Import
Move from Instapaper to Readbird
Instapaper can email you a CSV file with everything you saved. Readbird reads it: your links arrive with their titles, dates and archive state, and your folders become labels.
How the move works
Instapaper exports one CSV file. You do not need to edit it or convert it — Readbird recognises the format by its columns, so a renamed file works too.
In Readbird your articles land in the “Later” list: they open in a clean reader, stay readable without a connection, and you can highlight passages while reading (they are kept in Notes, under the Highlights filter), add notes, listen to an article read aloud and translate it.
Servers are in the EU, there are no ads, and every feature is free while Readbird is in beta.
How to move your Instapaper library
Instapaper does not offer a direct download: it sends the CSV file to the email address of your account. Request it in Instapaper’s account settings, open the email and save the CSV from it.
How to move the file
- In Instapaper open the account settings and use the button that exports your articles as CSV to your email address.
- Wait for the email and save the attached CSV file.
- Open Readbird, choose “Add content” and go to the “Move everything to Readbird” block, then pick the file as it is.
- Wait for the report: how many links were found, how many were imported and what was skipped.
What moves over from Instapaper and what does not
| What | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Links and titles | Moves over | Every saved link with its title. Repeated links are merged into one. |
| Save date | Moves over | The original date you saved the article is kept, so the order of your archive survives the move. |
| Archive | Moves over | Articles from the Instapaper archive arrive archived; articles in “Unread” arrive unread. |
| Your folders | Moves over | Each of your own folders becomes a label on its articles. “Unread” and “Archive” are states, not labels. |
| Tags | Partly | A tags column is read when it holds tags. In the export we checked it was empty, so do not count on it. |
| Highlights | Partly | The export has a column for selected passages. In the export we checked it stayed empty even though the article had a highlight. If your file has text there, it arrives as highlights; otherwise there is nothing to carry over. |
| Liked articles | Does not move | Likes were not marked in the export we checked, so they do not come across. |
| Article text | Does not move | The file holds only links and titles. Readbird loads the text from the original page when you open the article, if that page is still online. |
Limits to know about
- One import takes up to 20,000 new links. Run the same file again and it continues where it stopped; links already imported are skipped.
- Up to 200 highlights are kept per article.
- The “Later” list loads up to 5,000 saved items. Imported highlights go to Notes (the Highlights filter): it also loads up to 5,000 and draws the first 500, then more as you scroll or tap “Show more”.
Import
Questions about moving from Instapaper
Why do I get the file by email?
That is how Instapaper delivers its export: the CSV is sent to your account’s email address, there is no download button. Save the attachment and load it into Readbird.
Will my highlights come across?
Only if they are in the file. In the export we checked, the column for selected passages was empty, so we cannot promise it. Look at your file: if that column has text, Readbird imports it as highlights.
What if I import the same file twice?
Nothing is duplicated: links that are already in Readbird are recognised and skipped.
Does importing cost anything?
No. Import is free, and so is leaving: one button in Settings exports everything you have in Readbird.
Switching
Bring your articles over
Start with the import window, or simply save your first link.