Bring your existing logbook across
Import a spreadsheet, a LogTen report or photos of your paper logbook. Nothing is added until you've checked it.
You don't have to type your history in again. Pilot Lab can read a spreadsheet, a report from another logbook app, or photos of your paper logbook's pages. Whichever route you take, you see everything it found before anything is added, and importing never changes or replaces flights already in your logbook.
Open it from the sidebar: Logbook ▸ Import. It opens with two choices side by side: From a logbook app or spreadsheet and Scan a paper logbook. (While your logbook is empty, Home offers Bring your logbook in and Scan your paper logbook, which go straight to the same two places.)
Choose your route
Table: Which import to use
| You have | Use | Where |
|---|---|---|
| A paper logbook | Photos of each page | Scan a paper logbook ▸ Add photos |
| A spreadsheet (CSV or Excel) | Import a file | From a logbook app or spreadsheet ▸ Import a file |
| A LogTen Pro report | Import a file, LogTen import | From a logbook app or spreadsheet ▸ Import a file |
Photos of a paper logbook
Take a clear, flat photo of each page and upload them. Pilot Lab reads the columns, groups the pages into a book, and shows you each row next to the photo so you can check and correct it before you commit. Photos it can't read well are flagged for a retake.
Free workspaces, and the Pro trial every new account starts with, can scan a small number of pages to try it out (six in total). Pro scans 20 pages a month, so a whole logbook comes across over a few months. For the step-by-step, see Scan a paper logbook.
A spreadsheet or another app's export
Select Import a file or LogTen report to open Import a file. Upload a .csv or .xlsx file, or a saved LogTen report, then match your columns to Pilot Lab's fields. Pilot Lab recognises the exports of several common logbook apps and spreadsheets and fills in the matching for you where it can. There's also a Pilot Lab logbook template to download if you're starting from scratch in a spreadsheet.
If you start a file import on your phone, Pilot Lab first asks whether the file is on the phone, and can email you a link to finish on your computer, where an export usually is.
If your spreadsheet has a "brought forward" row of totals from an older logbook, you can include it as an opening balance, so your totals start from the right place without every old flight being listed. See Import a spreadsheet.
After you import
Imported flights are marked Imported rather than Draft. They count toward your totals straight away, because your old logbook is the record for them. If you later fill in the details a finished entry needs, you can finalise them like any other flight.
Once the import is in, open Dashboard and compare the totals with the last page of your old logbook. If they differ, My totals don't match my paper logbook walks through the usual reasons.
Can I undo an import?
An import only ever adds new entries. It never overwrites a flight you already have. For scanned pages, the page review's menu has an Undo import option. The import guides cover the details: Scan a paper logbook and Import a spreadsheet.