diff --git a/cmd/workspace/workspace/overrides.go b/cmd/workspace/workspace/overrides.go
index 0a00ba25..e1b97c59 100644
--- a/cmd/workspace/workspace/overrides.go
+++ b/cmd/workspace/workspace/overrides.go
@@ -8,4 +8,7 @@ func init() {
 	{{header "ID"}}	{{header "Type"}}	{{header "Language"}}	{{header "Path"}}
 	{{range .}}{{green "%d" .ObjectId}}	{{blue "%s" .ObjectType}}	{{cyan "%s" .Language}}	{{.Path|cyan}}
 	{{end}}`)
+
+	// The export command prints the contents of the file to stdout by default.
+	exportCmd.Annotations["template"] = `{{.Content | b64_decode}}`
 }
diff --git a/internal/workspace_test.go b/internal/workspace_test.go
index 3aafffe4..dd26bcf4 100644
--- a/internal/workspace_test.go
+++ b/internal/workspace_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -39,6 +40,26 @@ func TestWorkpaceGetStatusErrorWhenNoArguments(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "accepts 1 arg(s), received 0", err.Error())
 }
 
+func TestWorkpaceExportPrintsContents(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Log(GetEnvOrSkipTest(t, "CLOUD_ENV"))
+
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	w := databricks.Must(databricks.NewWorkspaceClient())
+	tmpdir := temporaryWorkspaceDir(t, w)
+	f, err := filer.NewWorkspaceFilesClient(w, tmpdir)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Write file to workspace
+	contents := "#!/usr/bin/bash\necho hello, world\n"
+	err = f.Write(ctx, "file-a", strings.NewReader(contents))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// Run export
+	stdout, stderr := RequireSuccessfulRun(t, "workspace", "export", path.Join(tmpdir, "file-a"))
+	assert.Equal(t, contents, stdout.String())
+	assert.Equal(t, "", stderr.String())
+}
+
 func setupWorkspaceImportExportTest(t *testing.T) (context.Context, filer.Filer, string) {
 	t.Log(GetEnvOrSkipTest(t, "CLOUD_ENV"))
 
diff --git a/libs/cmdio/render.go b/libs/cmdio/render.go
index 7b3da190..d641f61d 100644
--- a/libs/cmdio/render.go
+++ b/libs/cmdio/render.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package cmdio
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"io"
 	"strings"
@@ -93,6 +95,27 @@ func renderTemplate(w io.Writer, tmpl string, v any) error {
 		"pretty_date": func(t time.Time) string {
 			return t.Format("2006-01-02T15:04:05Z")
 		},
+		"b64_encode": func(in string) (string, error) {
+			var out bytes.Buffer
+			enc := base64.NewEncoder(base64.StdEncoding, &out)
+			_, err := enc.Write([]byte(in))
+			if err != nil {
+				return "", err
+			}
+			err = enc.Close()
+			if err != nil {
+				return "", err
+			}
+			return out.String(), nil
+		},
+		"b64_decode": func(in string) (string, error) {
+			dec := base64.NewDecoder(base64.StdEncoding, strings.NewReader(in))
+			out, err := io.ReadAll(dec)
+			if err != nil {
+				return "", err
+			}
+			return string(out), nil
+		},
 	}).Parse(tmpl)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err