What is an OPML file? Moving your RSS feeds between apps

If you have used an RSS reader for a while, your list of feeds is worth more than the app. OPML is how you take that list with you.

OPML in one paragraph

OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) is a small text file in XML that lists outlines. RSS readers use it for one thing: a list of feeds, each with its title and address, grouped into folders. It does not carry the articles, what you have read, or what you starred. Open one in a text editor and you will see lines like this:

<outline text="Science">
  <outline type="rss" text="Quanta Magazine" xmlUrl="https://www.quantamagazine.org/feed/" />
</outline>

That is the whole idea. Any reader that exports OPML can hand your feeds to any reader that imports it.

Exporting OPML from the app you use now

Most readers keep the export in their settings, and some only on their website.

App	Where to find the export
Feedly	On the website, at feedly.com/i/opml
Inoreader	On the website, in Preferences under Import/Export
NetNewsWire	iPhone: Settings › Export Subscriptions. Mac: File › Export Subscriptions
Reeder	Settings › Your Data › Export OPML

Menu names change between versions, so if a label differs, look for "Export", "OPML" or "Subscriptions". Save the file somewhere you can reach from your iPhone: iCloud Drive, or Files on the phone itself.

Importing it on iPhone

Open the new app's import screen, pick the file from Files, and check the result. Look at three things after any import:

1. Folders. Did your groups survive, or did everything land in one list?
2. The count. Compare the number of feeds with the old app. A difference usually means duplicates were merged or some entries were skipped.
3. Dead feeds. Sites move and close. A feed that has not answered for weeks is better removed than left as noise.

Importing OPML in Glosa

Glosa reads OPML in its News Reader mode. In News Reader, tap +, open the OPML file tab and choose the file. Before anything is added, Glosa shows what it found: how many feeds and folders, each folder with its feeds so you can leave out the ones you no longer read, and which entries it is skipping. Duplicates are merged, and podcasts whose entries are only audio are left out and named, since Glosa reads rather than plays.

After the import, the News screen lists today's articles from those feeds, sorted into your folders with an unread count on each. Every article opens as an e-ink page, where you can look up a word in context, highlight, or listen. If News Reader is new to you, this walkthrough shows how it works.

Glosa writes OPML too. In Settings › News › Feeds and folders, Export OPML saves your feeds with their folders, ready for another reader or for a backup.

When a file will not import

The file has the wrong extension. Some services export .xml instead of .opml. The content is the same; rename it, or pick it from Files anyway.

It opened in a browser instead of downloading. On a computer, use "Save Page As"; on iPhone, share the page to Files.

Only some feeds came in. Entries without an xmlUrl are links to websites, not feeds. Add those sites by their address instead and let the app find their feed.

Characters look wrong. The file should be UTF-8. Opening and saving it again in a text editor that lets you choose the encoding usually fixes accented names.

Keep a backup

Export your OPML once in a while and keep the file in iCloud Drive or your notes app. It is a few kilobytes, and if a service shuts down or an app stops being updated, it is the only thing you need to start again somewhere else. Our comparison of RSS readers for iPhone is a good place to choose where.