How to Import Your Pilot Logbook to Skyden

Switching logbook apps feels risky. You’ve spent years building your flight records. Thousands of hours, hundreds of aircraft, every route and remark carefully logged. The last thing you want is to lose any of it.

Importing copies your records into Skyden without changing the original data in your current app. A clean export from a directly supported source makes the process much faster than rebuilding years of flights by hand.

Skyden has direct import flows for Carnet.aero, FlightLog, FlyLog, ForeFlight, LogTen, PILOTLOG, Swift, and the Skyden CSV Template. This guide covers the most common migrations and explains how to use the template for other logbooks or spreadsheets.

TL;DR

• Export your current logbook, then import a copy into Skyden. Your original records remain in the old app.
• Skyden supports eight logbook import sources: Carnet.aero, FlightLog, FlyLog, ForeFlight, LogTen, PILOTLOG, Swift, and the Skyden CSV Template.
• Use the dedicated source option when one exists. For another logbook or spreadsheet, copy the relevant data into Skyden’s template without changing its headers.
• Custom fields, approach formats, simulator categories, and digital signatures may need manual review after import.
• After import, compare total hours and flight count, then spot-check at least 5 to 10 representative flights.
• Keep both apps in parallel until you have verified the records and exports you depend on.

Supported Import Sources

Skyden also supports airline-data imports for ASL Airlines, Avion Express, British Airways EuroFlyer, easyJet, Volotea, Leon, and Ryanair. Those use separate airline-import flows rather than the logbook sources covered below.

Before You Start

What you’ll need:

• Access to your current logbook app (or a CSV export file)
• Skyden installed on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac
• About 10-15 minutes

What gets imported:

• Flight dates and times (departure, arrival, block, flight time)
• Aircraft type and registration
• Departure and arrival airports
• Time categories (PIC, SIC, dual, instructor, night, IFR, cross-country)
• Remarks and endorsements
• Multi-crew and multi-engine time

What may need manual adjustment:

• Custom fields specific to your previous app (e.g., ForeFlight’s “Route” field formatting, LogTen’s custom categories)
• Approach types and counts (formatting varies between apps)
• Simulator entries (some apps categorize these differently)
• Digital signatures (these don’t transfer between apps and will need to be re-signed if required)

Importing from ForeFlight

ForeFlight exports your logbook as a CSV file through their web interface. The mobile app doesn’t support export directly, so you’ll need a browser.

Step 1: Export from ForeFlight

1. Open foreflight.com in a web browser and log into your account
2. Click Logbook in the top navigation
3. Click the Export tab
4. Click the blue Export button to download your CSV file
5. The file saves to your Downloads folder as a .csv file

Tip: ForeFlight also offers an auto-export feature that emails your logbook as a CSV every 30 days. You can enable this under Logbook > Settings > Export to Email. Useful for ongoing backups, but for a one-time migration, the manual export is faster.

Step 2: Import into Skyden

1. Open Skyden and go to Settings
2. Tap Import
3. Select ForeFlight as your source format
4. Select the CSV file you exported
5. Skyden automatically maps ForeFlight’s column headers to the correct fields. Review the preview to confirm everything looks right.
6. Tap Import to confirm

Because Skyden recognizes ForeFlight’s specific CSV format, column mapping is handled automatically. You shouldn’t need to manually assign any fields.

Importing from LogTen Pro

LogTen Pro exports flight data as a tab-delimited text file. The process happens within the LogTen app on your Mac or through the iOS share menu.

Step 1: Export from LogTen Pro

On Mac:

1. Open LogTen Pro
2. Go to Reports in the menu bar
3. Select Exporters
4. Choose Export Flights (Tab), not “Dynamic Export Flights (Tab),” which may omit some data
5. Save the .txt file to your computer

On iOS:

1. Open LogTen Pro
2. Navigate to Reports
3. Select the tab-delimited export option
4. Share the file via AirDrop to your Mac, or save it to Files

Important: Use the standard “Export Flights (Tab)” option, not the “Dynamic Export” variant. The dynamic export uses filtered data and may not include all your flights. The file name should contain “(Tab)”. This indicates it’s tab-delimited, which is what Skyden expects.

Step 2: Import into Skyden

1. Open Skyden and go to Settings
2. Tap Import
3. Select LogTen as your source format
4. Select the exported .txt file
5. Review the field mapping preview. LogTen’s column names map to Skyden fields automatically.
6. Tap Import to confirm

Importing from CrewLounge PILOTLOG

Skyden’s PILOTLOG importer expects the CSV produced by the PILOTLOG desktop app. The PILOTLOG web export is not supported by this import flow.

Step 1: Export from CrewLounge PILOTLOG

1. Open CrewLounge PILOTLOG
2. Navigate to the Query page
3. Leave all filter boxes blank and click Search to retrieve all flight records
4. Click the CSV icon button to export as a semicolon-delimited CSV file

Step 2: Import into Skyden

1. Open Skyden and go to Settings
2. Tap Import
3. Select PILOTLOG as your source format
4. Select your exported CSV file
5. Review the preview and confirm field mapping
6. Tap Import to confirm

Note: CrewLounge PILOTLOG uses semicolons as delimiters instead of commas in their CSV exports. Skyden’s PILOTLOG import mode handles this automatically, so you don’t need to convert the file first.

Importing from FlyLog

FlyLog supports CSV export from both its web app (app.flylog.io) and its desktop apps for macOS and Windows. Skyden recognizes FlyLog’s CSV format and maps the columns automatically.

Step 1: Export from FlyLog

1. Open FlyLog on web or desktop
2. Open your logbook and use the export option to generate a CSV of all flights
3. Save the file to your device

Step 2: Import into Skyden

1. Open Skyden and go to Settings
2. Tap Import
3. Select FlyLog as your source format
4. Select your exported CSV file
5. Review the field mapping preview
6. Tap Import to confirm

Importing with the Skyden CSV Template

If you’re coming from another logbook app, a spreadsheet, or a digitized paper logbook without a dedicated importer, use the Skyden CSV Template.

Preparing the template

Download the Skyden CSV Template and leave its headers unchanged. Copy each source column into the matching Skyden column, then save the completed file as CSV. Do not rename, reorder, or replace the template headers.

Map only fields that have a genuine equivalent. Different apps may define approaches, simulator categories, crew roles, or custom fields differently, so leave uncertain values blank and review them after import rather than forcing them into the wrong column.

Keep an untouched copy of the original export. That gives you a reference if a field needs to be remapped or restored later.

Check data portability before choosing a logbook. Your flight records belong to you, so the app should let you export them in an open format such as CSV. Make sure you can retrieve the complete data without relying on one vendor or a proprietary file format.

Step-by-Step Import

1. Open Skyden and go to Settings
2. Tap Import
3. Select Skyden CSV Template as your source format
4. Select your completed template
5. Review the import preview carefully
6. Preview the imported flights to verify the data looks right
7. Tap Import to confirm

Verify Your Data

After importing, don’t just assume everything transferred correctly. Take 10 minutes to verify.

Check your totals. Compare the total flight hours in Skyden against your previous app. They should match within a few minutes. Small rounding differences (less than 0.1 hours) are normal and usually caused by decimal precision differences between apps.

Check your flight count. The number of flights in Skyden should exactly match your export. If flights are missing, check whether your export was filtered by date range.

Spot-check individual flights. Pick 5-10 flights across different time periods: your first flight, a recent flight, a few from the middle. For each one, verify:

• Date and route are correct
• Total time matches
• PIC/SIC/dual categorization is right
• Night and instrument time transferred correctly
• Remarks are intact

Check time categories. If you log night time, instrument time, or cross-country time, verify these transferred correctly. Different apps calculate night time differently. For example, some use the +30/-30 rule while others use actual civil twilight calculations. Small discrepancies in night time specifically are common and usually reflect different calculation methods, not import errors.

Troubleshooting

“My total hours don’t match”

The most common cause is rounding differences. Some apps store times as decimal hours rounded to one decimal place (1.5), while others use two decimal places (1.50) or hours:minutes (1:30). Over thousands of flights, small rounding differences compound. A discrepancy under 1 hour across 1,000+ flights is typically normal.

Less common causes:

• Timezone handling. If your departure and arrival are in different timezones, apps may calculate block time differently.
• Night time calculation methods. Different apps use different astronomical definitions. This affects night time totals specifically, not overall flight time.
• Simulator time. Some apps include sim time in totals, others separate it. Check whether sim entries were included in your export.

“Some flights are missing”

First, check whether your export was filtered by date range. Most apps default to exporting all flights, but some require you to explicitly select “All” rather than a recent date range.

Other causes:

• Date format parsing. If a few dates in your CSV use a different format than the rest, those rows may be skipped. Check for consistency.
• Encoding issues. If your CSV contains special characters (accented airport names, non-English remarks), save the file as UTF-8 before importing.
• Empty rows. Blank rows at the end of a CSV file can sometimes cause the parser to stop early. Open the file in a text editor and delete any trailing empty lines.

“Template fields look wrong”

Compare the completed file with a fresh copy of the Skyden template. Confirm that every header is unchanged and each source column was copied into the correct destination.

If your original export uses unfamiliar fields:

• Keep the original export untouched
• Map only fields you understand into a new copy of the template
• Leave unsupported or ambiguous values out instead of guessing

If you’re stuck, contact support and we’ll help you sort it out.

Running Both Apps in Parallel

Do not delete your old app right away. Keep it installed while you test Skyden, and retain it as a reference until you are confident in the migration.

During the annual subscription’s 7-day trial, log new flights in Skyden and verify that your workflow feels right. Check that the features you rely on are there. Make sure your imported data holds up as you use it alongside new entries.

Every feature is unlocked during the trial. Use that week to test representative flights, review totals, and generate the exports you depend on before committing to a subscription.

If everything checks out, you can confidently make Skyden your primary logbook. Your old app’s data is still there as a backup if you ever want to reference it.

Thinking about switching but haven’t decided yet? Check out our comparison of the best pilot logbook apps to see how your options stack up. Or if you’re coming from ForeFlight specifically, our ForeFlight logbook alternative guide covers the differences in detail.

Ready to import? Start the annual plan’s 7-day free trial and bring your logbook with you. Every feature is unlocked while you import your data and evaluate the app on your own terms. If you run into any issues during import, our support team is here to help.

Related reading

• ForeFlight Logbook Alternative: An Honest Comparison
• LogTen Pro Alternative: Best Pilot Logbook Apps in 2026
• Digital vs Paper Logbook: What Pilots Need to Know