are included in the following rows, with each item retrieved by your search in its own row. Data is current as of the date of your download.

You can download up to 2500 results. If your search returns more than 2500 results, you can narrow your result set using filters such as Congress or Policy Area. After downloading the first set of results, change your filter selection to download other sets.

How to Remove Special Characters and HTML Codes from Your Spreadsheet

If you downloaded results in the legislation collection, you may find special characters in titles, sponsors, and cosponsors. While those special characters display as expected on Congress.gov, the csv file is unable to accommodate them. Additionally, if your legislation download includes the latest summary field, it will include HTML codes. Follow the below steps in order to remove special characters and HTML codes in your opened csv file within your spreadsheet application, like Microsoft Excel.

1. Control + F or select “Find & Replace” under “Find & Select”.
2. Select the “Replace” tab and insert the items in the chart below into the “Find what” and “Replace with” fields.
3. Click “Replace all”.