How to move your paper logbook to a digital logbook

Switching from paper to digital does not mean typing in ten years of flying. Here is the simplest way to make the move without losing anything.

Step 1: choose your starting point

You have two options:

• Carry totals forward (fastest). Enter the grand totals from the last page of your paper logbook once. Every page of your digital logbook then includes them in “total from previous pages”, exactly like starting a new paper book.
• Import your past flights (most complete). If you already keep a spreadsheet, import it so your statistics, map and experience by aircraft type cover your whole career.

Many pilots combine both: totals for the early years, individual flights for the recent ones.

Step 2: enter your totals brought forward

In The Pilot Log go to Settings → Totals brought forward and copy the values from the total time line of your last paper page:

Add a note such as “Paper logbook no. 2, pages 1–64” so you always know where the numbers came from.

Step 3 (optional): import past flights from Excel or CSV

1. Download the CSV template from Settings → Your data.
2. Copy your flights into the template (one line per flight, dates as dd/mm/yyyy or yyyy-mm-dd, times as h:mm).
3. Save as CSV and import it.

The import checks every line first and only imports when the whole file is valid, so you never end up with half an import. If a line has a problem you get the line number and the reason.

If you import flights that are already included in your totals brought forward, set those totals to zero for the same period — otherwise the hours are counted twice.

Step 4: check the first page

Open page 1 and compare “total from previous pages” and “total time” with your paper logbook. They should match to the minute.

Step 5: keep logging — and keep your paper logbooks

From now on, log each flight on your phone after landing. Keep your paper logbooks in a safe place: they remain the original record of those flights. A good habit is to scan or photograph them once, so you have a copy of them too.

Step 6: sign and export

Sign each digital page once it is complete. Before a check ride, a job interview or a licence application, export a PDF of your logbook — it looks just like the paper pages your examiner is used to.