Is there a way to share a meal on MyFitnessPal? Your Guide to Easy Logging

With millions of users tracking their nutrition on MyFitnessPal, the question of "is there a way to share a meal on MyFitnessPal?" is common for those eating with friends or family. While direct, instantaneous sharing to a specific person isn't a native feature, several effective workarounds exist for seamless collaboration.

Quick Summary

MyFitnessPal does not have a direct meal sharing feature for specific users, but you can share your entire food diary with friends so they can copy your meal entries.

Key Points

• Diary Sharing: The main method to share a meal is by setting your diary visibility to 'Friends Only' and having a friend copy the entry from your log.

• No Direct Meal Transfer: You cannot directly send or transfer a specific meal entry to another user via a chat or message.

• Premium+ Meal Plan: A Premium+ subscription allows you to share a meal plan with household members, but they must manually log the meals from the plan.

• Copying Your Own Meals: You can easily copy a meal from one day to another in your own diary for logging repeated meals or leftovers.

• Data Export for Premium Users: Premium subscribers can export their nutrition data as a CSV file to share detailed reports with others, like a personal trainer.

• Public Recipes: You can save a recipe as 'Public,' but this is not a reliable method for sharing with a specific person as it can be difficult to locate.

The Primary Method: Diary Sharing and Copying Meals

The most practical and widely-used method to share a meal on MyFitnessPal involves using the app's diary sharing feature. This approach requires you and your friend to be connected on the app. By granting a friend access to your food diary, they can view your entries for a specific day and copy the desired meal directly into their own diary. This is especially useful for families or couples who frequently eat the same meals and want to avoid redundant data entry. The process is straightforward, whether on the mobile app or the website.

Step-by-Step for Diary Sharing and Copying (App)

1. Enable Diary Sharing: First, the person with the meal to share must adjust their privacy settings. Navigate to More > Settings > Diary Settings > Diary Sharing and set the preference to Friends Only.
2. Become Friends: Ensure you are connected as friends on MyFitnessPal. If not, go to More > Friends and search for their username or email to send a request.
3. View Friend's Diary: The recipient should go to their Friends list, select your name, and tap the diary icon to view your daily log.
4. Copy the Meal: Find the meal you wish to copy. Tap the three dots next to the meal entry to find the Copy to Date option. Choose the meal slot and the date to copy the meal to.

Other Workarounds and Premium Options

Beyond simple diary sharing, MyFitnessPal offers a few other options for sharing meal-related information, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. These methods range from saving public recipes to utilizing advanced premium features.

Creating and Saving Custom Public Meals

Another way to share is to create a custom meal or recipe and save it as "Public." This makes it searchable by other users. However, as some users have noted, finding these public meals can be cumbersome. This method is best for frequently used recipes that you want to share with a wider community rather than a specific individual.

Using the Premium+ Meal Planner

For those with a Premium+ subscription, a meal planner feature is available that offers a different type of sharing. While you cannot share your account, you can share the meal plan itself with household members. This sends them the nutritional information and recipes for the week, which they can then manually add to their own diary. The recipient cannot, however, edit the shared meal plan.

Copying Your Own Meals

For solo users, or as a quicker alternative for leftovers, you can copy a meal from a previous day to your current diary. This is helpful for meal-prepping or repeating meals throughout the week. On the food diary page, use the "Quick Tools" or edit button to select and copy entire meals to a new date.

Exporting and Sharing Data

For Premium users, MyFitnessPal offers a data export feature. You can export your nutrition data as a CSV file, which can be viewed in a spreadsheet program like Excel. This provides a detailed report of a meal's components, which can then be shared via email. This is a more technical approach and better suited for sharing detailed information with a personal trainer or nutritionist.

Comparison of MyFitnessPal Sharing Methods

Feature	Diary Sharing & Copying	Premium+ Meal Plan	Public Recipes	Data Export (Premium)
Ease of Use	High (Once set up)	Medium (Manual logging for recipient)	Low (Hard to find)	Medium (Requires export/file handling)
Privacy Level	Friends Only / Locked	Household Members	Public	Private (Requires email)
Recipient's Effort	Low (Quick copy)	Medium (Manual re-entry)	High (Manual search)	Low (File review)
Content Shared	Full daily diary	Pre-planned recipes/macros	Individual recipe	Nutrition data (CSV)
Best For	Couples, close friends	Families	Widespread sharing	Trainers, experts

Conclusion

While the MyFitnessPal platform lacks a specific "share meal with a friend" button, the available workarounds are highly effective for achieving the same goal. The most common and simple method is leveraging the diary sharing feature, which allows a friend to easily copy a meal you've logged. For households and advanced users, Premium+ meal plans and data exports offer powerful alternatives, though they require a subscription. Understanding these different options allows users to choose the best method for their specific collaboration and privacy needs, ensuring their nutritional tracking remains seamless and collaborative.

For more detailed information on copying meals from friends, refer to the official MyFitnessPal support pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a way to directly message a meal to a specific friend on MyFitnessPal?

No, MyFitnessPal does not have a feature that allows you to directly message or send a meal entry to a specific friend. The primary method is to make your diary visible and have them copy it.

How can a friend see my food diary on MyFitnessPal?

To let a friend see your food diary, you must go to More > Settings > Diary Settings > Diary Sharing and change your setting to Friends Only. After becoming friends, they can view your diary.

What are the steps for a friend to copy a meal from my diary?

After you have set your diary to Friends Only, your friend should navigate to your profile via the Friends menu, view your diary, and select the three dots next to the meal to copy it to their own date.

Can I share photos of my meals on MyFitnessPal?

No, as of the most recent FAQ, photo sharing is not a possibility. The app does not support sharing images of logged meals with friends.

Do MyFitnessPal Premium users have better meal sharing options?

Premium+ users have access to a Meal Planner feature that allows them to share personalized meal plans with household members, though recipients cannot edit the plan. Premium users can also export their nutrition data as a file for sharing.

Is there a way to export a specific recipe or meal from MyFitnessPal?

No, there is no direct recipe export feature. The closest option is to manually copy and paste the recipe details or, for Premium users, export your entire nutrition log as a CSV file.

How can I share a meal with someone who isn't on MyFitnessPal?

For non-users, your best bet is to either manually copy and paste the meal details and nutrition facts or, for Premium users, export your nutrition log as a CSV file to share via email or other methods.

How do I copy a meal to a different day in my own diary?

On the Food Diary page, you can use the "Quick Tools" (web) or edit button (app) to select a meal and copy it to a past or future date. This is helpful for logging leftovers or repeat meals.

Citations

Can I share recipes with other users? - MyFitnessPal Help. (May 17, 2023). Retrieved from https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032270532-Can-I-share-recipes-with-other-users How do I make my diary visible to other users? - MyFitnessPal Help. (August 11, 2025). Retrieved from https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032273872-How-do-I-make-my-diary-visible-to-other-users Can I copy meals from my friends? - MyFitnessPal Help. (August 06, 2025). Retrieved from https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032274452-Can-I-copy-meals-from-my-friends How do I copy a meal from one day to another? - MyFitnessPal Help. (September 25, 2019). Retrieved from https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/de/articles/360032622131-How-do-I-copy-a-meal-from-one-day-to-another MyFitnessPal Membership Pricing: Everything to Know - MyFitnessPal Blog. (April 09, 2025). Retrieved from https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/myfitnesspal-membership-pricing-tiers/ Data Export FAQs - MyFitnessPal Help. (July 25, 2023). Retrieved from https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032273352-Data-Export-FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share a recipe directly with another MyFitnessPal user?

No, it is not possible to directly share a recipe with another user on MyFitnessPal. The workaround involves sharing your food diary so they can copy the recipe after you have logged it as a meal.

Does my friend need a Premium account to copy a meal from my diary?

No, a Premium account is not required for your friend to copy a meal from your diary, as long as you are friends and you have set your diary sharing settings to 'Friends Only'.

Can I prevent my whole diary from being visible while still sharing one meal?

MyFitnessPal's sharing feature is based on the entire food diary. You must make your whole diary visible to friends for them to copy a meal, but you can set it to "Locked with a key" to give access only to specific people with the password.

How do I add a friend on MyFitnessPal?

To add a friend, navigate to the More menu, then Friends, and search for their username, email, or contacts to send a friend request.

Can I share a meal with someone who is not my friend on the app?

If you are not friends, the other person cannot copy your meal from your diary. You would need to add them as a friend first or, alternatively, save the meal as a public recipe.

What is the difference between copying a meal and saving it as a recipe?

Copying a meal is a quick way for a friend (with diary access) to transfer a single logged entry. Saving a recipe creates a reusable custom entry that you or others can search for, which is better for repeating complex dishes.

Are there any privacy concerns with sharing my diary to allow meal copying?

Yes, sharing your diary makes all your food and exercise entries for the day visible to your friends. If you are concerned about privacy, remember to switch your diary sharing settings back to Private after the meal is copied.