How to Migrate Mastodon Mutes and Blocks With CSV Re-Import

When you move to a new Mastodon account on a different instance, your mute and block lists do not travel with your followers. Mastodon only migrates your follower relationships and a limited set of settings. If you have spent time curating mutes and blocks to manage your timeline, losing those lists can feel like starting over. This article explains how to export your mute and block lists as CSV files from your old account and re-import them into your new account, preserving your content moderation settings.

What the Mastodon Account Migration Does and Does Not Transfer

When you use the official Mastodon account migration tool, only the following items move to your new account:

• Follower relationships — people who follow you are asked to follow your new account.
• Your profile display name and bio — these are copied, not moved.

Mastodon intentionally leaves out mute and block lists from the migration process. The developers designed this to prevent accidental transfer of sensitive moderation data. However, Mastodon does provide a separate export and import system for these lists through CSV files. You can find these tools in the Preferences under Import and export. The export creates a plain CSV file with one account address per row. The import reads that same file and applies the mutes or blocks to your new account. You must perform the export before you deactivate or abandon your old account, because the export option disappears once the account is moved or deleted.

Steps to Export Mutes and Blocks From Your Old Mastodon Account

Complete these steps while you are still logged in to your old account. The export produces two separate CSV files — one for mutes and one for blocks. You need both files if you want to transfer both lists.

1. Log in to your old Mastodon account
   Open the web interface of your current instance and sign in with your old credentials.
2. Open Preferences
   Click the gear icon in the right column or select Preferences from the user menu in the top navigation bar.
3. Go to Import and export
   In the Preferences sidebar, click Import and export. This section contains both the export and import tools.
4. Scroll to the Export section
   The page shows a blue Export button under the heading “Export”. Below it, you see checkboxes for each data type you can export.
5. Check the boxes for Muted users and Blocked users
   Select the checkboxes next to “Muted users” and “Blocked users”. Do not select “Lists” or “Following accounts” unless you need those files for other purposes.
6. Click the Export button
   Mastodon downloads a ZIP archive named mastodon-export-YYYY-MM-DD.zip to your computer. Extract the ZIP file to see individual CSV files. The files you need are muted_users.csv and blocked_users.csv.

Steps to Import Mutes and Blocks Into Your New Mastodon Account

After you have set up your new account and completed the follower migration, you can import the CSV files. The import process uses the same Import and export page in your new account. Mastodon validates each row in the CSV file and applies the corresponding moderation action.

1. Log in to your new Mastodon account
   Sign in to the instance where your new account lives.
2. Open Preferences and go to Import and export
   Click the gear icon and select Import and export from the sidebar.
3. Scroll to the Import section
   Below the Export area, you see the Import section with a dropdown menu and an Upload button.
4. Select the import type
   Open the dropdown menu and choose one of these options:
   • Muting — for an import of muted users
   • Blocking — for an import of blocked users

   You must import mutes and blocks separately because each import type reads only its matching CSV file.

5. Choose the correct CSV file
   Click the Browse or Choose File button and select either muted_users.csv or blocked_users.csv from the extracted ZIP folder.
6. Click Upload
   Mastodon processes the file and displays a confirmation message. The mute or block list updates immediately. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for the other CSV file if you are importing both lists.

If the Mute or Block Import Fails

CSV file contains invalid account addresses

Mastodon expects each row in the CSV file to contain a single account address in the format @username@instance.domain. If your file contains extra commas, line breaks, or headers, the import may fail or skip some entries. Open the CSV file in a plain text editor like Notepad and verify that each line has exactly one address with no surrounding quotes or extra characters.

Account has already been muted or blocked

If an account in your CSV file is already muted or blocked on the new account, Mastodon skips that entry. This is not an error. You can check the import log by scrolling to the bottom of the Import and export page after the upload completes. The log shows how many entries were processed and how many were skipped.

CSV file contains accounts from a blocked instance

If your new instance has domain blocks that prevent interaction with certain instances, accounts from those domains cannot be muted or blocked through import. Mastodon silently skips those entries. You must manage domain-level blocks separately through Preferences > Moderation > Domain blocks.

Mastodon Account Migration vs CSV Re-Import: Mutes and Blocks

Item	Account Migration Tool	CSV Re-Import
Transfers followers	Yes	No
Transfers mutes	No	Yes
Transfers blocks	No	Yes
Requires old account to remain active	Yes, until migration completes	Yes, only during the export step
File format	None — server-to-server handshake	CSV with one address per row
Can be repeated	Once per account lifetime	As many times as needed

You can now export your mute and block lists from your old Mastodon account and re-import them into your new account using the CSV files. The process takes about five minutes per list and preserves your content moderation settings exactly as they were. After the import, check a few accounts on your new timeline to confirm the mutes and blocks are active. For additional safety, keep the exported ZIP file stored locally in case you need to re-import the lists after a future migration.