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Importing and Exporting Your Data

Move your data in and out of Glassy with Markdown export, JSON export, and import from Markdown files or an Obsidian vault — full portability, no lock-in.

4:30 beginner

Before you start

  • getting-started/01-welcome-to-glassy

What you'll learn

  • Export all notes as Markdown or JSON
  • Import from Markdown files or an Obsidian vault
  • Understand the export format and what is included
  • Verify imports completed successfully

Glassy is designed to avoid vendor lock-in. Your data is yours — you can export everything at any time, in open formats that any text editor or note-taking app can read.

Exporting your data

Markdown export

Open Settings → Data

Open the Account HUD (click your avatar) → Settings → Data & privacy → Export data.

Choose Markdown export

Click Export as Markdown. Glassy generates a .zip file containing:

  • One .md file per note, named by title slug
  • YAML frontmatter with tags, creation date, and source URL (for captures)
  • A README.md with export metadata (date, item count, format version)

Download the archive

The export is generated on the server and downloaded to your browser. For large libraries, this may take a few seconds.

JSON export

The JSON export includes everything in a single file — notes, bookmarks, tags, and collections. Use it when you want a complete machine-readable snapshot, or when migrating to another Glassy instance.

{
  "exportedAt": "2026-07-13T12:00:00Z",
  "version": "1.0",
  "notes": [],
  "bookmarks": [],
  "tags": [],
  "collections": []
}

What is included

Content typeMarkdown exportJSON export
NotesYes (as .md files)Yes
CapturesYes (as .md with source URL)Yes
BookmarksNo (no content to export)Yes
TagsYes (in frontmatter)Yes (as separate array)
CollectionsNoYes
ImagesNo (URLs only)No (URLs only)
Import and export settings panel showing Markdown and JSON export options
Import and export — your data stays portable

Importing data

From Markdown files

Open Settings → Data

Go to Settings → Data & privacy → Import data.

Select Markdown import

Click Import Markdown and select one or more .md files.

Review and confirm

Glassy parses each file:

  • YAML frontmatter — extracts tags, date, title (if present)
  • No frontmatter — uses filename as title, no tags
  • Body — imported as note content

Review the import summary (number of notes, any warnings) and click Confirm import.

From an Obsidian vault

Glassy can import directly from an Obsidian vault — useful if you’re migrating from Obsidian to Glassy or bringing in a batch of notes:

  1. Settings → Data & privacy → Import from Obsidian
  2. Select the vault directory (or drag and drop)
  3. Glassy scans for .md files with YAML frontmatter
  4. Frontmatter fields like tags, date, and title are preserved

Verifying imports

After importing:

  1. Check your library — imported notes should appear
  2. Verify tags were preserved
  3. Check the import log in Settings → Data for any warnings or skipped files
  4. If some notes are missing, check that the source files are valid Markdown with correct frontmatter

What’s next?

You’ve completed the Getting Started track. From here, explore: