If you already keep your breeding records somewhere else, you don't have to retype them. Import lets you upload what you already have — spreadsheets, photos, scans, PDFs, Word documents — and Whelpkeep reads each file and maps it onto your animals, litters, pups, buyers and records. You see everything it found and check it before a single thing is saved.

Where to find it

Open Import from:

The Import link in the left-hand menu, or
Account & Settings → Import, or
The Import your existing data task on your dashboard checklist (shown when you're getting started).

What you can import

You can bring in two kinds of files.

Documents and photos

PDF
Photos and scans — JPG, PNG, WebP
iPhone photos — HEIC / HEIF
Word documents — .docx

Spreadsheets and lists

Excel — .xlsx
CSV — .csv

You can mix file types in the same import — for example a spreadsheet of your litters alongside a few vaccination certificates.

Older or unusual file formats

Some older formats can't be read directly:

Old Word files (.doc) and old Excel files (.xls)
Other unusual or non-standard formats

If you have these, convert them on your side first, then import:

Open the file in Word or Excel.
Choose Save As (or Export).
Save it as .docx (Word), .xlsx (Excel) or PDF.
Import the new copy.

If you upload a format Whelpkeep can't accept, it's flagged as Unsupported file type at the moment you pick it, so you'll know straight away.

Limits

Up to 50 files per import.
Up to 25 MB per file.
PDFs up to 30 pages. If a PDF is longer, split it into smaller PDFs and upload those.

Files that are empty, too large, or an unsupported type are flagged before you start, so nothing is wasted.

The free import allowance

Importing is free up to a one-time allowance. The Free import meter on the Import page shows how much of that allowance you've used, as a percentage.

If the allowance runs out partway through a large import, that's fine — you have two choices, and your data and the whole app stay fully usable either way:

Finish by hand, for free — add the remaining records yourself; there's no charge for entering data manually.
Move to a plan with unlimited automated import — see How pricing & the trial work if you'd rather keep importing automatically.

You don't have to do it all at once

Imports are resumable, so you can spread the work across several sittings or days.

Your recent imports are listed at the bottom of the Import page.
An import left at Ready to review shows a Resume review → link that picks up exactly where you left off — nothing is lost.
You can come back later and import more files any time — handy when you dig an old certificate or pedigree out of an archive.

The status next to each recent import tells you where it's up to:

Status	Meaning
Incomplete	The upload or reading didn't finish — start it again.
Ready to review	Whelpkeep has read your files and is waiting for you to review and confirm.
Added	You reviewed it and it's now in your records.
Cancelled	The import was cancelled.

Review before anything is saved

This is the important part: nothing is saved until you confirm it.

After Whelpkeep reads your files, it opens a review screen showing everything it mapped, grouped into animals, litters, pups, buyers and records. On that screen you can:

Edit anything that isn't quite right.
Untick anything you don't want to bring in.
Fix links it couldn't match — for example a record that mentions an animal whose name doesn't match one of yours. Whelpkeep flags these rather than guessing, so you stay in control of what connects to what.

Auto-filled details are unconfirmed until you check them. When everything looks right, press Add — and only then is it saved.

Note — If Whelpkeep couldn't read anything useful from your files, it'll say Nothing to review and offer to let you try different files or add the data by hand. Both are free.

What happens after you add

Your animals, litters, pups, buyers and records appear throughout the app, just as if you'd entered them.
The files you uploaded are copied into Records & Photos, attached to the right animal, litter or pup.
If you assign an imported buyer to a pup, Whelpkeep can auto-start a sale, so your existing buyers slot straight into the sales workflow.

Tip — Importing reads your files for you, but it doesn't confirm compliance facts. Open a few key records afterward and confirm the auto-filled details so your compliance ticks are based on checked information. See How prefill works.

A note on iPhone (HEIC) photos

HEIC / HEIF photos from an iPhone are read automatically wherever possible — Whelpkeep converts them behind the scenes so they're read like any other photo. If a particular HEIC photo can't be read automatically, it's still stored safely for you, so you can open it and add its details by hand.

Do I need a plan to import?

Importing adds new records, so it needs an active plan. If your account is read-only (for example after a plan has lapsed), you can't run a new import — but all your existing data stays available to view and export. Start or renew a plan to import again.

To add records one at a time instead, see Add records & photos.
For every record type and field, see the Records reference.
To understand auto-filled details and confirming them, see How prefill works.

Import your existing data