Does the migration keep my notes and tags?

Yes. Readwise's CSV export includes notes, tags, colors, locations, and highlight dates, and Rereader imports all of them.

Do I lose anything by leaving Readwise?

You keep every highlight and note. What Readwise offers that Rereader deliberately doesn't: mobile apps, cloud sync from 100+ sources, and the Reader read-it-later app. Rereader focuses on Kindle highlights on your Mac.

Rereader → Help

Migrate from Readwise, highlights intact

Ten minutes, and your whole Readwise archive — notes, tags, colors, dates — lives on your own Mac. Do the export before canceling, and you lose nothing.

Part 1 — Export from Readwise

Sign in at readwise.io and open the export page

Click your profile (top right) → Export Highlights, or go directly to readwise.io/export.

Choose "CSV" and export

Readwise offers several formats — pick CSV, which contains everything in one file. For big libraries Readwise emails you a download link; smaller ones download immediately.

Sanity-check the file

Open the CSV with Quick Look (select it, press space). You should see columns like Highlight, Book Title, Book Author, Note, Tags, Location, Highlighted at. If it looks right, it will import right.

Part 2 — Import into Rereader

Open Rereader's Import screen

Press i, or click Import in the sidebar.

Drag the CSV into the drop zone

The import runs immediately and shows a summary: how many highlights were added, across how many books. A 5,000-highlight archive takes a few seconds.

Spot-check your library

Press l and open a book you know well. Notes should sit under their highlights and tags should be attached. Book covers fetch themselves in the background over the next day.

Ran it twice by accident? Nothing happens — the second run reports "0 added." Every Rereader import is idempotent.

Part 3 — Cancel Readwise (when you're ready)

readwise.io → profile → Subscription → cancel. Your Readwise account keeps working until the period you've paid for ends, so there's no rush — but the export is already on your Mac either way. A more detailed pre-cancellation checklist is in Cancel Readwise without losing your highlights.

Part 4 — Future highlights sync over USB

From now on, plugging your Kindle into your Mac imports everything new — automatically, offline, no email forwarding, no browser extension. That's the normal Rereader workflow.

What doesn't come across

Honesty section: Readwise's CSV contains your highlights and notes, but not your Readwise review history (which highlights you've seen there) — Rereader starts its own rotation fresh. And if you used Readwise to collect from apps beyond Kindle (Twitter, Instapaper, podcasts), those highlights are in the same CSV and import fine — but Rereader won't sync new ones from those sources going forward. Rereader is deliberately Kindle-first.

Your highlights deserve a second life

Rereader brings your Kindle highlights back — five in your inbox every morning, a two-minute review on your Mac. One-time purchase, no subscription, your data stays on your machine. 30-day refunds, no questions.

Get Rereader $19 once