How to Export Cycle Tracking Data from Apple Health

Apple Health can record a remarkable amount of cycle data — period flow, spotting, cramps and other symptoms, basal body temperature, cervical mucus quality, ovulation and pregnancy test results, and cycle factors like pregnancy, lactation, or contraceptive use. But when your OB-GYN, endocrinologist, or fertility specialist asks for your cycle history, getting that data out in a usable format is not straightforward.

This guide shows you how to export your cycle tracking data as a clean PDF or CSV file using vitalina, a free iPhone app that reads your Apple Health data and generates doctor-ready reports in under two minutes.

A short history of cycle tracking in Apple Health

• September 2014 — Apple Health launched without reproductive health tracking. The omission drew significant public criticism.
• September 2015 — With iOS 9, Apple added a Reproductive Health section to HealthKit, letting users manually log menstruation, basal body temperature, and cervical mucus quality.
• June 2019 — Apple announced a dedicated Cycle Tracking app for iPhone and Apple Watch at WWDC 2019.
• September 2019 — Cycle Tracking launched publicly with period and fertility window predictions, symptom logging, and notifications.
• December 2020 — Apple added Cycle Factors, letting users log pregnancy, lactation, or contraceptive use to improve prediction accuracy.

Five years after launch is a long time to wait to be included. Whatever app you now use to log your cycle — Apple's built-in one, Clue, Flo, Natural Cycles, or something else — the important thing is that the data belongs to you, and you can take it with you.

Why Apple Health's built-in export does not work for cycle data

Apple Health does let you export your data as XML, but the result is a single file containing every health data point your iPhone has ever recorded. There is no way to filter by metric, so your cycle data is buried alongside steps, sleep, nutrition, and everything else. There is no date range control — you cannot ask for just the last six cycles. The file is not readable by a human, and there are no charts or summaries.

Apple doesn't hand you the XML directly either. You get an Export.zip archive that you have to unzip on a computer. Inside is a folder called apple_health_export, and the full Export.xml sits inside it alongside supporting files. For long-time Apple Watch users that XML can easily reach 2.9 GB — 11 years of continuous health data in one file.

Cycle data is especially painful in this format: a single period might be represented as dozens of XML entries for flow level, spotting, symptoms, and basal body temperature samples, all interleaved with unrelated metrics and spread across a file your OB-GYN cannot open.

vitalina solves this by reading your Apple Health data locally on your iPhone and letting you export just your cycle tracking data — for any date range you choose — as a PDF or CSV.

What you'll need

• An iPhone running iOS 18 or later
• Cycle tracking data recorded in Apple Health (from Apple's Cycle Tracking app, Apple Watch, or a third-party app like Clue, Flo, Natural Cycles, Ovia, or Stardust)

Step 1: Download vitalina

Download vitalina from the App Store. It's free to use with no account or sign-up required.

Step 2: Allow access to Apple Health

When you first open vitalina, tap Allow Health Access and confirm the permissions in the Apple Health prompt. vitalina only requests read access — it cannot modify or delete your health data.

Your data never leaves your device. vitalina processes everything locally on your iPhone with no cloud uploads, no tracking, and no analytics — which matters especially for reproductive health data.

Step 3: Create a custom export

On the main screen, tap Create Custom Export. A custom export gives you full control over which cycle metrics to include, the date range, and the output format.

Step 4: Select your cycle tracking metrics

In the custom export, you'll see all available health metrics grouped by category. Under Cycle Tracking, you can select any combination of:

• Menstruation — period start and end dates, with flow level (light, medium, heavy) and spotting
• Symptoms — cramps, bloating, headache, mood changes, breast tenderness, fatigue, nausea, acne, and more
• Basal body temperature — the morning temperature reading used for fertility awareness
• Cervical mucus quality — dry, sticky, creamy, watery, or egg-white
• Ovulation test result — positive, negative, or indeterminate
• Pregnancy test result — positive, negative, or indeterminate
• Sexual activity — with or without protection, when logged
• Cycle factors — pregnancy, lactation, or contraceptive use

For an OB-GYN appointment the most commonly requested combination is menstruation, flow, spotting, symptoms (especially cramps), and basal body temperature. For a fertility specialist you'll usually want to add cervical mucus and ovulation test results.

Step 5: Pick a date range

Cycle data is only useful in context — a single cycle rarely tells the full story. vitalina lets you pick the window that fits your appointment:

• Last 7 days and Last 14 days — available for free
• Last 30 days, 3 months, 1 year, and All time — available with vitalina Pro
• Custom date range — pick any exact start and end date with Pro

If your OB-GYN or fertility specialist wants to see three to six months of cycles — for example to assess cycle regularity, diagnose endometriosis or PCOS, review perimenopausal changes, or plan a fertility workup — the Pro upgrade is a one-time purchase that unlocks all extended date ranges.

Step 6: Choose your export format

For cycle tracking, two formats are most useful:

• PDF: The best format for doctor appointments. Includes a cycle timeline, period length and flow summary, basal body temperature chart, a symptom overview, and clean formatting your OB-GYN or endocrinologist can read immediately. You can email it, AirDrop it, or print it before your appointment.
• CSV: Opens in Excel or Google Sheets. Ideal for cycle-by-cycle analysis, fertility charting, or when a specialist wants to import the raw data into another tool.

Both formats are available for free.

Step 7: Tap "Export Now"

Tap Export Now. vitalina reads your cycle data from Apple Health, formats the export, and generates your file — usually within a few seconds, even for years of logged cycles.

Step 8: Share with your doctor

Once your export is ready, you'll see a full preview of the file. From here, tap Export to open the iOS share sheet, where you can:

• Email it to your OB-GYN or care team before your appointment
• AirDrop or share via Messages to anyone nearby
• Save to Files on your iPhone or iCloud Drive
• Print a physical copy to bring to the clinic

This is the same flow people use for OB-GYN and well-woman visits, fertility workups and IVF preparation, endometriosis and PCOS diagnosis, perimenopause consultations, postpartum follow-up, and endocrinology appointments where hormonal health needs context from several cycles.

Which apps log cycle data to Apple Health?

vitalina exports any cycle data stored in Apple Health, regardless of where it came from. This includes:

• Apple Cycle Tracking — the built-in iPhone and Apple Watch app
• Apple Watch — wrist-based temperature sensing on Series 8, 9, 10, Ultra and Ultra 2 for cycle estimates and retrospective ovulation
• Clue — period and cycle tracking, when Apple Health sync is enabled
• Flo — period tracking and predictions
• Natural Cycles — FDA-cleared fertility awareness
• Ovia — fertility, pregnancy, and parenting
• Stardust — cycle tracking with lunar context
• Manual entries — data entered by hand in the Health app

If the reading appears in Apple Health under Cycle Tracking, vitalina can export it.

How much does vitalina cost?

vitalina is free with 5 unique exports and date ranges up to 14 days. vitalina Pro is a one-time purchase (no subscription) that unlocks unlimited exports, extended date ranges up to all time, and Shortcuts automation. Re-exporting the same configuration is always free.

Download vitalina free on the App Store →

Frequently asked questions