Import from Readwise
This page is about the Readwise highlights export. For your Readwise Reader library, see Readwise Reader. You can import both, one after the other: with "Merge duplicates" on (the default), the second import adds its tags and highlights to the items the first one created.
Get your export
- Sign in at readwise.io.
- Open the export page (
readwise.io/export). - Choose the CSV export and download the file.
Which file to upload
The highlights CSV. Its header row includes Highlight and Book Title, followed by columns
such as Book Author, Note, Color, Tags, Location, Highlighted at and
Document tags. Some exports also have a URL or Source URL column: that column is what turns
a source into a saved item.
Then open the Import page in Readsira, choose Readwise and drop the file.
How the rows are grouped
The file has one row per highlight. Readsira groups the rows by source (title plus link) and creates one item per source:
- A source with a link (an article, a web page) becomes a saved item with all its highlights.
- A source without a link (a Kindle book, most books) cannot become a saved item and is
skipped with the reason
no_url. The result lists how many.
What comes across
| In the Readwise CSV | In Readsira |
|---|---|
URL / Source URL | The saved item's link |
Book Title | The item's title |
Document tags | Tags |
Highlight | A highlight on the item |
Note | The highlight's note |
Color | The highlight's colour (nearest of yellow, green, blue, pink) |
Highlighted at | The highlight's date; the earliest one is the item's saved date |
All items go to your Inbox: the highlights export has no read or archived state.
What does not
- Books and other sources without a link: counted and listed, not imported.
- Per-highlight tags (
Tags), author and location: not imported. - Read status: not in this export. The Reader library export has it.
Duplicates, undo and size limits work the same for every source: see Import your library.