Scrivener saves your work in as a group of xml and text files packaged with the extension (.scriv). You can set Scrivener to automatically backup your file (Scrivener Preferences: Backup), which creates a duplicate .scriv file in the location of your choosing. (See Figure 1.) Working with this file package means you will need an active copy of the Scrivener application up and running to view the (.scriv) file. If you experience a fatal system crash or simply need to migrate systems, there is a period when the (.scriv) file is inaccessible.⁽¹⁾

On the general principle of being able to access data without proprietary software, keep a separate text version of any Scrivener files. Scrivener makes this easy using the options in the export menu command (File > Export > Files). (See Figure 2.) The export is based on your active location in the document, so make sure you have selected your main folder, typically Draft. (See Figure 3.)

Whichever file format you select for the export, the output will mirror the file and folder structure in your Scrivener document. (See Figures 4, 5, and 6.) All Scrivenings⁽²⁾ export as individual text files and any folders, or files acting as folders, export as folders.⁽³⁾

The Native Scrivener File Package Compared to the Exported Files

Scrivener’s documentation notes that using the Scrivener packaged files, “you would still be able to open and edit all of your work in another program that supports RTF files.” ⁽⁴⁾ While you can access the text, it is not so easily done. The images below compares a section of the text in the binder with that same text within the packaged files. The file and folder structure in the Scrivener package is based on the XML scheme used to keep track of the different parts of the Scrivener document. (See Figure 6.) You will need to dig through these folders to find your text.⁽⁵⁾

Figure 4. Scrivener’s Draft Folder Contents with the Main Interface Text Displayed

Figure 5. Scrivener’s Exported File Structure with the Main Interface File Selected

Figure 6. Scrivener’s Packaged Files with the Main Interface Text Selected

Options to Consider During Export

File Type: All of the formats will output the same file and folder structure. Which format you choose will depend on whether your file has images and what operating system you work on. The plain text (.txt) and rich text (.rtf), which is plain text with formatting, are easily opened on any system, but they will not include any images. The rich text with attachments (.rtfd) will include graphics but will only open on a Mac operation system. Word might be the best choice if you are on a Windows operating system and have placed graphics.

Number Exported Files: This option adds a consecutive number in front of each file and folder, which you will need to keep your scrivenings in the same order they appear in the binder. Once Scrivener files and folders are exported into separate files and folders on your system, they are sorted by filename or date. This means you won’t be able to sort them back to the order they were in the binder order. For example, compare an un-numbered export (See Figure 9.) with a numbered export (See Figure 10.). You can see how the un-numbered files appear in a different order than they do in the binder. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 9. Results of Scrivener’s Exported File Structure Without Using the Numbered Option

Figure 10. Results of Scrivener’s Exported File Structure Using the Numbered Option

Do Not Export Subdocuments: This option can easily result in nothing being exported. Everything inside the Draft folder is a subdocument, so if you export while the Draft folder is active/selected, nothing will be exported. This option is useful is when you want to export a just few of the files in your binder. To do this, control-click the desired files (See Figure 11.) and export with the Do Not Export Subdocuments option checked. Compare the export with subdocuments (See Figure 12.) and without subdocuments. (See Figure 13.)

Figure 13. Results of Scrivener’s Exported File Structure Using the Do Not Export Subdocuments Option

⁽¹⁾ While technically accessible, the text is obscured in a folder system. You can’t interact with text in the same manner you can using the binder. The section above, titled The Native Scrivener File Package Compared to the Exported Files, illustrates why these files are not easily used.
⁽²⁾ The term scrivenings refers to the smallest unit of writing in your Scrivener document, essentially the text that appears in the editor window. Scrivener documentation seems to have dropped this term in favor of using text, file, or document to indicate these units of writing. However, the term is still used for the editor view mode called Scrivenings Mode, which displays all scrivenings in a continuous scrollable panel.
⁽³⁾ Files and folders are functionally closer in Scrivener than they typically are in other applications. Folders in Scrivener are files that have files nested under them. Any file functioning as a folder will be exported as a folder. If your folder contains text as well as subdocuments, both a folder and a text document will be created during export. For example, the Main Interface file is exported both as a system folder and as a text file containing the text inside the Main Interface scrivening.
Scrivener uses the term subdocuments to refer to any nested files. (You can omit subdocuments from the export, see the Options to Consider During Export section above.)
A folder can be represented with a folder icon as shown with the folder Get Oriented in Figure 3, or they can be represented by a stacked papers icon as shown with the file Main Interface in Figure 3. (You can even set them to be other icons or create your own.) Folders are identifiable by the toggle arrow displayed next to them regardless of the icon used to represent them. See the article on the Literature and Latte Blog, Use Folders and Texts to Power Up the Scrivener Binder, for more examples.
⁽⁴⁾ See Scrivener’s File Format in the Interactive Tutorial accessed with File > New Project > Getting Started > Interactive Tutorial.
⁽⁵⁾To view these files Ctrl-click on a .scriv file in the Finder and select Show Package Contents from the contextual menu that appears.