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4 min readMay 19, 2026

What to Do With Your Pocket Export File

Learn what your Pocket export contains, how to clean the file and how to import your saved articles into another read-later tool.

dEssence TeamEditorial @ dEssence
What to Do With Your Pocket Export File

Find and understand the export

A Pocket export usually contains part_000000.csv; free accounts received this format. Some Premium exports also included ril_export.html, an HTML bookmark file.

The CSV contains:

  • title: Pocket’s stored page title
  • url: the original address
  • time_added: save time in Unix epoch seconds
  • tags: Pocket tags separated by pipes
  • status: unread or archived

Archived items are included, not only the unread queue. The export does not contain complete article text or preserve reading position. Pocket normally rebuilt its reader view from the original page, so a disappeared page cannot be restored merely by importing its URL.

Premium highlights were handled separately. Keep pocket_highlights.csv, if you downloaded it, beside the main export; it may require a separate import.

Make a safe working copy

Duplicate the original and leave one copy untouched. Open the working copy in a plain-text editor first. Confirm the header is:

title,url,time_added,tags,status

Inspect rows near the beginning and end. Accented titles should display correctly, and each URL should remain in its own field. Avoid saving from a spreadsheet until you know it opened the CSV as UTF-8; spreadsheets can silently change characters, dates or long fields.

Choose one destination

Match the tool to how you used Pocket:

  • Instapaper: a reading queue and clean article view.
  • Raindrop.io: bookmarks, collections and tags beyond articles.
  • Readwise Reader: highlights and long-form reading.
  • dEssence: an option when recalling saved products, articles and videos from a description matters more than maintaining folders; you choose which saves to watch.

Do not import the same file everywhere. If possible, create a small test account or import a sample, then inspect titles, tags and archived status.

What the source comparison says

  • Raindrop.io: built-in Pocket import for URLs, titles, tags, archive status and time_added; tag tree, full-text search, browser extension and mobile apps. Its reader view is plain and lacks an annotation layer. The supplied comparison lists free up to 10,000 items and Pro at $3/month unlimited.
  • Instapaper: built-in import for URLs, titles and archive status; a clean reader view and speed-read mode. Tags become flat folders and highlights export is absent. The supplied comparison lists a free tier and Premium at $2.99/month.
  • Readwise Reader: built-in import for URLs, titles, tags and time_added; highlights, AI summaries, PDFs, tweets and YouTube in one feed. The supplied price is $9.99/month.
  • Matter: manual CSV handling, with URLs moved in copy-paste batches; a polished reader view and voice-to-text mode. The supplied comparison says its importer is unmaintained and slow for large files; it lists a free option and a Premium tier whose price is unclear.
  • Obsidian or Logseq: plugin-based URL-to-note workflows and local control, but you build the workflow yourself. The supplied comparison lists them as free.
  • dEssence: the source describes CSV upload for URLs, titles and row notes, with retrieval in plain language. It is available through the Chrome extension, Telegram bot and web app at dessence.ai.

Check links before reorganizing

An imported bookmark may still point to a redirect, paywall or missing page. Open a sample of old URLs first. For an important missing page, look for a preserved copy in the Wayback Machine. Remove duplicates, temporary pages and articles you no longer recognize, but retain the original export even after cleaning the new library.

If you missed the export deadline

Pocket’s export window closed after shutdown, so a fresh file is no longer available through the supported process.

Partial recovery may still be possible:

  • Search browser history on every device and browser used with Pocket.
  • Search email for pocket.co and getpocket.com.
  • Recover useful links from messages and confirmation emails.

These traces cannot restore Pocket tags, archive status, highlights or a complete account.

Make the new library retrievable

Use a few broad collections if you remember by topic. Preserve only useful Pocket tags. Add highlights when rereading important material, and use descriptive search when you remember an idea rather than a title.

Finally, test the replacement tool’s export. Download it and confirm its URLs are readable. Pocket’s shutdown is a reminder to plan for exporting your data before an app closes, while the service and your account still work.