Import

Bring existing data into Neatbase from a CSV file. Useful when you’re migrating from a spreadsheet, another notes app, or any tool that can export to CSV.

How to Import

1. Open the notebook you want to import into.
2. Click the three-dot menu in the toolbar and choose Import….
3. Pick a .csv file in the file dialog.
4. The mapping screen appears. For each CSV column, choose what to do with it:
   • Map to an existing field — for columns that match a field already in your notebook.
   • Create a new field — give it a name and pick a type (Short Text, Number, Date, Tags, etc.). The new field is added to your notebook when you click Import.
   • Don’t import — skip the column.
5. Click Next to see a preview of the first 10 rows, rendered with the field types you chose.
6. Review the preview. If anything looks off, click Back to adjust the mapping.
7. Click Import. Your new notes appear in the notebook, along with any new fields you created.

Neatbase makes a smart guess for each column when you open the mapping screen:

• If a CSV column header matches an existing field name, it's mapped to that field automatically.
• If your notebook is brand new (no fields yet), every column is pre-set to Create new field with the header as the name and Short Text as the type, so you can usually click straight through.
• Otherwise, the column is set to Don’t import so you can choose.

You can always override the auto-mapping.

Creating Fields on Import

This is the fastest way to set up a fresh notebook from a CSV:

1. Create an empty notebook.
2. Open Import and pick your CSV.
3. The mapping screen shows every column pre-set to Create new field, using the CSV header as the name.
4. Glance through the type dropdown for each — change Short Text to Number, Date, Tags, etc. as appropriate.
5. Click Import. The fields and notes are created together in one step.

Most field types are available for import-time creation: Short Text, Long Text, Secret, Email, Phone, URL, Barcode, QR Code, Color, Number, Currency, Rating, Percent, Duration, Date, Toggle, and Tags. Types that need extra configuration (like Select with its predefined options, or Reference with a target notebook) need to be created in the field editor first, then mapped to from Import.

Platform Availability

Import is currently available on macOS only. It uses the standard Mac file picker.

Shared Notebooks

If you're a participant on a shared notebook (you joined someone else's share, you didn't create it), the Import… menu item is greyed out. Bulk import is reserved for the notebook's owner. You can still add notes one at a time. If you need to bulk import, ask the owner to do it for you.

CSV Format

Neatbase reads standard CSV files (RFC 4180):

• One row per note. The first row is treated as the header.
• Comma-separated. Tab- or semicolon-separated files aren’t supported. Re-save them as CSV in any spreadsheet app first.
• Quoted values. Cells containing commas, line breaks, or quote characters should be wrapped in "…". Internal quotes are escaped by doubling them ("").
• UTF-8 encoding. Latin-1 is accepted as a fallback for older Excel exports.
• Blank rows are skipped automatically.

If a column doesn’t match the field’s expected format, Neatbase leaves that cell empty on the imported note. The preview screen shows how many cells couldn’t be read so you know exactly what to expect.

Field Format Reference

Each field type has its own rules for what counts as a valid value:

Fields That Can’t Be Imported

These field types aren’t included on the mapping screen because there’s no clean way to represent them in a single CSV cell:

• Image — image files need to be added in the app after import.
• Reference — links between notebooks need real notes to point at.
• Checklist and Comments — these store structured lists that don’t round-trip through CSV well.
• Formula — formulas are computed automatically.
• Button, Divider, Heading, Description — these don’t hold per-note values.

If you need to populate these fields, add them in the app after the import.

Free Plan Limit

The Free plan allows up to 100 notes per notebook. If your CSV has more rows than the remaining capacity, Neatbase imports the first N rows that fit (in CSV reading order, top to bottom) and tells you in the preview how many will be skipped. Upgrade to Pro to import unlimited rows.

Import itself isn’t Pro-gated for your own notebooks — you don’t need a Pro subscription to use it. For shared notebooks, the import menu is reserved for the notebook’s owner (see Shared Notebooks above).

Tips

• Export your existing data to CSV first as a backup before a large import.
• Round-trip with Export. Export from Neatbase, edit the CSV in a spreadsheet, then import the changes into a new notebook. The two flows are designed to match.
• Use yyyy-MM-dd for dates when you’re generating CSVs from scripts. Locale-formatted dates (April 15, 2026) work when the device’s locale matches, but ISO dates always work everywhere.
• Quote cells containing commas. A tags cell with "Design, Marketing" reads as two tags. Without the quotes, the CSV parser would treat them as two columns.
• Mismatched values stay empty. If a column for the Rating field contains the word "five", that cell is left empty on the imported note — the rest of the row still imports normally. The preview screen tells you upfront how many cells will be empty.