CowSync Guide › Getting started
Import: bring your records into CowSync
Drop in exports from your old herd app, spreadsheets, PDFs or photos of paper records. CowSync sorts them, flags duplicates and shows you everything before it saves.
Import moves your existing records into CowSync. You drop in files, CowSync works out what's in them and where each part belongs, and nothing is saved until you check it and press Import. Open it from Network → Import in the menu, or the Import button on My Herd.
What it reads
Exports from CattleMax, Herdwatch, Farmbrite, AgriWebb, HerdMASTER, Ranchr, AWA and Akaushi (Digital Beef) and BREEDPLAN; Tru-Test and Gallagher scale files; Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers; QuickBooks, Xero and bank statements; iPhone and Google contacts; PDFs; and photos of paper records. The full list is under Works with exports from on the Import page.
Bring something in
- Click Choose files, drag files onto Drop files here, or tap Take a photo on a phone. You can add several files at once.
- Optional: tell CowSync what it is in the box (for example "these are weaning weights"), or paste rows straight in.
- Tick Also keep the original file in My Drive if you want a copy in Drive › Imports.
- Click Continue. CowSync reads each file and shows a summary.
Check it before it saves
The summary card shows how many records go where: animals to My Herd, contacts to Contacts, treatments to Herd Health, money to your ledger, and so on. Each part of a file is a row you can open to see what was found and where it's going.
- Change where something goes with the dropdown on its row.
- Fix one part by typing in its box, for example "Wt is weaning weight, skip the steers".
- Fix everything at once in the box at the bottom: "Tell me what to change".
- Parts with nothing useful in them are tucked under parts have nothing to import.
Duplicates
CowSync checks every record against what you already have: animals by registration number or name, contacts by name, phone or email. Matches get a Dup tag with the reason. By default they're skipped; switch to Import anyway if you want them added again.
Import
Click Import at the bottom right. A progress ring shows each record type as it's saved, then a summary of what was added and what was skipped. If you only kept files in Drive, the button says Save to My Drive instead.
- Restart (bottom left) clears everything and starts over.
- Need help? (the life-ring button) opens your support chat. We can do the import for you.