How to Export Your Last.fm Scrobbles (2026 Guide)
Every working way to export your Last.fm scrobbles in 2026: lastfm-to-csv, the ghan.nl tool, and the API, plus why the ListenBrainz importer keeps stalling and what to do about it
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If you are leaving Last.fm, export your scrobbles to a file before you touch any importer. The route most people reach for first, connecting ListenBrainz and letting it pull your history over, has been unreliable since mid 2026: MetaBrainz community threads from June 27 and July 9 report imports that stall partway through or finish showing zero listens. A CSV from a free browser tool takes a few minutes and gives you a copy of twenty years of listening that no importer can lose.
There are three working routes: two free browser tools (lastfm-to-csv and the ghan.nl exporter), and the API if you want to script it. Last.fm itself offers no export button in settings, which is why this guide exists. It walks through each route, in the order most people should try them.
Last reviewed: August 2026.
Quick verdict:
- Fastest full export: lastfm-to-csv
- Most control over the files: the ghan.nl export tool
- Scripting it yourself: the API, free key and
user.getRecentTracks - Moving to ListenBrainz: export a CSV first, then start the import early
- Moving to a cross-media library: Achriom imports Last.fm directly
What a complete export includes
A scrobble is four fields: artist, track, album, and the timestamp of the play. A complete export is every scrobble you have ever logged, back to the day you joined, with all four fields intact. That is the test to hold any method against.
Two things commonly go missing. Loved tracks live separately from scrobbles, so grab them as their own file if they matter to you. And play counts are not stored anywhere as a number; they are derived from the history, so as long as you have every scrobble, every chart and count can be rebuilt.
One more reason to do this now rather than someday: Last.fm announced API and privacy changes on June 24, 2026. The third-party tools below all depend on that API, and tools that work today are not guaranteed to survive a terms change unchanged.
Before you start: one privacy setting
Every third-party exporter reads your listening through Last.fm’s public API. If your recent listening is hidden, the tools see an empty account and produce an empty file.
Go to Settings → Privacy and make sure “hide recent listening information” is off. Run your export, confirm the file looks right, and switch it back if you prefer to listen privately. Worth re-checking even if you never touched it, since the June 2026 privacy changes are a reasonable moment for defaults to move.
lastfm-to-csv: the fastest full export
Ben Foxall’s lastfm-to-csv has been the standard answer for years, and it still is. It runs entirely in your browser.
- Open the site and enter your Last.fm username.
- Let it run. It pages through your history via the API, about 200 tracks per request, and shows progress as it goes.
- Keep the tab open. A history of a few thousand scrobbles finishes in a minute or two. A history of 100,000 or more can take a while, and closing the tab means starting over.
- Download the CSV. One row per scrobble: artist, album, track, timestamp.
That file is the backup that matters. Store it somewhere you will still have in ten years, then experiment with importers as much as you like.
The ghan.nl export tool: more control over the files
The Last.fm Data Export tool at mainstream.ghan.nl does the same job with more options. You can choose what to export (scrobbles or loved tracks) and pick the output format, including JSON alongside CSV.
Use it when you want loved tracks as a separate file, or when the app you are moving to prefers JSON. For a plain full-history CSV, it and lastfm-to-csv end in the same place; use whichever finishes first for your account size.
Why there is no official export
Last.fm has no export button. Twenty years of scrobbling infrastructure, and your own history has no download link in settings. The only official surface for your data is the public API, which is exactly what the two browser tools above are built on.
That absence is the whole reason this guide exists, and it is worth letting it inform where you go next. Any service holding years of your history and offering no way to hand it back is a place you are renting. The tools work today because the API serves your scrobbles today; the June 24, 2026 API and privacy announcement is a reminder that this access is a policy, not a promise.
The ListenBrainz importer: read this before you rely on it
ListenBrainz, the MetaBrainz non-profit’s scrobbling service, has a built-in importer that connects to your Last.fm account and pulls your history over. In principle it is the smoothest path off Last.fm. In practice, mid 2026 is a bad moment for it.
Threads on the MetaBrainz community forum dated June 27 and July 9, 2026 describe the same pattern: imports that start, stall partway through, and sit for days, or imports that report complete with zero listens landed. MetaBrainz attributes the strain to the volume of people leaving Last.fm at once, a wave that picked up after the June 24 API and privacy announcement.
None of this means avoid ListenBrainz. It means sequence the move correctly:
- Export your CSV first, using either browser tool above. This is your safety copy.
- Start the ListenBrainz import early, before you stop scrobbling to Last.fm, so a slow import costs you nothing.
- Verify the listen count in ListenBrainz against your Last.fm scrobble count before you consider the move done. An import that “finished” is a claim, and the count is how you check it.
If the importer fails outright, ListenBrainz can also ingest files, which is exactly why step one comes first. Our full comparison of where Last.fm refugees are landing is in the best Last.fm alternatives.
Achriom: where your albums land next to everything else
Achriom has a direct Last.fm import, so your listening history comes over without any CSV wrangling. The difference is what happens after it lands. Your albums sit in one library with your books, films, TV shows, and anime, and an AI librarian reads across the whole collection.
That changes what your listening history is for. On Last.fm it powered charts. In Achriom the librarian can tell you why folklore keeps you company in the same moods as Norwegian Wood, or what to reach for next based on everything you track rather than your play counts alone. Private by default, no followers, and a full export back out whenever you want one, which is the courtesy Last.fm made you read this guide to get.
The limitation is honest: Achriom tracks the albums you choose to keep rather than scrobbling every play automatically. If a running play count is the habit you are protecting, pair it with ListenBrainz. If the point is understanding your taste, this is the stronger home for the history you just exported.
Exporting your scrobbles is the easy half. The hard half is running this same rescue again next year for your books, and the year after for your shows. Achriom is one library for albums, books, films, TV, and anime, with an AI librarian that connects them and a full export back out any time. Import your Last.fm history directly. Free to start, no card.
Consolidate once →Quick comparison
| Method | Output | Full history | Speed | Reliability right now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| lastfm-to-csv | CSV | Yes | Minutes to an hour | Solid |
| ghan.nl export tool | CSV or JSON | Yes | Minutes to an hour | Solid |
| ListenBrainz importer | Direct transfer | In principle | Days, unpredictable | Degraded since June 2026 |
| Last.fm API | JSON, scripted | Yes | Depends on you | Terms changing |
| Achriom import | Direct transfer | Yes | Minutes | Solid |
Which route should you use?
Use lastfm-to-csv if: you want the safety copy with the least friction. Username in, CSV out. This is the right first move for almost everyone, whatever you do next.
Use the ghan.nl tool if: you want loved tracks exported alongside scrobbles, or the destination app wants JSON.
Use the API if: you are comfortable scripting. A free API key and user.getRecentTracks, paginated at 200 tracks a call with Unix timestamps, gets you everything the browser tools get, on your own schedule. Budget for maintenance, since the June 2026 announcement means the terms underneath your script are moving.
Use the ListenBrainz importer if: ListenBrainz is your destination, you have already saved a CSV, and you can start the import days before you need it done.
Use Achriom if: your listening is tangled up with what you read and watch, and you would rather consolidate once than migrate a music-only account again in a few years.
The honest answer
- The safety copy everyone should make: lastfm-to-csv, today, while the API still serves it
- Loved tracks and format options: the ghan.nl tool
- The archival backup: a second copy in JSON from the ghan.nl tool, filed away
- Scrobbling that continues: ListenBrainz, imported early and verified by count
- The history put to work: Achriom, where the librarian reads it next to your books and films
The through-line: hold your own file. Importers fail, APIs change terms, and sites retire. A CSV on your own disk survives all three, and every good destination can read one.
If you are running the same rescue on other accounts, we have guides for exporting your Letterboxd diary and exporting your Goodreads library. For where to take the music itself, start with the best Last.fm alternatives or the best album tracker for readers.
Common questions
How do I export all my Last.fm scrobbles at once?
Use lastfm-to-csv or the ghan.nl export tool. Both are free, run in the browser, and page through your complete history via the API, producing one file with every scrobble: artist, track, album, timestamp. Your recent listening has to be publicly visible while they run.
Does Last.fm have an official export?
No. There is no export button anywhere in Last.fm settings. The only official way to your own history is the public API, and the browser tools in this guide are free front ends to it. That gap is exactly why the third-party tools exist, and why the CSV you make today is worth keeping.
Why is my ListenBrainz import stuck or showing zero listens?
You are not alone, and it is probably not your account. MetaBrainz community threads from June 27 and July 9, 2026 report the same stalls and empty results, attributed to the crowd leaving Last.fm at once. Leave the import running, verify the listen count against your Last.fm total before trusting it, and keep a CSV so a failed import costs you nothing.
Do I need Last.fm Pro to export my scrobbles?
No. Every method in this guide works on a free account. Your listening history has never been behind the Pro paywall.
Why did my export come back empty?
A privacy setting, almost every time. The browser tools read the public API, so hidden recent listening looks like an empty account to them. Unhide it in Settings under Privacy, export, then hide it again if you like.
Can Achriom import my Last.fm history?
Yes, directly, without a CSV step. Your albums land in a library alongside your books, films, TV, and anime, and the AI librarian finds the patterns that run across all of them. There is a full export back out any time, so the file you rescued from Last.fm never gets trapped again.