Book Tracker

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How to import your library into Book Tracker

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Switching to Book Tracker doesn’t mean starting from scratch. Book Tracker imports your library from ten other apps and from any CSV file, and works out on its own which app a file came from.

This tutorial covers the whole flow: which apps are supported, what each screen does, what comes across, and what doesn’t.

Supported import sources

Book Tracker recognizes the files these apps export. Each guide shows how to export from that app.

SourceGuide
GoodreadsMigrating from Goodreads
The StoryGraphMigrating from The StoryGraph
BookBuddyMigrating from BookBuddy
Reading ListMigrating from Reading List
BookmoryMigrating from Bookmory
BookpediaMigrating from Bookpedia
Delicious Library 3Migrating from Delicious Library 3
Book CrawlerMigrating from Book Crawler
Scanolino, ClassBookExport a CSV file and choose it.
Another Book Tracker libraryImporting a Book Tracker export
Any other appMigrating from other apps via CSV Import

ℹ️ Any app that exports a CSV file works. For apps Book Tracker doesn’t know, you check which column holds what, and Book Tracker fills in most of it from the column names.

How an import works

The import lives in Settings → Import on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

1. Choose the file

Export your library from your old app, then tap Choose File and select it. Book Tracker reads the file and shows how many books it found and, under Exported from, the app it came from.

If the app is wrong, tap it and pick the right one. If Book Tracker says Not Recognized:

  • If the file comes from one of the apps above, pick that app. Some apps write their column names in their own language: Book Tracker tells you to switch the app to English and export again.
  • If it comes from any other app, pick Another App. You’ll see What’s in Your File, where you check which column holds the title, the authors, and everything else. See Migrating from other apps via CSV Import.

2. Continue

Tap Continue. Book Tracker looks up your books by ISBN to fill in missing details, finds covers, and checks your library for books you already have. When it’s done, tap Review. Nothing is written yet: going back costs nothing.

3. Review

Every row in the file is listed with what will happen to it. Tap a row to leave that book out.

A book you already have is recognized by its ISBN, its Book Tracker, Goodreads, or Google Books ID. For those, choose what to do:

  • Fill in what is missing. Only empty details are filled in. Nothing you have written changes.
  • Use the file. Where the file has something, it replaces what you have: details, authors and the other people, tags, categories, languages, formats, series, position, and your rating.
  • Add it as a second copy. You end up with two of this book.

With both of the first two choices, an empty cell in the file never changes anything. Details Book Tracker found online or assumed on its own (like the default format) only fill empty fields. Notes and loans from the file are added, without duplicates, and a cover is added only if the book has none.

⚠️ With Use the file, a file that lists fewer authors or tags than the book replaces them: the co-authors and tags the file doesn’t name are removed.

To make one choice for all of them, use the menu named after them (for example, The 12 books you already have).

A row with the same title and author as one of your books, but no code in common, is flagged as Looks like a book you already have. It comes in as a new book unless you choose Fill in what is missing or Use the file on that row. The menu doesn’t include these rows. Rows that couldn’t be read are listed too, with the reason.

4. Import

Tap the Import button, which shows how many books are coming in (for example, Import 312 books). Book Tracker backs up your library, adds the books, and shows a summary: how many books were added, how many were updated, and where the backup is. You can save a report of the whole import.

You can see everything up to this point for free. Adding the books requires Book Tracker Pro.

Readings of books you already have

A reading in the file is the same reading as one in your library if they start on the same day, or end on the same day, or if your reading has no dates (a book you want to read, for example). Only days count, and only days the file actually writes. Otherwise the file’s reading is a re-read and is added.

  • Use the file: a matching reading keeps your progress and sessions. If the file takes it further along (to read → reading → read or did not finish), it’s completed and keeps them. If a day the file writes is different, the reading is rebuilt from the file.
  • Fill in what is missing: an empty reading takes the file’s; a reading in progress that the file shows as finished is completed. Nothing is ever moved back or deleted.

A book you want to read that the file shows as read becomes read, with either choice.

What gets imported

It depends on what each app exports. Most imports include:

  • Title, authors, publisher, ISBN, pages, and language.
  • Format (Paperback, Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook, Manga, and the other formats Book Tracker supports).
  • Reading status and reading dates. When an app records several readings of a book, each one comes across.
  • Your rating, converted to the rating scale you use in Book Tracker.
  • Shelves, lists, and collections, as tags. A tag joins the tag with the same name you already have, so no duplicates are created.
  • Purchase date and price.
  • Notes and reviews.

Each guide lists exactly what comes across from that app. Covers are found from the ISBN or from an image link in the file. See Why are covers missing after import?

What does NOT transfer

  • Kindle highlights and notes. Amazon doesn’t export them. See Can I import notes or highlights from Kindle?
  • Day-by-day reading progress, unless the source app exports it.
  • Friends, comments, and other people’s reviews.
  • The order and display settings of your shelves in the old app.

After importing

Best practices

  • Import the file exactly as your old app made it. Opening and saving it in a spreadsheet can ruin ISBNs and dates.
  • Use the review screen. It’s the moment to leave out books you don’t want and decide what happens to the ones you have.
  • After a big import, give iCloud time to sync to your other devices. See Tips for syncing large libraries.
  • Importing the same file twice doesn’t duplicate books that have an ISBN or an ID: the review screen recognizes them, and you decide what happens to each. Books with neither come in again as new books, flagged as possible duplicates.