Goodreads Bulk Import (CSV) – Instructions

Created by Debarshi Das, Modified on Sun, 28 Dec, 2025 at 11:37 AM by Debarshi Das

At the moment, Biblophile supports bulk imports using a Goodreads-compatible CSV format, with a few Biblophile-specific enhancements.

If you’re coming from:

Goodreads
StoryGraph
Notion / Excel / Google Sheets

…you can modify your spreadsheet to match the format below and import your entire reading history.

Note: Always edit a copy of your spreadsheet, not the original.

Required Columns (must not be empty)

These columns must exist and must have a value in every row.

Column Name	Description
Title	Book title
Author	Author name (e.g. Sally Rooney)
Exclusive Shelf	One of: `read`, `currently-reading`, `to-read`, `did-not-finish`, or a custom exclusive shelf
My Rating	Number from `0` to `5` (decimals allowed). Use `0` if not rated
Date Added	Date you added the book (format: `yyyy/mm/dd`)
Read Count	`0` if unread or DNF, `1` or higher if read

⚠️ If any required cell is empty, the import will fail.

Reading Status Mapping (Important)

Biblophile maps reading status like this:

CSV value (Exclusive Shelf)	Biblophile status
`read`	Read
`currently-reading`	Currently reading
`to-read`	To be read
`did-not-finish`	Did not finish
Custom shelf (e.g. `reference`)	Imported as a tag only, no reading status

This allows custom exclusive shelves (like reference, academic, etc.) to stay out of reading progress while still being searchable.

Ratings & Reviews

Column	How Biblophile handles it
My Rating	Imported into your ratings
My Review	Imported as your review
Rating = `0`	Ignored (no rating created)

If a book already has a rating, the newest one is used.

Re-Reads (Fully Supported)

If Read Count is greater than 1:

Biblophile will create multiple reading entries
Each re-read becomes a separate reading instance

This allows accurate re-read history (something Goodreads doesn’t handle well).

Shelves → Tags

CSV Column	Behavior
Bookshelves	Converted into custom tags
Multiple shelves	Comma-separated
Multi-word shelves	Use hyphens (`sci-fi`, `owned-books`)

Example:

Bookshelves = owned, favourites, sci-fi

Creates tags:

Owned
Favourites
Sci-fi

Owned Books

If Owned Copies = 1:

Book automatically gets the Owned tag

Optional Columns (recommended but not required)

Column	Notes
Date Read	Format: `yyyy/mm/dd`
ISBN13	Helps match exact editions
Number of Pages	Used for stats if available
Publisher	Informational only
Binding	Hardcover / Paperback / Digital

What is NOT imported

These are left empty (by design):

Reading sessions
Pages-per-day history
Emotions
Streaks

You can start tracking these after import.

CSV Format Rules

Headers must match exactly
File must be saved as .csv
Dates must use yyyy/mm/dd
ISBN columns should be text, not numeric (to avoid truncation)

⚠️ Excel may truncate ISBNs (e.g. 9.78037E+12).
If that happens, use LibreOffice or Google Sheets and re-export.

Once you’ve done that, you can then upload it as a CSV on the Import Goodreads page here: biblophile.com/goodreads-import

If you receive an error message, before emailing into support please check:

That every cell in the mandatory columns listed above has something in them
That the header rows are pasted exactly
That your file is definitely saved as a CSV file

If everything looks as it should and you still can't upload it, please email into help@biblophile.com, attach your import to your email, and let us know what the error message says.

Attachments (1)

csv

goodreads - Sheet1.csv
563 Bytes