diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index aa381b24f3..4157714093 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ Bug Fixes
 
 - Fixes overwrite behavior for plugin plots, and properly closes overwrite warning overlay after confirmation. [#3094]
 
+- Disable all non-image exporting when the server is not running locally, to avoid confusion with the file being saved on the server. [#3096]
+
 Cubeviz
 ^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.py b/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.py
index f8611eb680..0f16268ed2 100644
--- a/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.py
+++ b/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.py
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ class Export(PluginTemplateMixin, ViewerSelectMixin, SubsetSelectMixin,
 
     overwrite_warn = Bool(False).tag(sync=True)
 
+    # This is a temporary measure to allow server-installations to disable saving server-side until
+    # saving client-side is supported for all exports.
+    serverside_enabled = Bool(True).tag(sync=True)
+
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
@@ -175,6 +179,11 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.session.hub.subscribe(self, SubsetDeleteMessage,
                                    handler=self._set_subset_not_supported_msg)
 
+        if self.app.state.settings.get('server_is_remote', False):
+            # when the server is remote, saving the file in python would save on the server, not
+            # on the user's machine, so export support in cubeviz should be disabled
+            self.serverside_enabled = False
+
     @property
     def user_api(self):
         # TODO: backwards compat for save_figure, save_movie,
diff --git a/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.vue b/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.vue
index 16354a61bb..4903e4ccee 100644
--- a/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.vue
+++ b/jdaviz/configs/default/plugins/export/export.vue
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
       </div>
     </div>
 
-    <div v-if="dataset_items.length > 0">
+    <div v-if="dataset_items.length > 0 && serverside_enabled">
       <span class="export-category">Generated Data</span>
       <v-row>
         <span class="category-content v-messages v-messages__message text--secondary">Export data generated by plugins.</span>
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@
       </v-row>
     </div>
 
-    <div v-if="subset_items.length > 0">
+    <div v-if="subset_items.length > 0 && serverside_enabled">
       <span class="export-category">Subsets</span>
       <v-row>
         <span class="category-content v-messages v-messages__message text--secondary">Export spatial subset as astropy region or spectral subset as specutils SpectralRegion.</span>
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@
       </v-row>
     </div>
 
-    <div v-if="plugin_table_items.length > 0">
+    <div v-if="plugin_table_items.length > 0 && serverside_enabled">
       <span class="export-category">Plugin Tables</span>
       <v-row>
         <span class="category-content v-messages v-messages__message text--secondary">Export table from a plugin to a file.</span>
@@ -221,7 +221,6 @@
         </v-select>
       </v-row>
     </div>
-
     <div style="display: grid; position: relative"> <!-- overlay container -->
     <div style="grid-area: 1/1">