How to Export Highlights and Notes from Nook (Barnes & Noble): The 2026 Guide
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Quick Answer: As of 2026, Nook does not have a real export feature for highlights and notes — no CSV, no spreadsheet, no "export reading data" button anywhere in the ecosystem. Your highlights live inside the Notes & Highlights tab of the Reading Tools menu, on whichever device or app you made them on, and the only way to get them out is to open that list and copy the text manually, book by book. This is true on Nook Color/Tablet devices, the Nook apps for iOS, Android, and Windows, and it is also true — perhaps most surprisingly — of Nook for Web, which does not support highlights or annotations at all, even for viewing. If you were hoping for a Kindle-style "Your Highlights" page or a Libby-style export button, Nook simply does not have one yet. Below is the realistic, current workflow for getting your notes out anyway.
If you read on a Nook GlowLight, a Nook tablet, or through the Nook app on your phone, and you have been highlighting passages or writing notes as you go, you have probably already discovered that there is no obvious "export" or "share" option anywhere near your annotations. That is not a bug in how you are looking, and it is not a feature buried three menus deep. Barnes & Noble's own support documentation confirms it: viewing, editing, and deleting notes and highlights is fully supported, but sending them anywhere outside the app is not. This guide walks through exactly where your highlights live, how to view the full list, and the manual process for saving them somewhere permanent.
Why Nook Is Behind Kindle, Libby, and Even Apple Books Here
Every major reading platform handles export differently, and Nook currently sits at the back of the pack. Kindle has offered a "Your Highlights" web page and the device-level My Clippings.txt file for years. Libby added a genuine per-title export button (Table or Spreadsheet format) in a February 2026 update. Even Apple Books, which has no official bulk export either, at least lets annotations sync via iCloud and surface in a searchable in-app list that is straightforward to copy from in bulk on a Mac. The closest peer to Nook is Google Play Books, which also lacks a one-click highlights export and leans on the same manual copy-out approach covered below.
Nook has none of this. There is no companion web page that lists your highlights across your library the way Kindle's does. There is no export button in the Reading Tools menu the way Libby's Reading Journey screen has one. And critically, Nook for Web — the browser-based reader at barnesandnoble.com — explicitly does not support "Highlighting, adding notes, Find in Book, bookmarks, and annotation features," according to Barnes & Noble's own help documentation. That means you cannot even use the web as a workaround to view your notes in a more copy-paste-friendly interface; annotations only exist on the device or app where you created them.
Step-by-Step: How to Find and Save Your Nook Highlights and Notes
Step 1: Open the Book Where You Made the Highlights
Notes and highlights in the Nook ecosystem are tied to a specific profile and a specific book, and there is no cross-library view. Open the title on the same device or app where you originally read it — if you highlighted on a Nook Color and later switched to the Nook Android app, your highlights may not have carried over depending on sync status, so start with the device you actually used.
Step 2: Open Reading Tools and Find the Notes & Highlights Tab
- Tap the middle of the page to bring up the Reading Tools menu.
- Tap Contents (sometimes labeled the Table of Contents icon).
- Select the Notes & Highlights tab.
This is consistent across Nook Color, Nook Tablet, and the mobile apps, though exact icon placement can vary slightly by app version.
Step 3: Review the List
The Notes & Highlights tab shows a preview of each highlighted passage along with any note you attached, plus the page number and the date you created it. This is effectively your only "master list" for that book — there is no way to see highlights from multiple books in one screen.
Step 4: Copy What You Want to Keep
Since there is no export button, the realistic workflow is manual: tap into each highlight or note, select the text, and copy it into another app — Notes, Google Docs, a plain text file, or directly into a tool like Chapterly. Yes, this is tedious for a book with dozens of highlights, and no, there is currently no faster official path. If you have a large number of highlights you care about, budget real time for this rather than expecting a five-minute job.
Step 5: Use "Clear All" Carefully, Not as a Backup Step
The Notes & Highlights tab includes a Clear All option and a toggle to hide notes and highlights. Neither of these creates a backup — Clear All permanently deletes everything in that book. Do not treat clearing your highlights as a way to "archive" them; copy what you want first, then clear if you are trying to declutter.
What About Nook for Web or the barnesandnoble.com Account Page?
It is reasonable to assume your Barnes & Noble account page might show your notes the way Amazon's account page shows Kindle highlights. It does not. The My NOOK Library section of your account lists your purchases and samples for syncing and organizing your library — not your annotations. And as covered above, Nook for Web itself does not support creating or viewing highlights at all. If you are looking for any web-based shortcut to gather your notes in one place, none currently exists in the Nook ecosystem.
Nook vs. Kindle vs. Libby vs. Apple Books: How Export Actually Compares
| Nook | Kindle | Libby (OverDrive) | Apple Books | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Native export exists? | No | Yes — "Your Highlights" web page or My Clippings.txt | Yes, since Feb 2026 | No official bulk export |
| Web account shows highlights? | No — web reader does not support annotations at all | Yes, via the Kindle "Your Highlights" page | Partial — per-title via app, not account page | No |
| Export format | None — manual copy only | Plain text or HTML table | Table (web page) or Spreadsheet | Copy/paste or third-party workarounds |
| Scope if export exists | N/A | Per-book on web; whole-device via My Clippings.txt | Per-title only | Per-book |
| Includes notes, not just highlight text? | Yes, when viewed manually | Yes | Yes | Limited |
The practical takeaway: Nook is currently the weakest of the major platforms on this specific point. It is not that Nook's annotation tools are bad — the in-app Notes & Highlights experience is perfectly usable for reading — it is that Barnes & Noble has not built any path to get that data out in bulk, unlike Kindle, Libby, or even Apple's more limited but at least sync-based approach.
What to Actually Do With Your Copied Highlights
Once you have manually pulled your Nook highlights and notes into a document, the harder question is what happens next. Most people paste everything into a note-taking app and never open the file again. That is not a knock on the effort — it is just how passive review works, or rather does not. Cognitive science on memory is fairly blunt about this: rereading a wall of pasted highlights does very little for retention. What moves the needle is spaced retrieval — being prompted to recall a highlight, in your own words, at expanding intervals after you captured it, rather than just re-reading the original text.
That is the piece a manual copy-paste workflow cannot give you on its own, and it is where Chapterly fits in. Instead of your Nook highlights ending up as a static document you forget about, you can bring them into a system that resurfaces them on a spaced schedule, asks you to explain the idea back before revealing the source text, and uses an AI tutor to push on the highlights you are shakiest on — turning a tedious copy job into something that actually compounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Nook have any official export or backup feature for highlights and notes?
No. As of 2026, there is no built-in export, CSV, or "export reading data" feature anywhere in the Nook ecosystem — not on the devices, not in the iOS/Android/Windows apps, and not on the web. The only way to save your highlights outside the app is to manually copy them from the Notes & Highlights tab.
Can I view my Nook highlights on barnesandnoble.com?
No. Nook for Web does not support highlights, notes, bookmarks, or annotations at all — it is read-only. Your account page's "My NOOK Library" section shows your purchased titles for library management, not your notes.
Where exactly do I find my highlights in the Nook app?
Tap the middle of the page to open Reading Tools, tap Contents, then select the Notes & Highlights tab. This shows every highlight and note for that specific book, including the page number and date created.
If I switch from a Nook device to the Nook mobile app, will my highlights carry over?
It depends on your account sync status and profile. Annotations are tied to your profile and should sync across devices logged into the same account, but there is no guarantee for older or offline-created highlights, so it is worth checking the original device first if something seems missing.
Is there a faster way to bulk-export Nook highlights that this guide is missing?
Not currently. This guide reflects Barnes & Noble's own support documentation as of 2026, which confirms notes and highlights can be viewed, edited, and deleted in-app, but makes no mention of any export, share, or email function. If that changes, the fastest workaround remains manual copy from the Notes & Highlights tab.
Copying Nook highlights by hand is the tedious part — Chapterly turns whatever you save into a spaced-review habit so the effort actually pays off. Try it free.