Move your highlights to et al.

In the Library, open More (⋮) and choose Import from other apps… If your Library is empty, you’ll see the same option there. Choose one or more files. et al. reads supported CSV, Markdown, and JSON exports.

Preview what et al. will add and what it will skip, with reasons for skipped highlights. It skips highlights already in your Library with the same page and text, and keeps only one copy of repeats within a file. You won’t get duplicates if you choose the same file again.

Each import brings in up to 2,000 highlights. If a file has more, the preview says so, and importing the same file again brings in the rest. et al. reads the file on your device. Nothing is uploaded. Imported highlights follow your iCloud Sync setting like the rest of your Library.

Readwise

Readwise’s Markdown export is the one to use. Its CSV export doesn’t include a page link for each highlight, so et al. can’t import from it.

1. In Readwise, go to Export Highlights.
2. Choose Markdown, then Export.
3. Choose Download Highlights and unzip the file it downloads.
4. In et al., choose Import from other apps… and select the unzipped .md file (or files).

Readwise’s Markdown export doesn’t include dates, so these highlights appear under Date unavailable. Book highlights don’t have a page link, so et al. skips them. Highlights from web articles come through.

Hypothes.is

Hypothes.is exports as JSON with the context around each highlight, so imported highlights come back on the page the way highlights made in et al. do.

1. Open the Hypothesis sidebar on a page you’ve annotated.
2. Open the Share panel, then the Export tab.
3. Choose JSON, then Export.
4. In et al., choose Import from other apps… and select the exported .json file.

Replies to other annotations, and page notes with no highlighted text, are skipped.

Obsidian and other Markdown

et al. reads a Markdown file where each highlight has a page link and the highlighted text. The link can be in frontmatter (source:, url:, or link:) or in a line like Source: [url](url). Highlights can be written as > blockquotes or ==marked== text.

et al.’s own Markdown export uses this format. You can export a file and import it back into the same Library or another one.

Take your highlights to Zotero

et al. Pro can send a citation with your highlights and notes to Zotero. Choose RIS as the format in the Citations panel, then turn on Highlights and Notes on the source card you’re downloading. Each highlight, with its note, becomes one note in the RIS file, and Zotero adds it as a child note under the reference.

With Highlights and Notes off, the RIS file contains only the reference. BibTeX and CSL-JSON downloads contain only the reference with either setting. The RIS file also includes the website title, so Zotero fills in Website Title on import.

1. Open Citations for a source in your Library.
2. Choose RIS as the format.
3. Turn on Highlights and Notes on the source card.
4. Choose Download.
5. In Zotero, choose File, then Import, and pick the .ris file.

Other apps

Coming from another app, like Pocket? If it exports a CSV with a column for the highlighted text and a column for the page link, et al. can read it. et al. looks for a set of common header names:

• Highlighted text. A column named highlight, quote, text, or annotation.
• Page link. A column named url, link, source url, or page url.
• Title. A column named title.
• Note. A column named note or comment.
• Tags. A column named tags.
• Color. A column named color.
• Date. A column named date or created.

The preview shows exactly what et al. will add before anything changes, so you can check the match before you import.

What comes through

• Highlights and notes. The highlighted text, and any note that came with it.
• Tags and colors. Tags carry over as written. A recognized color name carries over. Anything else comes in as yellow.
• Dates, when they’re unambiguous. Otherwise the highlight appears under Date unavailable.
• A source to cite. et al. starts with the page’s URL and title. Open the page once and et al. fills in the details it can find.

Imported highlights are ready to search, organize, and cite in your Library right away. On the original page, they show up again the next time you open it, once et al. finds the passage.