Article Summary

The tools that track a LEGO collection today, from BrickLink's My Collection and its link to Studio to Brick Owl, the offline BrickStore app, the Brickit scanner and a plain spreadsheet, with how to start and which one suits sets, parts or loose bricks.

For most collectors, BrickLink's My Collection is the most complete LEGO collection database: it tracks sets, parts and minifigures, breaks sets into their parts, and feeds BrickLink Studio so you can design with what you own. Brick Owl, the offline BrickStore app, the Brickit scanner and a plain spreadsheet each suit a different kind of collection. This guide covers what each one does, how to start, and how to keep the list useful once it exists.

Quick answer: use BrickLink's My Collection if you want one list of sets and parts that also works with Studio and BrickLink's marketplace. Add Brickit if your collection is mostly loose bricks, BrickStore if you prefer working offline on BrickLink lists, and a spreadsheet if all you need is a list of the sets you own.

Sets or parts: decide what you are tracking

  • Set lists suit collectors who keep sets built or boxed. You record each set number once, with its condition, and the list prevents duplicate purchases and helps with insurance.
  • Parts inventories suit MOC builders and anyone with bulk bricks. You record each part, color and quantity, so you can tell whether you can build something before you start.

Most tools handle both. The quickest route from one to the other is parting out: adding a set and letting the tool add every part it contains.

BrickLink My Collection

BrickLink, the parts and sets marketplace owned by the LEGO Group since 2019, has a My Collection tool for the items you own, separate from any store inventory. BrickLink's help pages describe how it works:

  • Six item types. Sets, parts, minifigures, gear, books and catalogs, each with its own tab, drawn from the whole BrickLink catalog.
  • Adding items. Search by name or number, then record condition and quantity, and color where it applies. Several items can be added at once.
  • Parting out. Adding a set with Part Out turned on adds its contents to your parts collection, with options to include extra parts and to break minifigures into their parts.
  • Import and export. Import CSV or XML files, including BrickLink files such as a Wanted List and CSV exports from other collection sites, and export your collection as XML.

Wanted Lists sit next to it for the parts you still need, and BrickLink can find stores that stock them. Our BrickLink buying guide covers Wanted Lists and how to keep an order to a few stores.

Designing with your own parts in Studio

BrickLink Studio, the LEGO Group's free design program for Windows and macOS, reads My Collection. Sign in to Studio with your BrickLink account and switch the building palette from Main to My Collection parts, and you build only with parts you own. Sets in My Collection are not included in that palette, so part them out first.

The same palette answers a common question: can I build this? Open an official set or a Studio Gallery model, filter the step list to parts unavailable in the selected palette, and the highlighted parts are the ones you still need. Our Studio tutorial covers the basics of the program.

Brick Owl

Brick Owl, an independent LEGO marketplace, has its own collection feature for signed-in members, alongside wishlists. A collection can be downloaded as a Brick Owl CSV file, and in August 2026 Brick Owl adjusted that download to make it easier to move a collection into a Brick Owl store. If you buy mostly on Brick Owl, keeping your list there saves a step.

BrickStore: offline BrickLink lists

BrickStore is a free, open-source BrickLink management tool for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, still updated in 2026. It is built for sellers, but several features suit collectors:

  • Browse and search the BrickLink catalog with a fast, as-you-type filter.
  • Part out sets into lists, and build XML files to upload to BrickLink.
  • Compare two lists, for example your inventory against a set, to see whether you can build it.
  • Price items from the latest BrickLink price guide information.

Brickit: scanning loose bricks

Brickit is a phone app for iOS and Android that scans a pile of bricks, identifies the pieces and suggests models you can build from them, with step-by-step instructions. Its Pockets system is aimed at inventory: you scan a batch, put it in a numbered bag, and the app remembers what is inside each bag. The app is free to download with a paid Brickit Pro subscription for advanced features. Check what it found before relying on it for a precise count.

Pockets works best with plain bags or small boxes you can number, such as resealable bags or a small parts organizer.

A spreadsheet

For a list of sets, a spreadsheet is still a good choice: one row per set with its number, name, condition, whether it is built or boxed, where it is stored and what you paid. It costs nothing, works offline and is yours to keep. It falls short for parts, where the number of rows grows quickly and nothing parts out a set for you.

Side by side

Tool What it runs on Tracks Best for
BrickLink My Collection Web, with a BrickLink account Sets, parts, minifigures, gear, books, catalogs One complete list that works with Studio and the marketplace
BrickLink Studio palette Windows and macOS The parts in My Collection Checking what you can build
Brick Owl collection Web, with a Brick Owl account Your collection, downloadable as CSV Collectors who buy or sell on Brick Owl
BrickStore Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android BrickLink lists, offline Comparing an inventory against a set; free and open source
Brickit iOS and Android Scanned loose bricks, in numbered Pockets Loose bricks and build ideas; Pro is a subscription
Spreadsheet Anything Whatever columns you make A simple list of sets

Getting started

  1. Start with complete sets. Enter the sets you can identify by number first; they are the fastest win.
  2. Part out what is mixed. If loose bricks came from known sets, add those sets with Part Out instead of counting parts.
  3. Sort the rest before you count. Sorting by part type makes identification much faster. Our free Sorting Planner plans bins from the sets your pieces came from, and our guides to sorting and organizing LEGO and sorting by color or by part type cover the methods.
  4. Add new purchases when they arrive. A list that runs months behind stops preventing duplicates.
  5. Export a copy now and then. An exported file protects the work if you ever change tools.

Value and insurance

A collection list is most useful for insurance when it records condition, includes photos and is kept up to date; ask your insurer what it wants to see. For values, recent marketplace sales are the usual guide, and BrickLink publishes a price guide for sets and parts. Every set page on our site shows its current price and retirement status from our catalog. Values move in both directions, so treat any figure as an estimate rather than a promise.

Free tools on this site

  • Missing Piece Checker: check a set piece by piece and leave with the element ID LEGO asks for, or a link to buy the part. Your marks are saved in this browser.
  • Sorting Planner: list the sets your pieces came from and how many bins you have, and it sizes each bin by part type from real piece counts.
  • Collection Checker: pick a theme, tick off the sets you own and see how close you are to completing it.
  • LDraw Model Checker: list the parts in an LDraw model file, with catalog links.

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