Cookery FAQ

For share extension or photo import help (Mac OS or iOS), please click here.

For all other questions, please see the FAQ below, or, to submit a support request or bug report, contact us here.

How do I clip recipes from an external browser?
There are multiple ways to clip recipes, and the technique is device-dependent. For iOS, a Share Services Extension is provided. This can be accessed via the Share feature of your browser. For MacOS, there is both a Share Services Extension and a Safari-specific extension.
Note: Recipes shared from your browser on one device must be imported on that device, by opening Cookery and finishing the import. This ensures duplicates aren't imported if Cookery is open on multiple devices. We are working on a fix!
Please visit our help-page here for a full explanation of how to enable and use these extensions.

How can I save recipes I've downloaded or share with other Cookery users?
To share or export a recipe, please purchase Cookery+. Recipes can be saved to a recipe file for backup and sharing with other Cookery+ users. Recipes can also be converted to PDF, RTF (Mac OS), and plain text. To share the original recipe as a file, choose Export Recipe in the recipe view toolbar menu. To import a recipe on iOS, you can share it with Cookery from outside the app, or tap the + button in the recipe list. Choose Import Recipe and select the .crecipe file. On Mac OS, open the Cookery menu in the menu bar, then choose Import > Import Cookery Recipe File, or double click the crecipe file.

Does Cookery import international recipes?
Cookery does not officially support international recipe import, but there are built-in checks for metric vs imperial units, and each recipe will be formatted based on its' unit of measurement. Cookery also respects general formatting differences between how metric and imperial recipes are generally written, but auto-formatting is officially restricted to English. More locales will be supported soon!

Can I import recipes with the camera?
Cookery now supports importing photographed recipes for devices with iOS 26 installed and that support iOS AI features. Camera support is coming soon, but for now we recommend taking a picture of the recipe and then importing it into Cookery.

Why does photo import require iOS 26 and Apple's AI features?
The app uses iOS 26-specific AI features to "read" the text captured from the photo into a valid recipe object. Due to the variance between different recipes, recipe formatting and design, and due to optical character recognition limitations on iOS, we needed a more flexible solution to ensure recipe properties are categorized correctly.
Click here to visit the Apple Intelligence support page, which includes system requirements.

My photographed recipe isn't importing correctly, what should I do?
- When taking photos of a recipe document, use non-digital zoom (we have found 2x zoom to be effective) or the camera's distance from the recipe to get as close to the recipe as you can while ensuring focus and sharpness remains high.
- Ensure lighting for your photo is very bright, with as few shadows as possible.
- If taking a photo from a recipe book, try to flatten the book so the text isn't warped by the binding, and so the binding doesn't cause a shadow on the desired page.
- When using OCR to read text in photos, it is essential to ensure (if possible) there is no text in the image that is not a part of the recipe (this can include page numbers if from a cookbook, etc.). If the recipe contains text that isn't a part of the recipe title, servings/yield, description, ingredients, or instructions, this may result in a malformed recipe. If possible, try cropping unneeded text out of the photo.
- Try using the available Document Filter on the recipe, as this can help improve OCR image-to-text readability.
- If you've tried the above suggestions and the AI still fails to categorize the text correctly, try running it again -- each attempt is a separate session with the model, and will probably result in subtle output differences.
- Some characters that are used in recipes, such as ½,¾, or other measurement abbreviations, can be difficult for optical character recognition to discern. Double check numerical measurements in the original recipe (especially those with uncommon characters).
- If you're still seeing problems with recipe formation, please contact us.

When will Cookery for Mac be updated to OS 26?
We are focused on getting the iOS app running well on iOS 26, and will begin updating the Mac app soon.

A recipe I want to add isn't importing into Cookery -- what should I do?
Please contact us! We want to enable support for the recipe's website. Click here to submit a request.

A recipe I want to store in Cookery wasn't formatted correctly. How can I get this fixed?
As long as the recipe is english-language, please contact us! We want formatting support to cover all recipe styles, and if formatting fails we would love for you to share the recipe URL with us. Click here to submit a request, or, within Cookery, open a recipe and click or tap the ellipsis ( on MacOS) button. Select "Report Problem" and submit the request.

What data is shared outside of Cookery? Are the browser extensions secure?
We have no insight into your use of Cookery, and no data is shared with the developer. Cookery utilizes SwiftData+CloudKit, which is hosted on Apple servers. The browser extensions do not connect to any external network, and only share the URL and title of the pinned recipe locally with Cookery. Your privacy is important to us.

What does Cookery+ cost?
Cookery+ costs $0.99 USD for a limited time!

Does Cookery+ require a subscription?
No - Cookery+ is designed to be a one-time purchase.
Note: If you made a Cookery+ In-App Purchase before July 30, 2025 you may need to update Cookery and reopen it on the device where the purchase was made before Cookery+ purchase state is shared between multiple devices (see below). We apologize for the inconvenience.

I purchased Cookery+ on one device, but it is not enabled when I install Cookery on other devices. How do I fix this?
Due to a bug in the initial release, if you purchased Cookery Plus before July 30, 2025, please update to the latest version and open the app on the device where the purchase was made. Once you've opened the latest version (1.1) on the original purchasing device, your purchase status will be properly shared with all other Cookery app instances.
We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.