Export your collection to Excel

Export turns a collection into an Excel spreadsheet: one row per item, one column per field. It is included from the Plus subscription, and you launch it from the collection's Excel icon , Export tab.

Some columns are always there: the name, the serial number, the description, ownership and rarity. The others only appear if at least one item in the collection fills them in. A collection where no item has a purchase price will have no Price column, and a vinyl collection where you filled in the artist and the label will have those 2 columns, without the dozens of empty fields from other categories. The file therefore looks like the way you catalogue, not like the full form.

Values are written out in plain words, in the site's language at the time of the export: "Owned" rather than a code, "Lightly used" for condition, "Super rare" for rarity. The rating is a plain number, without stars. Dates use the day/month/year format, and the purchase price is followed by its currency in the same cell, like "12.50 €".

That last choice has a consequence worth knowing if you plan to do any calculations. A date or a price written this way is text for Excel, not a number: a sum over the Price column will give 0, and sorting a date column will order it alphabetically, 2 March before 15 January. To calculate, convert the column first, for example by replacing "€" with nothing and then switching it to number format.

The file does not contain images. A spreadsheet cannot carry them in a usable way, and your photos stay in MyCataLog, kept exactly as you uploaded them.

The file can be imported back as is, since its headers and values are exactly the ones the import recognises. That is what lets you carry a collection over into a new one, or fix an entire column in Excel before importing it again. The details are in the guide Import your collection from an Excel or CSV spreadsheet.

When exporting, you are offered several options: with filters and sort applied, with filters only, with sort only, or the complete collection, with no filters or sort. The first one is selected by default.

The filters applied are the ones you saved on the collection: ownership, condition, rarity, rating, purchase price, dates. That is what makes export a selection tool, not just a backup. Filter ownership on the items that are coming soon and you get your list of pending orders, ready to send or print. Filter condition on "Damaged" and you have the list of items to get restored. Filter on a rarity and you get an inventory of your most valuable pieces, without the rest.

Sorting follows the same principle, and stacked sorts are applied in their order: sorting by descending rarity then by rating produces a file ordered exactly the same way on screen and in Excel. Without a sort, items come out from newest to oldest.

One setting is not carried over: the search bar. If you typed a word to find an item, the export ignores it and exports according to your filters alone. To isolate a series of items in a file, use a filter rather than the search.

Think about what you want to keep before choosing, too. A filtered export is an extract: it is perfect for a list to share, but it does not replace a full copy. If your aim is to keep your work, choose the complete collection, with no filters or sort, so nothing gets left out by accident.

Finally, export covers one collection at a time. If you have several, each one produces its own file.

The day you have to file a claim, you will be asked to show what you owned and what it was worth. That is exactly the moment people regret never having made the list, and export gives you a solid basis for one in a few seconds. You still need to know what it contains and what it does not.

What it provides: each item's name, description, serial number, condition, acquisition date and purchase price with its currency. These are the elements that prove an item exists and belongs to you, and they are the most tedious to rebuild from memory after the fact.

What it does not provide, and what you need to add yourself. First, the photos, which are not in the file: they stay in MyCataLog, and they are often what convinces. Then, the current value. The file gives the purchase price, which is not the replacement value: a record bought for 15 € 20 years ago may be worth much more today, and a figure bought at full price much less. Add an estimated value column to the exported spreadsheet, noting where each estimate comes from.

For an insurance inventory, first filter on the items you actually own. The Ownership field is also used to keep a wishlist and track orders: an item marked "Not owned" has no place in a claim. Filter on "Owned", export with that filter, then sort by descending purchase price so that the items that matter most are at the top of the list.

Mind the date. An inventory is only worth anything as of the day it was made. The file already carries today's date in its name: run the export again after each batch of significant acquisitions rather than once and for all.

Finally, this inventory does not replace the terms of your policy. Collectibles are sometimes covered by specific guarantees, with their own limits and supporting documents. The file gives you the list, and it is up to your insurer to tell you what they expect from it.

Your catalogue represents hours of data entry. Export is the way to keep a copy of it outside the app, in a format any spreadsheet will still open years from now.

The time to export is not "some day". It is after a big data entry session, after an import, or before a bulk edit you are not sure you want to keep. Bulk editing cannot be undone: an export right before at least leaves you a record of the original values.

The downloaded file is named after the collection and today's date, followed by the setting applied: "Jazz records - 2026-10-09 - (filtered).xlsx". The date is written year, month, day, so a folder sorted by name lists your exports from oldest to newest. The note in brackets matters just as much: a file marked "filtered" is an extract, and only a file with no note contains the whole collection. Store these files in a backed-up or synced folder, and keep several generations rather than overwriting the previous one.

A word on quotas. If your subscription has changed and some items exceed the limit of your current plan, those items are left out of the export, just as they are locked on screen. A spreadsheet cannot show a locked item: its absence would be invisible there. MyCataLog therefore warns you before generating the file, telling you how many items will be missing, and you choose whether to export anyway.

That leaves the photos, which the file does not contain. A full copy of your work means the spreadsheet for the data, and your original photos for the images. If you take them with your phone, keep them in your own photo library too, next to the exported file.

The day you need it, the file can be imported into a new collection. You will get back your items, their fields and their order. The photos will have to be added again, and the new collection will stay private until each item has one.