How to Export Mastodon Lists and Re-Create Them on a New Instance

When you move a Mastodon account to a new instance, your follower list is not the only thing that needs to be migrated. Lists that you carefully organized to filter posts from different communities or topics do not transfer automatically. The Mastodon API does not include a built-in export for lists, so you must use a manual process to save and rebuild them. This article explains how to export your existing Mastodon lists using a browser tool and then re-create them on your new instance.

Why Mastodon Lists Do Not Transfer During Account Migration

Mastodon account migration moves your followers, follows, and some profile settings. Lists are stored locally on the instance database and are not included in the standard export or migration process. The official Mastodon export tool generates a CSV file of your follows, but it does not export the list structure or the membership of each list. To preserve your lists, you must capture the data manually before you leave your old instance.

Each list in Mastodon has a unique numeric ID assigned by the instance. The accounts in a list are associated with that ID. When you move to a new instance, those IDs do not exist on the new server. You must create new lists and add the same accounts to them. The process involves three stages: exporting list names, exporting the accounts in each list, and then recreating everything on the new instance.

Steps to Export List Names and Members from Your Old Instance

Step 1: Open the Mastodon web interface and log in to your old instance

1. Open your old Mastodon instance in a browser
   Use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. Log in with your current Mastodon account.
2. Press F12 to open Developer Tools
   Click the Network tab at the top of the Developer Tools panel. Make sure the recording button is red and active.
3. Filter the network requests
   In the filter box, type api/v1/lists. This will show only requests related to lists.
4. Navigate to your lists page
   In the Mastodon interface, click the Lists icon in the left sidebar. This triggers a GET request to /api/v1/lists.
5. Click the request in the Network tab
   Select the request named lists. In the right panel, click the Response tab. You will see a JSON array containing all your lists with their id and title.
6. Copy the JSON response
   Select the entire response text and copy it to a text file. Save it as mastodon-lists.json.

Step 2: Export the accounts in each list

1. Clear the Network log
   Click the clear button in the Network tab to remove previous entries.
2. Click on a list name in the Mastodon interface
   This opens the list detail view and triggers a GET request to /api/v1/lists/{id}/accounts.
3. Find the accounts request in the Network tab
   Look for a request named accounts with the list ID in the URL. Click it and view the Response tab.
4. Copy the JSON array of accounts
   Each account object contains id, username, and acct. The acct field shows the full handle (e.g., @user@instance.social). Copy this data and save it with a filename that matches the list name, such as list-tech-accounts.json.
5. Repeat for every list
   Go through each list in your Mastodon interface and save the accounts JSON separately. This step is essential because the API does not return all lists in one batch.

Steps to Re-Create Lists on the New Instance

Step 1: Create the list structure on the new instance

1. Log in to your new Mastodon instance
   Open the web interface and sign in with your migrated account.
2. Click the Lists icon in the left sidebar
   If you have no lists yet, the page will show an empty state.
3. Click the Create list button
   Enter the exact same title you used on the old instance. Mastodon allows duplicate list titles, but keeping them identical helps with organization.
4. Repeat for each list from your JSON file
   Create all the lists before adding members. This makes the next step faster.

Step 2: Add accounts to each list

1. Open the first list you created
   Click the list name in the sidebar to open its detail view.
2. Click the Edit list button
   This shows a search box where you can type account handles.
3. Type the full handle of the first account from your saved JSON
   Use the acct field exactly as it appears, for example @user@instance.social. Mastodon will show matching accounts as you type.
4. Click the account name to add it
   The account appears in the list of members below the search box.
5. Repeat for every account in the JSON file for this list
   Work through the accounts one by one. This is the most time-consuming part of the process.
6. Switch to the next list and repeat
   Open each list, click Edit list, and add its members using the saved JSON data.

What to Do If Accounts Are Missing or Not Found

Accounts that no longer exist

If an account handle from your old list returns no results on the new instance, that account may have been deleted or moved. Mastodon does not keep deleted accounts in its search index. You can skip those accounts or search for them by their current handle if they moved to a different instance.

Private or suspended accounts

Some accounts may be private or suspended on the new instance. If the account is private and you do not follow it, Mastodon will not show it in the search results. You must follow the account first, then add it to the list.

Large lists with many members

If a list has more than 50 members, the manual addition process can take a long time. Consider using a browser automation tool like a simple JavaScript snippet in the console to add accounts in bulk. However, Mastodon rate-limits API requests, so you must add accounts slowly to avoid being temporarily blocked.

Mastodon List Export Methods: Manual vs Third-Party Tools

Item	Manual Export via Developer Tools	Third-Party Tools (e.g., Mastodon List Export Extensions)
Data captured	List names and full account handles	List names and account handles, sometimes with follow status
Requires browser DevTools knowledge	Yes, basic understanding of Network tab	No, usually a one-click button
Works on all Mastodon instances	Yes, because it uses the official API	Depends on the tool being compatible with your instance version
Risk of data loss	Low, you control the copy process	Medium, the tool may miss some accounts if pagination is not handled
Time required for export	5–10 minutes for 5 lists	1–2 minutes

You can now export your Mastodon lists from any instance and re-create them on a new one using the manual method described here. The process requires only a browser and a few minutes of work per list. For future migrations, keep your JSON files stored safely so you can reuse them. If you have many lists, consider using a third-party browser extension that automates the export step, but always verify the output before deleting your old account.