How to backup iGoogle RSS feeds

Many people complain that iGoogle doesn’t offer an option to export feeds. Some of them wanted to use a feed reader like Google Reader, while others intended to migrate to competing services like Netvibes or Pageflakes.

Fortunately, iGoogle lets you export your settings and gadgets as a XML file, which can be easily processed and transformed into an OPML file.

How to Export RSS feeds to OPML format in iGoogle

1. Log in to a Google account.
2. Open this page, right-click and select “View source” (for Internet Explorer), “View page source” (Firefox) or “Source” (Opera). Copy the entire content of the file to the clipboard (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C). Alternatively, download iGoogle’s backup file and open it in a text editor.
3. Paste the code below and then click on “Convert to OPML”. (If you are concerned about sharing private data, you should know that this is just a client-side script that doesn’t store your data and it doesn’t send it to a third-party service.)
4. Save the output in a XML file: igoogle-subscriptions.xml.

How to Import the OPML file in Google Reader

1. Go to Settings
2. Click on Import/Export and upload the OPML file.

How to Import the OPML file in Netvibes

1. Add content > Add a feed > Import.

For other feed readers, look for an option to import a list of subscriptions.

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