How to export your Goodreads library
On goodreads.com, open My Books → Import and export → Export Library, then download the .csv when the link appears. Import that file into Pagehour and your shelves, ratings and finish dates come with it.
Import is free, runs on your phone, and skips books you already have.
How do I export my Goodreads library?
Use Goodreads in a computer browser: its help centre marks exporting “Desktop only”, so it can't be done in the Goodreads app. The export is a single .csv file of your whole library.
- On goodreads.com, go to My Books, then click Import and export under Tools on the left.
- Under Export, click Export Library. For a large library the file can take a few minutes to generate.
- When it's ready, a link appears: “Your export from [date] - [time]”. Click it to download the .csv file.
Steps from Goodreads Help, “Import or export your books” (dated 14 July 2026), checked 28 September 2026.
How do I import the file into Pagehour?
Get the .csv onto your phone, then in Pagehour tap You → Import from Goodreads → Choose the CSV file. Pagehour counts the books on each shelf, you tap Import, and it tells you how many were added and how many it skipped because you already had them.
- Put the file where your phone can open it: a cloud drive your Files app can see, or email it to yourself and save the attachment.
- In Pagehour, tap You, then Import from Goodreads. New to Pagehour? You can also pick Goodreads when setup asks for your current book.
- Tap Choose the CSV file and pick the Goodreads export.
- Check the counts for Finished, Reading, Want to read and Didn't finish, then tap Import.
The file is read on your phone and never uploaded. Past Goodreads reads fill your shelves but don't create timed sessions, so they don't change your streak or reading minutes. Your streak starts with the first session you time in Pagehour.
What does Pagehour import from the Goodreads CSV?
Titles, authors, ISBNs, shelves, star ratings, page counts, dates read and added, publication year and private notes. Written reviews and custom shelves (other than a did-not-finish shelf) stay on Goodreads.
| Goodreads column | In Pagehour |
|---|---|
| Title | Book title. The only required column; a row without a title is skipped and its line number shown. |
| Author | Author |
| ISBN, ISBN13 | Kept, and used to spot duplicates. Goodreads writes them as ="0439023483" so spreadsheets keep the leading zero; Pagehour strips that. |
| Book Id | Used to spot duplicates |
| Exclusive Shelf | read → Finished, currently-reading → Reading, to-read → Want to read |
| Bookshelves | A shelf named did-not-finish, dnf, abandon… or gave-up → Didn't finish. Other books on custom shelves go to Want to read. |
| My Rating | Your stars. Goodreads uses 0 for “not rated”, which stays blank. |
| Number of Pages | Page count, which drives progress and finish-date estimates |
| Date Read | Finish date for finished books (Date Added if there's no Date Read) |
| Date Added | Date added to your library |
| Original Publication Year, Year Published | Publication year (original first) |
| Private Notes | The book's notes |
| My Review, Average Rating, Publisher, Binding, Read Count, Owned Copies, Spoiler | Not imported |
What happens if I import the same file twice?
Nothing is doubled. Pagehour skips any book that matches one already in your library by Goodreads Book Id, ISBN-10, ISBN-13, or the same title and author, so you can import a fresh export whenever you like.
The import also runs as a single step: if something goes wrong partway, nothing is saved and your library is exactly as it was.
Why won't my Goodreads file import?
Usually because the file isn't the original .csv. Pagehour needs the file Goodreads downloads, not a zip or a spreadsheet copy. If it has no “Title” column, Pagehour says so and changes nothing.
- “This file has no ‘Title’ column”: pick the .csv from Goodreads' Export Library link, not another file.
- “Couldn't read that file”: the file is probably zipped or was re-saved by a spreadsheet app. Download the export again from Goodreads.
- No export link on Goodreads yet: large libraries take a few minutes. Wait, then reload the Import and export page.
- A few rows skipped: those rows have no title. Pagehour shows their line numbers so you can check them in the file.
Still stuck? Write to support@pagehour.com. Leaving Goodreads for good? See how Pagehour compares with Goodreads.
Your export is ready. Give it somewhere to go.
Sources
- Goodreads Help, “Import or export your books” (dated 14 July 2026), checked 28 September 2026.
- Pagehour's Goodreads importer and its tests: column handling, shelf mapping, duplicate rules and error messages, as shipped on 28 September 2026.