Excel export and import

Every list in InvenDo can go out as an .xlsx file — a backup, something to print, a way to work on it in a spreadsheet — and, with Premium, come back in. Both use the same column layout, which you can adjust.

Exporting

1. Open the tab you want — Inventory or Shopping List. The export covers the tab you’re on.

2. Tap ⋮ → Export to Excel. The first time, InvenDo asks Do you wish to set Excel columns? — No keeps the standard layout; tick Do not show again if you’d rather not be asked.

3. Choose Open (in your spreadsheet app), Share (to email, a message, cloud storage) or Save (to a folder). In the browser the file downloads straight away.

The file is named like food_list_20260829_1830.xlsx or shopping_list_….xlsx, with a header row and one row per item. Export is free.

With the standard layout the Inventory file has Storage, Categories, Item name, Expiry date, Quantity and Description; the Shopping List file has Store name, Categories, Item name, Quantity, Price and Description. Price, barcode, unit, minimum quantity and manufacture date can be added — see Excel columns below. Photos and the opened state of items aren’t exported.

Importing (Premium)

1. Prepare the file: data on the first sheet, a header row on row 1, and the columns in the layout under Settings → Excel Columns (the standard one is above). Only the name column is required. Exporting first and editing that file is the easiest way to get the layout right.

2. Open the tab you’re importing into and tap ⋮ → Import from Excel. You’ll need an internet connection.

3. Choose Add to the existing list — new rows join what’s there — or Replace the existing list, which first removes every item on that tab of this list.

4. Pick the file. Importing… runs, then Import finished.

How rows become items:

• Categories, stores, storage places and units named in the file are matched to yours, or created if they don’t exist. Category names must match exactly, capitals included.
• A row with the same name, expiry date and storage place as an existing item is added to that item’s quantity; anything else becomes a new item.
• A product name already in your catalog keeps its catalog details; a new name gets a catalog entry with the price, barcode, unit and description from the file.
• Dates and numbers in the usual formats are understood; a value that can’t be read is left empty. Rows without a name are skipped.
• If anything goes wrong, nothing is imported — the list is left exactly as it was.

Tip

Keep imports to a few hundred rows at a time. Importing is a Premium feature, but you can also use it inside a list someone with Premium shared with you.

Excel columns

Settings → Excel Columns → Inventory or Shopping List. Tap a field and pick the column letter it lives in, or Do not use. A letter can hold only one field (Already used). The layout is used for both export and import, and it syncs to your other devices. See Settings overview.

Field	Inventory	Shopping List
Storage	A	—
Store name	not used	A
Categories	B	B
Name	C	C
Expiry date	D	—
Quantity	E	D
Price	not used	E
Description	F	F
Manufacture date, Minimum quantity	not used	—
Barcode, Unit of Measure	not used	not used

Good to know

• An export is a good backup before big changes — replacing a list with an import, deleting a list, or deleting your account.
• The opened state and shelf life of opened items don’t survive a round trip; re-imported items come in as unopened.
• Only a product’s first barcode is exported.