How to Import a PGN into Chess.com

If you have a game saved as a PGN file, you can load it into Chess.com and use the same tools you use for your online games: engine analysis, move-by-move review, and shareable game links. The import takes about a minute. Getting a clean PGN from a paper scoresheet is the part that used to take longer, so that is covered first.

What is a PGN?

PGN (Portable Game Notation) is the plain-text format for a chess game: the moves in standard algebraic notation plus optional tags for the players, event, date and result. If you want to see one dissected tag by tag, read what is PGN.

Before you start: getting a PGN

To import a game, you need PGN text or a .pgn file. You might already have one from another site's export, an engine, or a tournament database.

If your game only exists on a handwritten scoresheet, ScanChess reads a photo of the sheet and returns the moves as SAN plus a PGN file. Every move is replayed on a board as it is read, so an illegal or doubtful move is marked before it ever reaches Chess.com. See convert handwritten scoresheet to PGN for the full walkthrough.

How to import a PGN into Chess.com

Chess.com changes its layout from time to time, so a label may move, but the two paths below have been stable: the Analysis page for a one-off look, and the Library for games you want to keep.

Method 1: Load the PGN on the Analysis page

This is the fastest way to get a single game in front of the engine.

1. Sign in and go to chess.com/analysis.
2. Open the Load PGN panel.
3. Paste your full PGN text into the box, or pick your .pgn file with the upload option.
4. Press Load. The moves fill the move list and the board resets to the starting position.
5. Step through the moves with the arrow keys to confirm everything came across.

Method 2: Import into your Library

If you want the game saved to your account so you can come back to it, use the Library.

1. Open the Library page (chess.com/library).
2. Press Import.
3. Paste the PGN text or upload the .pgn file.
4. Save. The game is stored in your Library and opens in analysis whenever you want it.

Run the analysis

Once the game is loaded:

1. Open the imported game on the Analysis page if you are not already there.
2. Start Game Review (or the engine, if you prefer raw evaluations).
3. Read the evaluation bar, the suggested best moves, and the blunder, mistake and inaccuracy markers.
4. Use the move list to jump to the moments the review highlights.

Troubleshooting common problems

A few things can trip up an import:

• Invalid move errors. If Chess.com rejects a move, the PGN has an illegal or mistyped move in it. This is common with hand-typed notation. Validating the game first, the way ScanChess does automatically, avoids most of these.
• Only part of the game loads. Make sure you copied the entire PGN, including every move pair through the result token (such as 1-0, 0-1, or 1/2-1/2).
• Missing player names or date. Those come from the header tags. They are optional for analysis but nice to have. You can add or edit the tags in your PGN before importing.

From paper to analysis

If you review tournament games regularly, analyze chess games from scoresheets ties scanning and analysis into one habit. If Lichess is your engine of choice instead, the steps are similar; see import PGN to Lichess.

For a game that is still on paper, the whole route is one photo into the ScanChess scanner, a quick check of any amber or red moves, then the exported PGN into the Load PGN panel above.