.mz2 backup before then — after the cutoff, those downloads disappear. Upload your .mz2 here and we'll convert it to JSON, PDF, CSV, or Markdown — formats you'll own forever.
Migrate your MasterCook recipes before December 31
MasterCook was acquired by Cook'n in 2025 and the cloud sunsets at the end of 2026. Get years of recipe collections out of a format on borrowed time and into something portable.
100% free. Full-fidelity ingredient parsing. No account required.
Two ways to get your .mz2 — but the easier one expires December 31, 2026
Pick the path that matches what you have.
If you have a MasterCook.com account
Before Dec 31, 2026
The MasterCook.com cloud is shutting down. Until December 31, 2026 you can download a free .mz2 backup of your account directly from their site. After that date, that download path is gone.
- Sign in to MasterCook.com.
- Find the backup / download option in your account area (look for ".mz2 backup" or "export library").
- Save the
.mz2file somewhere you'll remember. - Upload it above. We'll convert it to JSON, PDF, CSV, Markdown, or .cook.
If you have MasterCook desktop installed
MasterCook 5 and later can export .mx2/.mz2 directly from the desktop app — this works regardless of cloud status.
- Open MasterCook on your computer.
- Go to File → Export.
- Select your cookbook (or all cookbooks) and choose MasterCook 5+ format.
- Save the file and upload it above.
Supported MasterCook formats
The XML export format. Ingredients with separate quantity/unit/name fields, section dividers, prep notes, and categories all preserved.
These are MasterCook's internal database files. They use proprietary compression we can't read. Open in MasterCook → File → Export → MasterCook 5+ to produce a .mz2 first.
Export to any format
Get your recipes in formats that work for you
Schema.org compliant
Print-ready cards
Excel-friendly
Plain text
For developers
Portable database
YAML format
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from MasterCook users mid-migration.
When does MasterCook.com shut down? ▾
December 31, 2026. Until that date you can sign in to MasterCook.com and download a free .mz2 backup of your library directly from the site. After the cutoff, that download path is gone — your only remaining option will be the desktop app.
What's the difference between .mx2, .mz2, and .mc2? ▾
.mx2 is MasterCook's XML export — one file containing one cookbook (or one recipe).
.mz2 is a zip containing one or more .mx2 files — what the desktop app produces when you export "All Cookbooks".
.mc2 and .mcx are MasterCook's internal database files — proprietary compressed format we can't read directly. They need to be re-exported via File → Export → MasterCook 5+ to become a usable .mz2.
What if my export errors out? ▾
If MasterCook hits an error during export — usually "cannot create file" or a similar message — try selecting one cookbook at a time instead of "all cookbooks". Most errors come from a single corrupt recipe; isolating each cookbook lets you find which one's the problem and export the rest cleanly.
If individual exports also fail, the desktop app's File → Backup option produces a more forgiving full-library backup. Upload that here instead — we'll handle it.
What about my photos and ratings? ▾
Photos: embedded inside the XML as base64 — they carry over to formats that support images (PDF, JSON output preserves them as data URIs).
Ratings: MasterCook's four-axis ratings (taste / effort / appearance / affordable) aren't part of the standard schema.org Recipe shape, so they're currently dropped. If preserving them matters to you, let us know — we can add custom fields to keep them in the JSON output.
Categories, prep notes, ingredient sections, cuisine, yield, prep/cook times: all preserved.
Can I do multiple cookbooks at once? ▾
Yes. The .mz2 format is designed for this — it's a zip containing one .mx2 file per cookbook. When you export "All Cookbooks" from the desktop app, you get a single .mz2 with everything inside.
Upload that single file here and every recipe in every contained cookbook gets parsed in one pass. Tested cleanly with batches well over 100 recipes.
Are ingredient details preserved? ▾
Yes. Each ingredient's quantity, unit, name, and prep notes are extracted from the structured XML separately rather than concatenated into one string. Section dividers like "-- Crust --" or "-- Filling --" come through as headings, not as ingredient lines.
Future-proof your recipe library
Upload your MasterCook export above. We'll convert it to formats that won't be acquired, sunset, or upgrade-fee'd in five years.