How to switch from Goodreads without losing your reading history
A step-by-step guide to exporting your Goodreads library as a CSV and importing it into another book tracker — shelves, ratings, dates and all.
Years of shelves, ratings and read dates are the main reason people stay on Goodreads. The good news is that your history isn't locked in: Goodreads lets you export everything as a CSV file, and most modern book trackers can read it.
Step 1: Export your Goodreads library
- Sign in to Goodreads in a web browser (the export isn't available in the app).
- Open My Books, then find Import and export under Tools in the sidebar.
- Click Export Library. After a moment, a link to download
goodreads_library_export.csvappears. - Save the file somewhere you can reach from your iPhone, like iCloud Drive or the Files app.
Step 2: Import into your new tracker
In Lumi, choose the Goodreads import and pick the CSV. Your books land on the matching To Read, Reading and Finished shelves, with your ratings and read dates along for the ride. (Importing is part of Lumi Pro.)
Coming from StoryGraph instead? It works the same way — export your data from StoryGraph's account settings and choose the StoryGraph import in Lumi.
Step 3: Tidy up
- Check your Currently Reading books and set your current page so widgets show the right progress.
- Recreate any custom shelves you care about as tags, like “comfort reads” or “book club”.
- Set a yearly goal if you had a Goodreads Reading Challenge going.
Should you delete your Goodreads account?
You don't have to. Many readers keep Goodreads for browsing reviews and use a private tracker for their own log. If you do leave, export first — and keep that CSV as a backup either way.
Wondering how the two compare day to day? See Lumi vs Goodreads.
