diff --git a/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/export.js b/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/export.js
index 6f15cee85..14d872df8 100644
--- a/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/export.js
+++ b/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/export.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import treeService from '../services/tree.js';
 import treeUtils from "../services/tree_utils.js";
 import utils from "../services/utils.js";
 import protectedSessionHolder from "../services/protected_session_holder.js";
+import messagingService from "../services/messaging.js";
+import infoService from "../services/info.js";
 
 const $dialog = $("#export-dialog");
 const $form = $("#export-form");
@@ -10,8 +12,18 @@ const $subtreeFormats = $("#export-subtree-formats");
 const $singleFormats = $("#export-single-formats");
 const $subtreeType = $("#export-type-subtree");
 const $singleType = $("#export-type-single");
+const $exportNoteCountWrapper = $("#export-progress-count-wrapper");
+const $exportNoteCount = $("#export-progress-count");
+const $exportButton = $("#export-button");
+
+let exportId = '';
 
 async function showDialog(defaultType) {
+    // each opening of the dialog resets the exportId so we don't associate it with previous exports anymore
+    exportId = '';
+    $exportNoteCountWrapper.hide();
+    $exportNoteCount.text('0');
+
     if (defaultType === 'subtree') {
         $subtreeType.prop("checked", true).change();
     }
@@ -33,6 +45,8 @@ async function showDialog(defaultType) {
 }
 
 $form.submit(() => {
+    $exportButton.attr("disabled", "disabled");
+
     const exportType = $dialog.find("input[name='export-type']:checked").val();
 
     if (!exportType) {
@@ -49,13 +63,13 @@ $form.submit(() => {
 
     exportBranch(currentNode.data.branchId, exportType, exportFormat);
 
-    $dialog.modal('hide');
-
     return false;
 });
 
 function exportBranch(branchId, type, format) {
-    const url = utils.getHost() + `/api/notes/${branchId}/export/${type}/${format}?protectedSessionId=` + encodeURIComponent(protectedSessionHolder.getProtectedSessionId());
+    exportId = utils.randomString(10);
+
+    const url = utils.getHost() + `/api/notes/${branchId}/export/${type}/${format}/${exportId}?protectedSessionId=` + encodeURIComponent(protectedSessionHolder.getProtectedSessionId());
 
     utils.download(url);
 }
@@ -79,6 +93,30 @@ $('input[name=export-type]').change(function () {
     }
 });
 
+messagingService.subscribeToMessages(async message => {
+    if (message.type === 'export-error') {
+        infoService.showError(message.message);
+        $dialog.modal('hide');
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (!message.exportId || message.exportId !== exportId) {
+        // incoming messages must correspond to this export instance
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (message.type === 'export-progress-count') {
+        $exportNoteCountWrapper.show();
+
+        $exportNoteCount.text(message.progressCount);
+    }
+    else if (message.type === 'export-finished') {
+        $dialog.modal('hide');
+
+        infoService.showMessage("Export finished successfully.");
+    }
+});
+
 export default {
     showDialog
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/import.js b/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/import.js
index f482d104e..905d178e3 100644
--- a/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/import.js
+++ b/src/public/javascripts/dialogs/import.js
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ const $dialog = $("#import-dialog");
 const $form = $("#import-form");
 const $noteTitle = $dialog.find(".note-title");
 const $fileUploadInput = $("#import-file-upload-input");
-const $importNoteCountWrapper = $("#import-note-count-wrapper");
-const $importNoteCount = $("#import-note-count");
+const $importNoteCountWrapper = $("#import-progress-count-wrapper");
+const $importNoteCount = $("#import-progress-count");
 const $importButton = $("#import-button");
 
 let importId;
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ messagingService.subscribeToMessages(async message => {
         return;
     }
 
-    if (message.type === 'import-note-count') {
+    if (message.type === 'import-progress-count') {
         $importNoteCountWrapper.show();
 
-        $importNoteCount.text(message.count);
+        $importNoteCount.text(message.progressCount);
     }
     else if (message.type === 'import-finished') {
         $dialog.modal('hide');
diff --git a/src/routes/api/export.js b/src/routes/api/export.js
index cd590cbd7..304c5b920 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/export.js
+++ b/src/routes/api/export.js
@@ -4,22 +4,76 @@ const tarExportService = require('../../services/export/tar');
 const singleExportService = require('../../services/export/single');
 const opmlExportService = require('../../services/export/opml');
 const repository = require("../../services/repository");
+const messagingService = require("../../services/messaging");
+const log = require("../../services/log");
+
+class ExportContext {
+    constructor(exportId) {
+        // exportId is to distinguish between different export events - it is possible (though not recommended)
+        // to have multiple exports going at the same time
+        this.exportId = exportId;
+        // count is mean to represent count of exported notes where practical, otherwise it's just some measure of progress
+        this.progressCount = 0;
+        this.lastSentCountTs = Date.now();
+    }
+
+    async increaseProgressCount() {
+        this.progressCount++;
+
+        if (Date.now() - this.lastSentCountTs >= 200) {
+            this.lastSentCountTs = Date.now();
+
+            await messagingService.sendMessageToAllClients({
+                exportId: this.exportId,
+                type: 'export-progress-count',
+                progressCount: this.progressCount
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
+    async exportFinished() {
+        await messagingService.sendMessageToAllClients({
+            exportId: this.exportId,
+            type: 'export-finished'
+        });
+    }
+
+    // must remaing static
+    async reportError(message) {
+        await messagingService.sendMessageToAllClients({
+            type: 'export-error',
+            message: message
+        });
+    }
+}
 
 async function exportBranch(req, res) {
-    const {branchId, type, format} = req.params;
+    const {branchId, type, format, exportId} = req.params;
     const branch = await repository.getBranch(branchId);
 
-    if (type === 'subtree' && (format === 'html' || format === 'markdown')) {
-        await tarExportService.exportToTar(branch, format, res);
+    const exportContext = new ExportContext(exportId);
+
+    try {
+        if (type === 'subtree' && (format === 'html' || format === 'markdown')) {
+            await tarExportService.exportToTar(exportContext, branch, format, res);
+        }
+        else if (type === 'single') {
+            await singleExportService.exportSingleNote(exportContext, branch, format, res);
+        }
+        else if (format === 'opml') {
+            await opmlExportService.exportToOpml(exportContext, branch, res);
+        }
+        else {
+            return [404, "Unrecognized export format " + format];
+        }
     }
-    else if (type === 'single') {
-        await singleExportService.exportSingleNote(branch, format, res);
-    }
-    else if (format === 'opml') {
-        await opmlExportService.exportToOpml(branch, res);
-    }
-    else {
-        return [404, "Unrecognized export format " + format];
+    catch (e) {
+        const message = "Export failed with following error: '" + e.message + "'. More details might be in the logs.";
+        exportContext.reportError(message);
+
+        log.error(message + e.stack);
+
+        res.status(500).send(message);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/routes/api/import.js b/src/routes/api/import.js
index 1b50c4a8c..ec63abd8f 100644
--- a/src/routes/api/import.js
+++ b/src/routes/api/import.js
@@ -16,19 +16,20 @@ class ImportContext {
         // importId is to distinguish between different import events - it is possible (though not recommended)
         // to have multiple imports going at the same time
         this.importId = importId;
+        // // count is mean to represent count of exported notes where practical, otherwise it's just some measure of progress
         this.count = 0;
         this.lastSentCountTs = Date.now();
     }
 
-    async increaseCount() {
+    async increaseProgressCount() {
         this.count++;
 
-        if (Date.now() - this.lastSentCountTs >= 1000) {
+        if (Date.now() - this.lastSentCountTs >= 200) {
             this.lastSentCountTs = Date.now();
 
             await messagingService.sendMessageToAllClients({
                 importId: this.importId,
-                type: 'import-note-count',
+                type: 'import-progress-count',
                 count: this.count
             });
         }
diff --git a/src/routes/routes.js b/src/routes/routes.js
index 1dc887eca..4de545612 100644
--- a/src/routes/routes.js
+++ b/src/routes/routes.js
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ function register(app) {
     apiRoute(PUT, '/api/notes/:noteId/clone-to/:parentNoteId', cloningApiRoute.cloneNoteToParent);
     apiRoute(PUT, '/api/notes/:noteId/clone-after/:afterBranchId', cloningApiRoute.cloneNoteAfter);
 
-    route(GET, '/api/notes/:branchId/export/:type/:format', [auth.checkApiAuthOrElectron], exportRoute.exportBranch);
+    route(GET, '/api/notes/:branchId/export/:type/:format/:exportId', [auth.checkApiAuthOrElectron], exportRoute.exportBranch);
     route(POST, '/api/notes/:parentNoteId/import/:importId', [auth.checkApiAuthOrElectron, uploadMiddleware], importRoute.importToBranch, apiResultHandler);
 
     route(POST, '/api/notes/:parentNoteId/upload', [auth.checkApiAuthOrElectron, uploadMiddleware],
diff --git a/src/services/export/opml.js b/src/services/export/opml.js
index 5a9f164ed..9aef5033b 100644
--- a/src/services/export/opml.js
+++ b/src/services/export/opml.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 const repository = require("../repository");
 const utils = require('../utils');
 
-async function exportToOpml(branch, res) {
+async function exportToOpml(exportContext, branch, res) {
     const note = await branch.getNote();
 
     async function exportNoteInner(branchId) {
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ async function exportToOpml(branch, res) {
 
         res.write(`<outline title="${preparedTitle}" text="${preparedContent}">\n`);
 
+        exportContext.increaseProgressCount();
+
         for (const child of await note.getChildBranches()) {
             await exportNoteInner(child.branchId);
         }
@@ -45,6 +47,8 @@ async function exportToOpml(branch, res) {
     res.write(`</body>
 </opml>`);
     res.end();
+
+    exportContext.exportFinished();
 }
 
 function prepareText(text) {
diff --git a/src/services/export/single.js b/src/services/export/single.js
index e5f2b833e..0e7c4dca9 100644
--- a/src/services/export/single.js
+++ b/src/services/export/single.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const mimeTypes = require('mime-types');
 const html = require('html');
 const utils = require('../utils');
 
-async function exportSingleNote(branch, format, res) {
+async function exportSingleNote(exportContext, branch, format, res) {
     const note = await branch.getNote();
 
     if (note.type === 'image' || note.type === 'file') {
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ async function exportSingleNote(branch, format, res) {
     res.setHeader('Content-Type', mime + '; charset=UTF-8');
 
     res.send(payload);
+
+    exportContext.increaseProgressCount();
+    exportContext.exportFinished();
 }
 
 module.exports = {
diff --git a/src/services/export/tar.js b/src/services/export/tar.js
index 7634f3cbb..407bfe5fd 100644
--- a/src/services/export/tar.js
+++ b/src/services/export/tar.js
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ const utils = require('../utils');
 const sanitize = require("sanitize-filename");
 
 /**
- * @param format - 'html' or 'markdown'
+ * @param {ExportContext} exportContext
+ * @param {Branch} branch
+ * @param {string} format - 'html' or 'markdown'
  */
-async function exportToTar(branch, format, res) {
+async function exportToTar(exportContext, branch, format, res) {
     let turndownService = format === 'markdown' ? new TurndownService() : null;
 
     const pack = tar.pack();
@@ -114,6 +116,8 @@ async function exportToTar(branch, format, res) {
             })
         };
 
+        exportContext.increaseProgressCount();
+
         if (note.type === 'text') {
             meta.format = format;
         }
@@ -186,6 +190,8 @@ async function exportToTar(branch, format, res) {
             pack.entry({name: path + noteMeta.dataFileName, size: content.length}, content);
         }
 
+        exportContext.increaseProgressCount();
+
         if (noteMeta.children && noteMeta.children.length > 0) {
             const directoryPath = path + noteMeta.dirFileName;
 
@@ -231,6 +237,8 @@ async function exportToTar(branch, format, res) {
     res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'application/tar');
 
     pack.pipe(res);
+
+    exportContext.exportFinished();
 }
 
 module.exports = {
diff --git a/src/services/import/enex.js b/src/services/import/enex.js
index 0caa89b7f..fbfff05b1 100644
--- a/src/services/import/enex.js
+++ b/src/services/import/enex.js
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ async function importEnex(importContext, file, parentNote) {
             mime: 'text/html'
         })).note;
 
-        importContext.increaseCount();
+        importContext.increaseProgressCount();
 
         const noteContent = await noteEntity.getNoteContent();
 
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ async function importEnex(importContext, file, parentNote) {
                     mime: resource.mime
                 })).note;
 
-                importContext.increaseCount();
+                importContext.increaseProgressCount();
 
                 const resourceLink = `<a href="#root/${resourceNote.noteId}">${utils.escapeHtml(resource.title)}</a>`;
 
diff --git a/src/services/import/opml.js b/src/services/import/opml.js
index 7630d3d83..72ce597d5 100644
--- a/src/services/import/opml.js
+++ b/src/services/import/opml.js
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ function toHtml(text) {
 async function importOutline(importContext, outline, parentNoteId) {
     const {note} = await noteService.createNote(parentNoteId, outline.$.title, toHtml(outline.$.text));
 
-    importContext.increaseCount();
+    importContext.increaseProgressCount();
 
     for (const childOutline of (outline.outline || [])) {
         await importOutline(childOutline, note.noteId);
diff --git a/src/services/import/single.js b/src/services/import/single.js
index 8e378d1f8..e874f00cf 100644
--- a/src/services/import/single.js
+++ b/src/services/import/single.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ async function importMarkdown(importContext, file, parentNote) {
         mime: 'text/html'
     });
 
-    importContext.increaseCount();
+    importContext.increaseProgressCount();
     importContext.importFinished(note.noteId);
 
     return note;
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ async function importHtml(importContext, file, parentNote) {
         mime: 'text/html'
     });
 
-    importContext.increaseCount();
+    importContext.increaseProgressCount();
     importContext.importFinished(note.noteId);
 
     return note;
diff --git a/src/services/import/tar.js b/src/services/import/tar.js
index eb18f3c7c..98483e322 100644
--- a/src/services/import/tar.js
+++ b/src/services/import/tar.js
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ async function importTar(importContext, fileBuffer, importRootNote) {
                 log.info("Ignoring tar import entry with type " + header.type);
             }
 
-            importContext.increaseCount();
+            importContext.increaseProgressCount();
 
             next(); // ready for next entry
         });
diff --git a/src/views/dialogs/export.ejs b/src/views/dialogs/export.ejs
index 8c060ed13..9f31007a6 100644
--- a/src/views/dialogs/export.ejs
+++ b/src/views/dialogs/export.ejs
@@ -57,9 +57,13 @@
                             </label>
                         </div>
                     </div>
+
+                    <div id="export-progress-count-wrapper">
+                        <strong>Note export progress count:</strong> <span id="export-progress-count"></span>
+                    </div>
                 </div>
                 <div class="modal-footer">
-                    <button class="btn btn-primary">Export</button>
+                    <button class="btn btn-primary" id="export-button">Export</button>
                 </div>
             </form>
         </div>
diff --git a/src/views/dialogs/import.ejs b/src/views/dialogs/import.ejs
index 02bdf4d0f..0f84b1a69 100644
--- a/src/views/dialogs/import.ejs
+++ b/src/views/dialogs/import.ejs
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
                         </div>
                     </div>
 
-                    <div id="import-note-count-wrapper">
-                        <strong>Imported notes:</strong> <span id="import-note-count"></span>
+                    <div id="import-progress-count-wrapper">
+                        <strong>Note import progress count:</strong> <span id="import-progress-count"></span>
                     </div>
                 </div>
                 <div class="modal-footer">