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Import and export

5 essential features · 7 added since the fork

What Catodon offers

Import and export lists

Improved by Catodon

Move your follows, mutes, blocks, lists, bookmarks and blocked servers in and out as files, with a report at the end.

The import and export sections of the Data settings, one per kind: all posts, bookmarked posts, bookmark categories, followed users, lists, muted and blocked users, and blocked domains.

Import your posts

Improved by Catodon

Bring your old posts and pictures from a Mastodon or Misskey archive.

The All posts section of the data settings: export your posts, or import them from a Mastodon, Misskey, Pleroma or Akkoma archive.

Export your data

Download a full archive of your account whenever you want.

The Request Data section of the data settings: ask the server for a full archive of the account, which is emailed when ready, once every 3 days.

Emoji pack import

Admins load a ZIP of custom emoji in one go.

The custom emoji manager of the Control Panel, with the server's emoji and the buttons to add them or import a ZIP pack.

Move a whole server

Made by Catodon

Move a Misskey server to Catodon directly, or a Sharkey server, without losing data.

New in each version

A report at the end of imports

26.11.0

A list or custom feed import now ends with a notification of a new type, importCompleted, carrying importedEntity and counts of what was written and what was left out. The web interface and push notifications show it, an API client can leave it out, and Mastodon apps are not sent it, since Mastodon has no such type.

An Import of Lists has been completed notification saying what the import left out: 1 list not created, because the account reached its limit of lists or a title is longer than 100 characters.

Import buttons say which file they expect

26.10.0

Each import in Settings → Data & storage now shows its expected file format underneath, and the file picker itself is filtered to match, so it is less likely somebody uploads the wrong export by mistake.

The import of followed accounts in Data & storage, saying above its button which file it expects.

Imports are no longer capped by the attachment size

26.10.0

Every import now uploads straight to its own endpoint rather than through the generic drive upload, so it is no longer limited by the 25 MB attachment policy meant for avatars and post media. A new server setting caps them instead, 1 GB by default, sized for a full archive with its media.

Importing Mastodon posts without the whole archive

26.10.0

Text-only origins accept just the outbox.json from inside the archive, importing the post text without the attached media. It is the faster option, and the one to reach for when the account's remaining storage would not fit the attachments anyway.

The post import's list of origins, with Mastodon (text only) selected and a hint asking for the outbox.json file from the archive.

Importing bookmarks and blocked domains

26.10.0

The last two things Mastodon lets somebody carry to a new server and this one did not. Both take the file Mastodon exports, the bookmark import also reads this server’s own export, and every bookmarked post is checked against what the importing account is allowed to see. Settings has no button for either yet, so for now both go through the API.

Importing and exporting bookmark categories

26.11.0

Settings → Data has a Bookmark categories section that exports your categories as a clips file, the format Misskey and Sharkey use, and imports one from Catodon, Misskey or Sharkey, bookmarking every post it holds. A new field naming the server a file comes from lets posts from that server be found again, for this import and for the bookmark import alike.

The Bookmark categories section of the data settings, with an Export button and an Import button that takes a clips file and the server it comes from.

Bookmark and blocked server files in Settings

26.11.0

The bookmark and blocked domain imports added on the server in 26.10.0 now have buttons in Settings → Data and storage → Import and export, taking Catodon's own files or Mastodon's. Blocked servers export straight away as blocked_domains.csv, the file Mastodon reads, and admins can allow or refuse either import per role.

The Blocked domains section of the data settings, with Export and Import buttons.