How to Export Splitwise to CSV (and Import It Somewhere Better)

Your expense history is yours — Splitwise lets you export any group as a spreadsheet for free. Here’s exactly how to get the CSV out, what’s inside it, and how to import it into a new app without retyping a single expense.

Step 1: Export your Splitwise group as a spreadsheet

1. Open the group you want to export in the Splitwise app or at splitwise.com.
2. Open the group's settings and look for Export as spreadsheet. On the website it's in the group's settings panel; in the mobile app, check the group options menu.
3. Save the CSV file Splitwise generates (it may arrive by email or download directly, depending on platform). The export is free on every Splitwise tier.

What's inside the Splitwise CSV

The export is one row per expense with these columns:

• Date, Description, Category, Cost, Currency — the expense itself.
• One column per person — each person's net share of that expense: positive if the expense moved money toward them (they paid), negative if they owe.
• A final "Total balance" row — each person's overall standing in the group.

Real-world exports have quirks: Windows-style CRLF line endings, a byte-order mark (BOM) at the start of the file, quoted fields containing commas, and that trailing Total row. A good importer has to handle all of them without corrupting the math.

Step 2: Import the CSV into GroupCation

1. Open (or create) your trip in GroupCation and add the travelers who were in the Splitwise group. Names don't have to match exactly in case — matching is case-insensitive.
2. Open the Imports card on the trip board and find the Splitwise section.
3. Paste the CSV contents into the paste field.
4. Review the preview. Before anything commits, GroupCation shows how many expenses will import, how many will be skipped and why, which participant names matched which travelers, and any warnings. Unmatched names are called out so you can add the missing traveler and re-run.
5. Commit. Every imported expense carries its payer and exact per-person shares — your balances reconstruct to the penny.

What imports cleanly — and what doesn't

• Clean: single-payer expenses with equal or uneven shares, multiple currencies (each expense keeps its own), categories, and dates. The parser handles the BOM, CRLF endings, quoted fields, and drops the Total row correctly.
• Skipped with a warning: rows where multiple people paid for one expense — GroupCation can't auto-import split-payer rows yet, and it tells you exactly which ones it skipped rather than guessing.
• Untouched: your Splitwise data. The import reads a pasted copy; nothing is written back to Splitwise.

After the import: your ledger becomes a trip

This is the point of moving: the imported expenses land inside a real trip board. Add the itinerary next to the money, share a guest link with the people who won't install an app, and when it's time to square up, GroupCation computes the minimal transfers and turns them into payment requests.

Frequently asked questions