Import
Move Kindle highlights to Readbird
Your Kindle highlights and notes can live next to everything else you read. Readbird takes the “Export Notebook” file from the Kindle app or My Clippings.txt from the device — and a repeated import does not create duplicates.
What you get in Readbird
Each Kindle highlight arrives as a highlight in Notes, under the Highlights filter, with the book title and the location line from the export. The note you wrote under a highlight stays attached to it.
There they sit with highlights from articles: you can search them, add notes, reorder and review them. Kindle itself is not affected — this copies your highlights, it does not remove anything.
Servers are in the EU, there are no ads, and every feature is free while Readbird is in beta.
How to bring your Kindle highlights
Readbird understands two Amazon formats: the “Export Notebook” file from the Kindle app (.html) and My Clippings.txt from the device. The format is recognised by the content, so a renamed file works too. There are two ways to deliver it.
How to move the file
- In the Kindle app, open the book, choose “Share” → “Export Notebook”. Or take My Clippings.txt from the device’s memory.
- By email: in Readbird’s import block, open the Kindle tile and the “By email” tab. It shows your personal Readbird address; send the export there as an attachment (.html or .txt). The quotes appear on their own.
- Or as a file: on the same tile choose “Upload file” → “Choose Kindle file”, or just pick the file in the import block as it is.
- Wait for the report: books, highlights imported, already there, and notes.
What moves over from Kindle and what does not
| What | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Highlights | Moves over | The text of every highlight, grouped by book. The book title and author are kept. |
| Notes under a highlight | Moves over | A note written for a highlight stays attached to it. A note with no highlight next to it becomes a standalone note titled with the book. |
| Colours | Partly | Read from the Notebook export: yellow, blue, pink and orange. My Clippings.txt has no colours, so everything arrives yellow. |
| Location in the book | Moves over | The page and location line from the export is kept with the highlight. |
| Bookmarks | Does not move | Bookmarks in My Clippings.txt are skipped: they have no text. |
| Book texts and covers | Does not move | Only your highlights and notes travel, not the books. |
| Repeated import | Moves over | A highlight already in Readbird is recognised by book and text and is not added again. A highlight you deleted earlier does not come back; the report counts these. |
Limits to know about
- A file can be up to 100 MB; by email the whole message can be up to 10 MB. A Kindle export is usually far smaller.
- Highlights go to Notes (the Highlights filter): it loads up to 5,000 and draws the first 500, then more as you scroll or tap “Show more”.
- There is a limit on how many records one account can hold. If the import hits it, it stops and tells you how many highlights and notes were written; nothing already written is lost.
- If the import is interrupted, load the same file again: what was written is recognised and skipped, the rest continues.
Import
Questions about Kindle highlights
Where do my Kindle highlights show up?
In Notes, under the Highlights filter. Each one carries its book title instead of an article.
Will importing twice give me duplicates?
No. Highlights are matched by book and text, so a repeated file only adds what is new. Highlights you deleted are not brought back.
Does Readbird change anything in my Kindle?
No. It only reads the export file you give it.
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 highlights over
Start with the import window, or simply save your first link.