Migrating from MyFitnessPal: How to Export and Import Your Data in 2026

You can export every food log, recipe, and weight entry you ever saved in MyFitnessPal, and you should do it before switching apps. MyFitnessPal has supported full account data export since 2018 in compliance with GDPR. This guide walks you through the exact steps to export your data, what each file contains, how to import it into Nutrola or any other calorie tracker, and what limitations to expect when the source and destination apps use different data formats.

Migration is rarely perfect — no app can directly import MyFitnessPal's proprietary custom food format. But with a clear process, you can preserve your history, rebuild your frequent foods in under an hour, and switch trackers without losing the patterns you spent months building.

What MyFitnessPal Data Can You Export?

MyFitnessPal's data export includes:

• Food diary — every meal you logged, with date, time, food name, portion, calories, and macros
• Custom foods — foods you created manually (recipes, restaurant meals, custom entries)
• Weight history — every weigh-in with date
• Exercise log — all cardio and strength entries
• Measurements — body measurements if you tracked them
• Water intake log — daily water totals
• Account information — your profile settings, targets, and preferences

The export arrives as a ZIP file containing CSV files for each data type.

How to Export Your MyFitnessPal Data

MyFitnessPal data export is only available via desktop browser — not the mobile app.

Step 1: Log In on a Desktop Browser

Go to myfitnesspal.com and sign in with your account. The mobile app does not expose the export option.

Step 2: Open Settings

Click your profile picture in the top-right corner, then select Settings.

Step 3: Request Data Export

Navigate to Settings > Account > Download Your Data. Click the Download Your Data button.

Step 4: Wait for the Email

MyFitnessPal prepares the ZIP file in the background. You will receive an email with a download link within 1-24 hours (typically under an hour). The link is valid for 7 days.

Step 5: Download the ZIP File

Click the link in the email to download the ZIP. Extract it — you will see multiple CSV files named by data type (food_diary.csv, custom_foods.csv, weight_history.csv, etc.).

Step 6: Save Multiple Copies

Save the ZIP and the extracted CSVs to at least two locations (cloud storage and local drive). This is your permanent historical backup.

What Each Exported File Contains

File	Contents	Typical Size
food_diary.csv	Every meal logged, by date and meal type	Can be 50,000+ rows for multi-year users
custom_foods.csv	User-created food entries with nutrition	Varies widely
recipes.csv	Saved recipes with ingredients and per-serving data	Varies
weight_history.csv	All weigh-ins with dates	One row per weigh-in
exercise.csv	Cardio and strength entries	Varies
measurements.csv	Body measurements if tracked	Usually small
water.csv	Daily water intake totals	One row per day
profile.csv	Your account settings and targets	Single file

Can You Import MyFitnessPal Data Directly Into Another App?

Mostly no — and this is a real limitation. No major calorie tracker (Nutrola, Cronometer, MacroFactor, Lose It, FatSecret) supports direct CSV import of MyFitnessPal's food diary as of 2026. Reasons:

• Food databases are proprietary. MyFitnessPal's food IDs do not map to other apps' IDs.
• Custom foods in MFP use an internal format that other apps cannot parse.
• Matching historical entries across databases would create more errors than value.

What you can do instead:

1. Use the exported CSVs as a historical reference
2. Manually recreate your top 15-20 most-used foods in the new app
3. Let the new app build a fresh history going forward

This sounds worse than it is. Research shows most users eat 80% of their meals from a rotation of 15-20 foods. Once those are saved in the new app, daily logging speed matches or exceeds what you had in MFP — especially if the new app offers AI photo logging.

How to Import Your Data Into Nutrola

Nutrola does not offer a direct CSV import for MyFitnessPal (no app does), but the migration process is straightforward and typically takes under an hour.

Step 1: Create Your Nutrola Account

Download Nutrola, sign up, and start the free trial. Onboarding takes about 2 minutes. Set your weight, goal, and macro preferences.

Step 2: Transfer Your Targets

Open your MyFitnessPal profile settings (or the profile.csv from your export) and copy:

• Current calorie target
• Macro split (protein/carbs/fat in grams or percentages)
• Weight goal

Enter these in Nutrola's settings to preserve continuity.

Step 3: Rebuild Your Top 15-20 Foods

Open custom_foods.csv from your MFP export. Sort by frequency of use (if tracked) or by your memory of what you eat most often. For each top food:

• If it is a whole food or branded item — search Nutrola's 1.8M+ verified database. Likely already there, often with more accurate macros than MFP's crowdsourced entry.
• If it is a homemade recipe — use Nutrola's recipe creator or import from URL (free, not paywalled like MFP Premium).
• If it is a custom restaurant meal — search Nutrola's restaurant chain database first; if not found, create as a custom food.

Step 4: Transfer Your Weight History (Optional)

Nutrola's weight history section supports manual entry. If you want your historical weight data in Nutrola:

1. Open weight_history.csv
2. Enter your most recent 30-90 data points manually
3. Nutrola will use these to establish your trend line and adaptive recommendations

For older data, most users find the CSV backup is enough — no need to manually enter years of data.

Step 5: Log Side-by-Side for 5-7 Days

Run both MyFitnessPal and Nutrola in parallel for a week. This builds confidence in the new interface and catches any frequent foods you forgot to save. By day 7, Nutrola should feel familiar.

Step 6: Commit to the New App

After the parallel week, stop logging in MFP. You still have your CSV export as a backup; you are not deleting history by switching apps.

Importing Into Cronometer, Lose It, or Other Apps

The same principle applies — no direct CSV import, but you can:

1. Export MFP data (same steps above)
2. Note your targets and top foods
3. Rebuild in the new app

Some apps may offer partial import in the future. As of April 2026:

• Cronometer — no direct MFP import
• Lose It — no direct MFP import
• MacroFactor — no direct MFP import
• FatSecret — no direct MFP import
• Nutrola — no direct MFP import (the approach above is fastest)

What If MyFitnessPal Stops Working or I Cannot Access My Account?

If you have lost access to your MyFitnessPal account:

1. Try password recovery — MFP sends reset links to your registered email
2. Contact MyFitnessPal support — they can restore access with account verification
3. If you never exported and truly cannot recover — start fresh in the new app; your forward-looking history matters more than historical logs

GDPR gives you the legal right to request your data from MyFitnessPal even if you cannot log in. Contact their data protection team via the MFP help center.

How Long Does Migration Take in Practice?

Task	Time
Request MFP data export	5 min
Wait for export email	0-24 hours (typically under 1 hour)
Download and back up CSV files	5 min
Create Nutrola account and set targets	5 min
Rebuild top 15-20 foods	20-40 min
Side-by-side logging week	7 days
Commit to new app	Day 8 onward

Total active time: under 1 hour (spread across a week for confidence building).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import my MyFitnessPal data directly into Nutrola?

No calorie tracker in 2026 supports direct CSV import of MyFitnessPal data — the food databases are proprietary and entries cannot be cleanly matched. However, Nutrola's migration process is straightforward: transfer your targets, rebuild your top 15-20 foods, and log side-by-side for a week. Most users complete the migration in under an hour of active time.

Does MyFitnessPal let me download all my data?

Yes. Under GDPR and related privacy laws, MyFitnessPal must provide full data export on request. Log in on a desktop browser, go to Settings > Account > Download Your Data, and you will receive a ZIP file by email within 24 hours containing your food diary, custom foods, recipes, weight history, and exercise logs as CSV files.

What happens to my MyFitnessPal account if I stop using it?

Nothing — your account stays active with all your data preserved. You can return anytime. If you want to permanently delete your MyFitnessPal account, there is a separate Delete Account option in Settings > Account, but this is irreversible and deletes all your data.

Will my custom foods transfer when I switch apps?

No app supports direct import of MyFitnessPal custom foods. You will need to manually recreate them in the new app. The good news: most users have 15-20 custom foods they actually use regularly, and recreating these takes 20-40 minutes. Your CSV export serves as a reference.

Is there a tool that converts MyFitnessPal CSV to another app's format?

Not reliably. A few community-built scripts exist on GitHub for specific app pairs, but none are officially supported by any major tracker. The risk of data errors from cross-mapping proprietary food IDs outweighs the time saved over manual rebuilding.

Can I keep using MyFitnessPal while I try a new app?

Yes, and we recommend it. Run both apps in parallel for 5-7 days during migration. This builds confidence in the new interface, surfaces any frequent foods you missed recreating, and lets you back out if the new app does not fit. Most users commit fully to the new app by the end of week one.

What is the best app to switch to from MyFitnessPal?

Depends on your priorities. For verified data + AI photo logging + no ads, Nutrola at €2.50/month is the most common switch. For deep micronutrient tracking, Cronometer. For adaptive macro coaching, MacroFactor. For the lowest cost, FatSecret. Most MFP leavers cite ad removal, database accuracy, and logging speed as top priorities — all of which Nutrola solves directly.