If your book app can export a CSV file, you can bring your library into Book Tracker, even if the app isn’t one Book Tracker knows. You tell Book Tracker which column holds what, and it does most of that for you by reading the column names. Only the title is required.
If you’re coming from Goodreads, The StoryGraph, BookBuddy, Reading List, Bookmory, Bookpedia, Delicious Library 3, Book Crawler, Scanolino, or ClassBook, you don’t need this guide: Book Tracker recognizes those files on its own. See Migrating to Book Tracker.
What you need
- A CSV file from your old app. The first row holds the column names (Title, Author, ISBN…), and every row below is one book.
- Book Tracker on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
You can open and edit a CSV file in Numbers, Excel, Google Sheets, or any text editor.
Step 1: Export your library
- In your old app, find the export function. It’s usually in Settings or in the File menu.
- Choose CSV, and include every field you want to keep.
- Save the file to Files, iCloud Drive, or your Mac.
Step 2: Choose the file in Book Tracker
- Open Book Tracker and go to Settings → Import.
- Tap Choose File and select your CSV file.
- Book Tracker says Not Recognized and asks which app you exported it from. Pick Another App.
Step 3: Check what’s in your file
The next screen, What’s in Your File, lists everything a book can have, in three groups: The Book, Your Reading, and Your Copy.
Book Tracker has already matched your columns by their names, so a column called Title, Book Title, or Titolo is already under Title. Under each item you see an example taken from your file.
- If an example is wrong, tap the item and choose the right column.
- If your file doesn’t have something, choose Not in This File.
- Each column can fill one item only. Choosing it for one item takes it away from the other.
- Columns that are empty in every row aren’t offered.
- You can’t continue until Title is matched.
Step 4: Review and import
- Tap Continue. Book Tracker looks up your books by ISBN and finds their covers. When it’s done, tap Review.
- Review the list. Each row says what will happen to that book; tap a row to leave it out.
- Books you already have are recognized by ISBN. For each one, choose Fill in what is missing, Use the file, or Add it as a second copy. A row with the same title and author as one of your books is flagged as a possible match, and comes in as a new book unless you choose otherwise on that row. What each choice does is explained in How to import your library.
- Tap the Import button, which shows how many books are coming in (for example, Import 312 books). Book Tracker backs up your library before it adds anything.
Nothing is written until you tap Import, so you can go back, fix your file, and choose it again as many times as you like.
Formatting rules
Columns separated by commas
Save the file as a standard CSV, with commas between columns. Book Tracker also reads files that use semicolons.
Several values in one cell: semicolons
When one cell holds more than one value, such as two authors or three tags, separate them with a semicolon.
Tolkien, J.R.R.; Lewis, C.S.This applies to authors, translators, narrators, illustrators, publishers, categories, tags, and languages.
Quotes around text with commas
A cell whose text contains a comma must be wrapped in double quotes, or it splits into two columns. Spreadsheet apps do this for you when they export.
"Tolkien, J.R.R.; Lewis, C.S."Field by field
The Book
Title. Required. A row without a title is skipped and listed in the import report.
Subtitle, Description, Place of publication, Link. Plain text.
Authors, Translators, Narrators, Illustrators. Separate people with a semicolon. Write each name as Surname, First name or as First name Surname. Book Tracker looks at the whole column to decide which style your file uses, so use the same style throughout. A single word is stored as the surname.
Publisher, Categories, Tags. Separate several with a semicolon.
Series and Number in the series. Plain text, for example The Lord of the Rings and 1.
ISBN 13, ISBN 10. Dashes and spaces are fine. Book Tracker uses the length to tell the two apart, so one column can hold both kinds. With an ISBN, Book Tracker finds the cover and fills in missing details, such as the page count, the release date, and the authors.
Pages. A whole number.
Audiobook duration. In minutes (623) or as hours, minutes, and seconds (10:23:00).
Languages. Codes like en and it, or names like English and Italian, separated by semicolons.
Release date, Release year, Original publication date, Original release year. See how dates are read, below. A release date also sets the release year.
Cover Image URL. A link to the cover image. Without one, Book Tracker finds the cover from the ISBN.
External average rating. A community rating, from 0 to 5 or from 0 to 10. It’s always kept on a scale of 5.
Your Reading
Reading statuses. Words like read, to read, not read, currently reading, did not finish, DNF, or gave up. Italian and German work too: letto, non letto, da leggere, in lettura, abbandonato, ungelesen.
Start reading and Date finished. Without a reading status column, the dates decide:
| What the row has | What Book Tracker records |
|---|---|
| A reading status | That status, with any dates you mapped |
| A finish date | Read, finished on that date |
| Only a start date | Currently reading |
| No status and no dates | No reading |
Current page. For books you are reading.
User rating. From 0 to 5, or from 0 to 10. Decimals are fine, with a point or a comma (4.5 or 4,5). Book Tracker decides the scale for the whole file: if any rating is above 5, the file is out of 10. It then converts every rating to the scale you use.
Notes. Saved as a note on the book.
Your Copy
Owned or wanted. WISHLIST or any value containing “wish” puts the book on your wishlist; NOT_OWNED or “not owned” marks it as not owned. Anything else, or nothing, puts it in your library.
A column called Owned or Wish List with yes/no or 1/0 works too. Yes in Owned puts the book in your library; yes in Wish List puts it on your wishlist. A no only places new books (a book you don’t own goes to Not owned): it never moves a book that’s already in your library.
Format. One format per book. You can write it in plain words (paperback, hardcover, hardback, ebook, Kindle, audiobook…) or use Book Tracker’s own values:
| Edition | Value |
|---|---|
| Paperback | PAPERBACK |
| Hardcover | HARDCOVER |
| Mass market paperback | MASS_MARKET_PAPERBACK |
| Spiral bound | SPIRAL_BOUND |
| Leather bound | LEATHER_BOUND |
| Ebook | EBOOK |
| Audiobook | AUDIOBOOK |
| Magazine | MAGAZINE |
| Comic book | COMIC_BOOK |
| Graphic novel | GRAPHIC_NOVEL |
| Manga | MANGA |
| Box set | BOX_SET |
| Omnibus | OMNIBUS |
| Reference book | REFERENCE_BOOK |
| Other | OTHER |
A value Book Tracker doesn’t recognize gets the default format from Settings.
Purchase date, Purchase price, Purchase currency. If you match a Purchase currency column, that currency is used. Otherwise Book Tracker reads it from the price itself, like $12.99 or 12,99 EUR, and falls back to your default currency.
Location, Bookcase, Shelf. A shelf belongs to a bookcase, and a bookcase to a location. Location alone records the place; Location and Bookcase record the bookcase; all three record the shelf. A shelf without its bookcase and location isn’t recorded.
How dates are read
Book Tracker recognizes the common date styles: 2024-05-17, 2024/05/17, 17.05.2024, May 17, 2024, and full timestamps like 2024-05-17T09:30:00Z.
A date like 03/06/2024 can mean 3 June or 6 March. Book Tracker looks at all the dates in your file for a clue, such as a day above 12, and reads the whole file the same way. To be safe, write every date as YYYY-MM-DD.
Limits
- One format and one reading per book. A file with several readings of the same book in one row brings in only one.
- Ratings: if your file is out of 10 but every rating is 5 or below, it’s read as out of 5.
- Importing the same file again adds the books without an ISBN a second time. They’re flagged as possible duplicates, but nothing stops them.
- Dates with a time and the day first, like
12/03/2015 14:08, may be read with the month first. Check them on the review screen. - Covers come from an image link or an ISBN. A book with neither arrives without a cover.
Need help?
After the import, Book Tracker can save a report that lists every row it couldn’t read and why. Fix those rows in your file and import it again: books with an ISBN, or with the same title and author, are recognized as books you have, and you decide what happens to them.
If something still doesn’t work, write to us from the app. We read every message.