How to Re-Import Mastodon Bookmarks After Account Migration

When you move your Mastodon account to a new instance, your bookmarked posts do not follow you automatically. The migration tool transfers your followers, follows, and profile settings, but bookmarks are stored locally on each instance and are not part of the standard Move handshake. This article explains how to export your bookmarks from your old account and import them into your new account so you do not lose saved posts.

Mastodon stores bookmarks as a list of post URIs that point to content across the fediverse. Because each instance keeps its own bookmark database, a migration does not copy them. You must use the official Export tool to create a CSV file of your bookmarks, then use the Import tool on the new account to load them back. The process takes about five minutes and requires access to both accounts.

This guide walks you through the exact steps for exporting bookmarks from the old instance, importing them to the new instance, and verifying that every saved post reappears. It also covers common pitfalls such as missing CSV columns and stale URIs that may not resolve after migration.

Why Mastodon Bookmarks Do Not Survive Account Migration

Mastodon’s account migration feature is designed to move your social graph — followers, follows, and lists — but it deliberately excludes bookmarks. The Move handshake uses ActivityPub’s Move activity, which only transfers relationships between actors. Bookmarks are not part of the ActivityPub standard; each instance stores them in its own local database table named bookmarks.

When you initiate a Move, the old instance sends a message to every follower saying, “This account is now located at @user@newinstance.social.” The new instance then copies over the list of accounts you follow. Bookmarks, however, are a private collection of post IDs that have no standardized federation protocol. The Mastodon developers chose to leave them out of migration to keep the Move process simple and predictable.

The only way to transfer bookmarks is through the data export and import system, which handles CSV files. This system is separate from the Move tool and must be run manually before you lose access to the old account. You can export bookmarks from the old instance even after you have initiated the Move, as long as you still have login credentials.

Steps to Export and Import Mastodon Bookmarks

Complete these steps while you still have access to both accounts. The export step requires you to be logged into the old instance. The import step requires you to be logged into the new instance. If you already lost access to the old account, you cannot recover bookmarks — there is no server-side backup for them.

Export Bookmarks from the Old Mastodon Account

1. Log in to the old instance and open Preferences
   On your old Mastodon account, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the web interface. The icon is labeled “Preferences” on hover.
2. Navigate to Import and Export
   In the left sidebar, click Import and Export. This page has two sections: Export and Import. Start with Export.
3. Generate the bookmarks CSV file
   Click the Export tab if it is not already selected. Find the row labeled Bookmarks and click the Export button next to it. Mastodon creates a CSV file named bookmarks.csv and downloads it to your computer.
4. Verify the CSV file content
   Open the downloaded file in a text editor or spreadsheet program. The file should contain a header row with #uri and one or more rows with post URIs. Each URI looks like https://instance.social/@username/123456. If the file is empty or missing rows, repeat the export step.

Import Bookmarks into the New Mastodon Account

1. Log in to the new instance and open Preferences
   Go to your new Mastodon account and click the gear icon to open Preferences.
2. Go to Import and Export
   Click Import and Export in the left sidebar. This time, select the Import tab.
3. Choose the bookmarks CSV file
   Click the Browse button and select the bookmarks.csv file you exported earlier. Make sure the file type dropdown shows “CSV” and the merge option is set to Merge — this adds the imported bookmarks to any existing ones you may have already saved.
4. Start the import
   Click the Upload button. Mastodon processes the file in the background. A progress bar appears at the top of the page. Do not close the browser tab until the bar disappears.
5. Wait for the import to complete
   Large bookmark lists may take several minutes. You can check progress by refreshing the Import page. Once the import finishes, a green banner confirms success. Your bookmarks now appear in your new account’s bookmarks list under the star icon.

Common Issues When Re-Importing Mastodon Bookmarks

Bookmark CSV File Contains No Rows After Export

If the exported CSV file has only the header row and no data, you may have selected the wrong export option. Mastodon exports bookmarks separately from follows and lists. Verify that you clicked the Export button next to Bookmarks, not the one next to Following list or Lists. If the file is still empty, your old account may have zero bookmarks. Check by opening the bookmarks view (star icon) on the old account before exporting.

Import Fails with a “Merge conflict” Error

Mastodon’s import tool does not accept duplicate URIs. If you previously imported bookmarks from a different file, some URIs may already exist in your new account. The merge option skips duplicates, but a malformed CSV with extra columns can cause the parser to fail. Open the CSV file and confirm it contains exactly one column named #uri with no extra commas or line breaks. Remove any rows that are not valid post URIs.

Bookmarked Posts Do Not Appear After Import

A successful import adds the URI to your bookmarks list, but the post may not load if the original instance is offline or the post was deleted. Mastodon shows a placeholder message in the bookmarks view for unavailable posts. If the post is from a defederated instance, it may also be hidden. You can remove stale bookmarks manually by clicking the bookmark icon again on the new account.

Import Button Is Grayed Out

Mastodon enforces a three-day cooldown between imports. If you recently imported a file, the button remains disabled until the cooldown expires. Check the Import page for a message that says “You can import again in X days.” Wait the specified time before retrying. To avoid this, combine all data you want to import into a single CSV file before uploading.

Item	Export from Old Instance	Import to New Instance
File format	CSV with #uri column	Same CSV file, no modifications needed
Time required	Under 1 minute	1–5 minutes depending on file size
Access needed	Active login on old instance	Active login on new instance
Cooldown	None	3 days between imports
Merge behavior	N/A	Skips duplicate URIs, adds new ones

You can now restore all your Mastodon bookmarks after an account migration by using the Export and Import tools in Preferences. Run the export before you lose access to the old instance, and use the Merge option on the new account to avoid duplicates. For large bookmark collections, combine all CSV files into one before importing to bypass the three-day cooldown. After the import completes, open your bookmarks view on the new account and check that the first few posts load correctly.