How to export your ForeFlight logbook to CSV and use it

How do you export a ForeFlight logbook to CSV?

ForeFlight's steps run on the web. Log in to ForeFlight on the Web (ForeFlight's help centre links it at plan.foreflight.com), click Logbook, click the Export tab at the top, then click the blue Export button. The CSV downloads to your computer.

Flights logged on an iPad or iPhone reach the web logbook through sync. ForeFlight says the logbook is backed up to its servers and synced across devices "as long as sync is enabled on the device" (More, Settings, Sync Data To/From Device). Let each device sync before you export, or its newest flights will be missing from the file.

For a standing copy, open Logbook, Settings on the web and slide Export to Email to On. Choose CSV (selected by default), PDF or both. ForeFlight sends the first export within minutes and then every 30 days; Export Now sends one immediately, and turning the switch off and on again restarts the 30-day schedule.

What is in the ForeFlight CSV, and what is missing?

ForeFlight calls the CSV "a plain text file in table format, compatible with spreadsheet applications" and says it "excludes signatures, endorsements, photos, and track logs". The PDF choice, Complete Logbook 2 Page, is described as "a comprehensive PDF including logbook entries (with category and class), endorsements, certificates, and license information". Keep both, the CSV as your data and the PDF as the record that carries your endorsements.

ForeFlight's logbook template, the format its own importer reads, has two parts. An Aircraft Table describes each aircraft: AircraftID, EquipmentType, TypeCode, Year, Make, Model, GearType, EngineType, Category/Class, and complex, high performance, pressurized and TAA flags. A Flights Table holds one row per flight. If your file opens with an Aircraft Table above the flights, that is the template layout, and an app that expects a single header row may need the flight rows on their own.

The Flights Table columns include Date, AircraftID, From, To, Route, TimeOut, TimeOff, TimeOn, TimeIn, TotalTime, PIC, SIC, Night, Solo, CrossCountry, PICUS, MultiPilot, IFR, DayTakeoffs, DayLandingsFullStop, NightTakeoffs, NightLandingsFullStop, AllLandings, ActualInstrument, SimulatedInstrument, Holds, Approach1 onward, DualGiven, DualReceived, SimulatedFlight, InstructorName, Person1 onward, PilotComments, and FlightReview, IPC and CheckRide flags. Times such as TimeOut are hours and minutes in 24-hour format (1823), and the template does not say whether they are UTC or local.

How do you use a ForeFlight CSV in a spreadsheet or another logbook?

Keep the downloaded file untouched and work on a copy. ForeFlight's template notes ask for dates as YYYY-MM-DD, while ForeFlight's own sample file shows US-style dates such as 10/25/20, so check the date order before an import guesses it. Spreadsheets can also turn 24-hour times like 0745 into 745 and reformat dates when you re-save.

Landings need a second look. ForeFlight records full-stop landings by day and by night in two columns and every landing in AllLandings, so touch-and-goes are AllLandings minus the full stops. An importer that reads only the full-stop columns drops them. Approaches sit in Approach1, Approach2 and onward, each packed as count, type, runway, airport and comments separated by semicolons.

After any import, compare totals over the same dates in both apps: total time, PIC, night, instrument and landings. ForeFlight warns that re-importing a CSV into Logbook duplicates entries that are already there, so never feed the same file back into ForeFlight to fix a mistake.

What happens to the logbook if your ForeFlight subscription ends?

ForeFlight says an expired ForeFlight Mobile subscription puts Logbook into Limited Logbook Access. You can still view, filter, edit and delete existing entries, and "View, print, and manually export logbook reports, including Complete, Condensed, and Part 61/141 reports". Creating new entries and importing new logbook data need an active subscription.

That article does not say whether the web CSV export stays available in Limited Logbook Access. Export the CSV and the Complete Logbook PDF while your subscription is active, and store both outside ForeFlight.