Import & Export

Ember is built with zero lock-in. Bring your history in, and take everything back out as clean, documented JSON — free, whether or not you're a subscriber.

Exporting your data

Open the File → Export menu and choose a format. Ember writes a single .zip archive containing your data as human-readable JSON files, a schema, a manifest, and all your media attachments.

Everything is included — entries, people, stories, interactions, worlds, tags, and media.
The archive format is openly documented, so you can parse it, build your own tools, or migrate elsewhere.

See the full Ember Archive Format reference for the exact structure.

Screenshot: File → Export menu

One archive, everything in it, yours to keep.

Importing from Day One

Moving in from Day One? Export your Day One journal, then use File → Import in Ember and choose your file. Ember brings your entries, dates, and media across so your history starts full, not empty.

Import extracts media into Ember's own on-disk store, so it's disabled while you're exploring the first-launch demo. Start your own Ember first, then import.

Importing from Apple Journal

Export your journal from Apple's Journal app, then use File → Import in Ember and choose the exported folder (or .zip). Ember brings your entries, dates, photos, audio, and even the locations attached to your entries. See the full Moving from Apple Journal guide for step-by-step instructions.

Apple recently added multiple journals, but Apple's export doesn't record which journal each entry belongs to — so everything comes in as one set. (Day One's export does include this, so those entries keep their journal as a tag.)

Importing from Contacts

To add people quickly, use File → Import → From Contacts. Ember lets you pick who to bring in and creates a person for each — names and details only. Your address book is never uploaded anywhere; the import happens entirely on your device.

Your data is yours

No lock-in, ever. Export works even after a subscription ends. Leaving is as easy as arriving — that's a promise the architecture keeps, not just a policy.

Still stuck? Ask on the feedback board → All guides