Moving JW Library from Android to iPhone or iPad — keeping every note
The .jwlibrary backup format is identical on Android and iOS. How to move your notes, highlights and bookmarks across platforms — and merge if both devices have notes.
Switching platforms is the moment people fear losing years of study notes — Android-to-iPhone transfer apps skip JW Library's data entirely. The good news: JW Library's backup format is identical on Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows, so a cross-platform move is just a backup, a file transfer and a restore.
Step by step
Back up on the Android phone
JW Library → Personal Study → three-dot menu → Backup and Restore → Create a backup. Save the .jwlibrary file.
Send the file to the iPhone or iPad
Email, Google Drive, iCloud Drive — anything that moves a file. If iOS renames it to .zip on the way, rename it back to .jwlibrary.
Restore on the new device
Install JW Library, sign in, then Backup and Restore → Restore and pick the file. Notes, highlights, bookmarks, tags and playlists all arrive.
If the iPhone already has notes on it
Restore replaces the device's data. When the new device already carries its own notes, back it up too and merge both backups into one file first at jwsync.org — the merge combines both libraries in your browser without uploading anything — then restore the merged file. Nothing is lost from either side.
The same steps work in every direction
iPhone to Android, Android to Android, adding an iPad as a second study device, or moving to the Windows app — the backup file is the common language between all of them.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a computer to do this?
- No. The whole move can be done phone-to-phone with email or a cloud drive.
- Will my highlight colours survive the move?
- Yes — highlights keep their colours, notes keep their tags, and bookmarks keep their places.