---
title: "Preview, shortlists, and property research"
description: "Preview Zillow properties, save local shortlists with notes, and export selected rows."
canonical: "https://www.propertydatalabs.com/docs/extension/property-research"
---

# Preview, shortlists, and property research

**Available in 3.0.8**

  The **Preview** button, **Property research** workspace, and shortlists described here are
  available in **Zillow Data Exporter 3.0.8**. If those controls are missing, follow the
  [update guide](/blog/how-to-update-zillow-data-exporter), then refresh your Zillow tabs.

Sign in to the Extension with your PropertyDataLabs account before starting. Research preview supports
Zillow **For sale**, **For rent**, **Sold**, and **Saved Homes** results pages. Individual listing-detail
pages use the existing single-listing export workflow and cannot be previewed here.

## Preview and export selected properties

1. Open the Zillow results page you want to research and apply your filters.
2. Select **Preview** in the dock, or open **Settings → Property research**.
3. Under **Fields to include**, keep **My export settings** or choose a task preset available on
   your plan. Locked presets show a padlock and require a paid plan.
4. Select **Preview current page**. The table shows the captured rows and capture time.
5. Select a column heading to sort. Use the row checkboxes to keep only the properties you need.
6. Select **Export selected** to download a file, or **Copy rows** and paste into your
   spreadsheet. Copy uses tab-separated columns with a header row.

The preview button is disabled and the table shows loading placeholders while properties are
captured. **Copy rows** starts from your click; the Extension does not request a clipboard
permission. A toast confirms when the rows have been copied. If the browser blocks the write,
the copy is canceled without using an export or showing a success toast.

Use **Refresh preview** after changing Zillow filters or moving to another results page. A
preview is a captured sample of the current page; it does not automatically combine search pages or
retrieve Advanced property details. Use [Export pages](/docs/guides/extension-guides/export-all-pages)
for the existing multi-page collection workflow.

Expand **Field coverage** to see the number of present values for each
captured field. A dash means unavailable in this capture; zero is a value. Coverage measures presence,
not accuracy, and describes the full captured table rather than only the checked rows.

After exporting, an inline receipt reports rows prepared, duplicates excluded, missing values,
and captured sources. Copying shows only the success toast, so the table stays in place. Your
duplicate-prevention settings still apply, so the output can contain fewer
rows than you selected. If every selected property is excluded, review the
[duplicate settings](/docs/extension/menu/duplicate-listings-settings) before exporting again.

## Save properties across searches

1. Preview a results page and select the properties to keep.
2. Select **Save to shortlist**. A success toast confirms how many properties were saved.
3. Repeat on other searches as needed.
4. Open **My shortlist** to see all four lists: **For sale**, **For rent**, **Sold**, and **Saved Homes**.
   Each shows its saved property count. Empty lists are disabled. Use **Refresh shortlists** to
   reload the counts.
5. Select a list with saved properties to open its table.
   Use **All shortlists** to return to the overview.
6. Select **View property** on a row to open it in the **Shortlisted property** tab. The tab also
   lets you search by address or type and filter results to one property type. Choose a result to
   see every captured field; those values are read-only and cannot be selected for copying.
   Edit the research note and comma-separated tags, then select **Save notes & tags**.
   A toast confirms the save or explains a failure.
7. Select rows and export or copy them. Shortlist output includes **Research note**, **Tags**,
   **Source URL**, and **Captured at** beside the property fields.

Properties saved on different days stay in the same account-specific shortlist. The four property
types are views of that ongoing collection, not separate daily lists. Re-saving the same property
within the same listing type refreshes its captured data and preserves its notes and tags; it does
not keep a prior capture. Changing **Fields to include** updates an open shortlist automatically and
shows a **Shortlist fields updated** toast. Checked rows stay selected. Use **Refresh shortlist**
to reload saved properties. Shortlist exports use one property type at a time.
Refresh buttons show a spinner and stay disabled while the lists or table reload.

Saving a property keeps all of its captured data, including fields hidden by the current configuration.
You can choose a configuration with more fields when viewing the shortlist, or open the property
detail to inspect all saved fields. Values that were absent from the captured page remain empty;
changing fields does not fetch fresh property data.

The shortlist belongs to the signed-in account in this browser. It is separate from Zillow Saved
Homes and does not sync to another browser or computer. It holds up to **200 properties total across
all types**, subject to a **2 MB** storage limit. Each note allows **2,000 characters**; the tags field
allows **200 characters**.

Use **Remove** on a table row to delete just that property, or **Remove selected** to delete checked
properties of the open type. **Clear entire shortlist** asks for confirmation and removes every
type, including notes and tags. Export your research before
clearing Extension storage or uninstalling the Extension if you want to retain a copy.

## Choose a task preset

Basic and higher plans, including Solo Lifetime, can choose a preset under **Fields to include**:

| Preset                  | Use                                                                                     |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| My export settings      | Use your configured fields for the listing type.                                        |
| Minimal property list   | Start with identity, address, price, bedrooms, bathrooms, and living-area fields.       |
| Sales / sold comparison | Add supported dates, price-per-area, estimates, and location fields to the minimal set. |
| Rental research         | Add supported rental-building and unit-availability fields to the research set.         |

Changing a preset updates an already loaded preview or shortlist automatically. A **Preview fields
updated** or **Shortlist fields updated** toast confirms success, and checked rows stay selected
when those properties are still present. Before the first preview, choose a preset and select
**Preview current page**. Presets select supported fields; they do not fetch missing
data. Free accounts use **My export settings** with their existing server-supplied fields. The other
presets display a padlock and cannot be selected on a Free plan.

The current-page preview and shortlist remember separate field choices while the workspace is open.
Changing one does not change the other.

## Continue in Cloud

Use **Continue in Cloud** after a page preview or after opening a shortlist:

* **Export this search** opens the Cloud Importer new-job form with the captured search
  URL and listing type filled in. It is available for sale, rental, and sold searches, rather than
  Saved Homes or a local shortlist.
* **Fetch selected properties once** appears for sale, rental, and sold shortlists when every
  checked property has a supported Zillow home-detail URL. The listing type is filled in, and run
  frequency starts at **Manual**. It is not offered for Saved Homes shortlists, which can contain
  mixed property types.
* **Monitor selected properties** prepares Cloud Monitoring with the checked properties that
  have supported Zillow home-detail URLs (`/homedetails/.../ID_zpid/`). It can use a page preview or
  shortlist. If any checked property has an unsupported URL, the handoff is unavailable; apartment
  and building URLs are not supported by this prefill.

Review sources, schedule, delivery, and credit requirements in the web app before creating anything.
The link itself creates no job and starts no run. Cloud tools require a Cloud-capable plan, such as
Pro, Ultra, Solo Lifetime, or an eligible legacy plan; a padlock appears when your account does not
have access. You can open setup to review access requirements. Running a job also requires Cloud
credits, separate from Extension export allowances. See [Cloud Importer](/docs/web/cloud/cloud-importer/create-job),
[Cloud Fetcher](/docs/web/cloud/cloud-fetcher), and
[Cloud Monitoring](/docs/web/cloud/cloud-monitoring).

## Plans, export allowance, and delivery

| Action                                   | Free                                               | Basic and higher, including Solo Lifetime                       | Uses an export           |
| ---------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ |
| Preview, coverage, and shortlist editing | Yes                                                | Yes                                                             | No                       |
| Export or copy selected rows             | Up to 40 rows; existing Free fields; CSV downloads | Up to 800 selected rows; configured fields; CSV/Excel downloads | One per download or copy |
| Task presets                             | No                                                 | Yes                                                             | No                       |

The 800-row selection limit does not make a page preview collect 800 properties or increase the
200-property shortlist capacity. Downloads and copies follow your account's existing monthly
allowance and duplicate filter. Account access is checked again when you act on a capture.

Research downloads are saved on this computer. For configured Google Sheets delivery or Extension
export history, use the existing immediate **Export page** or **Export pages** workflow. See
[Extension features by plan](/docs/extension/plan-access) for the full access comparison.