Switching
Off your spreadsheet in an afternoon.
You don’t need a project plan to switch. You need a CSV and about an hour. Here’s the whole thing.
Keep your spreadsheet open. Nothing gets deleted, nothing gets locked. If the import looks wrong, you reset it and run it again - a bad import never has to stick.
The whole thing
Four steps, about an hour.
Do them in order. Stop for coffee between any two.
Export what you’ve got
5 minFrom Google Sheets or Excel: File → Download → CSV. One row per item, whatever columns you already keep. Messy is fine.
Map your columns
10 minUpload the CSV; we show your columns next to ours and guess the matches; fix any we got wrong. Anything we don’t recognise becomes a custom field - nothing is thrown away.
Review before it’s real
10 minYou see exactly what will be created before a single item is saved. Happy? Import. Not happy? Reset and try again, as many times as you like.
Print codes and go
the rest of the afternoonEvery item gets a scannable code. Print a sheet, stick them on, and from now on you find things by scanning instead of scrolling.
No migration fee, no “success call”, no lock-in - and if you ever leave, you export the same way you came in.
You’ll feel at home fast.
Folders, photos and scanning all carry over. Two honest differences:
- We don’t meter your items. Sortly’s price steps up as your entry count grows; ItemTally doesn’t count items at all, so importing your whole catalogue can’t cost you anything.
- Export from Sortly → CSV, then follow the four steps. One thing that won’t come across automatically: custom item-level permissions - you’ll set those fresh, a few minutes, the only manual bit.
Stuck on a weird spreadsheet? Reply to the import email with it attached and I’ll map it with you.
- AlexAll of this is the no lock-in promise, in writing.
Honest answers
The import questions, answered.
Does the Sortly import keep my folders and custom fields?
Yes - the Sortly preset maps folders (including sub-folder levels), custom fields, quantities, units and values automatically, and fetches photos from your export's public image links. Entry-type folder rows are skipped so you don't get phantom items.
What if my CSV comes from somewhere else entirely?
Any CSV works: the importer shows your columns next to ItemTally's fields, you map them once, and the dry-run preview shows exactly what would be created before anything is written. Mappings can be saved as a preset for next time.
Can I undo an import that went wrong?
You never get that far: imports are dry-run first, so mistakes are visible before a single row is written. If a finished import still isn't right, items can be bulk-archived (with undo), and a failed import resumes from where it stopped rather than duplicating rows.
Do my old QR labels keep working?
If your old system printed QR or barcode labels, those codes can re-attach to the imported items as scannable identities - existing stickers keep landing on the right item. New ItemTally QR identities are generated automatically alongside.
An afternoon now. Never a spreadsheet again.
Import as many times as you like - a bad run never has to stick.
No card. No trial clock. Free forever for one person.