Switch without losing your old hours
Most people have already logged months — in a spreadsheet, in another app or on paper. That is exactly why a switch usually never happens. MyWorkLog reads the old data in, so you don't start from zero.
Preview before saving. Every row with actual, target and difference, the balance change at the top. Days that already exist are deselected.
What can be imported
Four routes, depending on where your hours live today. All four run entirely in the browser — no file is uploaded, no account is needed.
Excel, LibreOffice or Google Sheets
.xlsx is read directly, as are .csv and tab-separated text. You can also simply select the rows in your spreadsheet, copy them and drop them into the paste box — often the quickest route.
- In MyWorkLog, open the sidebar on the left and click Import.
- Import from Excel or CSV is the option to choose.
- Pick the file, or paste the copied rows.
- Check the columns — they are usually mapped correctly already.
- Tick what should be imported in the preview.
From another time-tracking app
Almost every app can export CSV — look for “Export”, “Download data” or “Backup” in its settings. Then use that file as described above. It does not matter what the columns are called there: you map them yourself in the second step.
Photograph your paper report book
The report book has a Photo from paper button. Text recognition runs on your device and proposes the week; you check and save it in the normal weekly form.
Said plainly: it reads printed and typed sheets well, but handwriting poorly. With handwritten books, typing them up is usually faster than correcting the result.
From the IHK’s digital report book
The report book in the IHK service portal is being discontinued nationwide on 31 December 2026. Its PDF export (“Berichtsheftexport aller Einträge”) can be read straight into the report book: every week, every day, hours and sign-off status. Deadline, steps and what the import can do are on the page IHK report book ends in 2026.
Which columns are recognised
The header row is interpreted automatically — German and English labels. If something is off, you change it with a dropdown. Only the date is required.
| Field | Recognised labels | Example values |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Date, Day, Datum, Tag | 03.08.2026, 2026-08-03, 3/8/26 |
| From / to | From, Start, Begin, To, End | 08:00, 16:30 |
| Hours | Hours, Worked, Duration, Stunden | 8,5, 8:30, 7,75 Std. |
| Break | Break, Pause | 30 (minutes), 0:45 |
| Type | Type, Category, Status, Typ | Work, holiday, sick, vocational school, public holiday, flexi-day |
| Project | Project, Customer, Client | free text |
| Note | Note, Comment, Description | free text |
Excel date cells and times stored as a fraction of a day are read as they are — you don't have to reformat anything in the spreadsheet. Rows without a usable date are not silently dropped; they appear in the preview with a reason.
What happens to target hours and balance
Your old spreadsheet usually only knows the hours you worked. The daily target therefore comes from your settings in MyWorkLog — not from the file.
- Set your working hours before importing. Otherwise the balance is calculated against the default values instead of your real weekly plan.
- Holiday, sick leave, public holidays are automatically credited with the daily target; their contribution to the balance is zero.
- Flexi-days deduct the daily target from your credit — exactly as when entered by hand.
- Several entries on the same day count the daily target only once; the second block is pure additional time.
The preview shows the change to your balance before anything is saved. And if it does go wrong: Undo import sits right in the import menu and removes the imported entries again.
Frequently asked questions
Is my data uploaded anywhere?
No. The file is read in the browser, and text recognition for photos also runs on your device. MyWorkLog stores your hours locally — there is no server they could sit on.
My spreadsheet has no header row — does that still work?
Yes. Without a header row the columns are recognised by their content: the column that mostly holds dates is the date, and so on. The first row is not lost in the process.
What happens to days I have already logged?
Such rows are flagged as duplicates and are unticked in the preview by default. Duplicate days distort the balance more quietly than a missing row — hence this direction. You can still tick them, for a genuine split shift for example.
Can I import .xls files?
Not the old .xlsformat — the browser cannot unpack it. Open the file in Excel or LibreOffice and save it as
.xlsx or CSV; after that it works.
I have several jobs — which one does the import go to?
If you have set up more than one job, you choose in the second step which one the rows belong to. Target hours and breaks then come from that job. For several jobs it is best to import separately.
Do I have to import everything at once?
No. You tick row by row in the preview. You can just as well read in one month first, look at the result and pull in the rest later.