As much as we want to finish every single book in the world, there are some that have to be added to the “DNF” pile. That’s “Did Not Finish” pile, in case you’re new to reading. While there will be some out there who say it’s never okay to not finish a book, it totally is!
The problem for Goodreads users is that there wasn’t an easy way to mark a book as “DNF,” and it’s something that everyone has been asking for. At long last, the shelf has been added.
Goodreads Finally Adds a ‘DNF’ Shelf
Like you would add a book to the “Want to Read,” “Reading,” and “Read” shelves, it is now possible to add to a “DNF” shelf. This is being rolled out slowing, and Goodreads says that if you don’t see it just yet, you will shortly. It only added on my account in the last couple of days, despite the roll-out starting on March 12, 2026.
It is more specifically titled “Did Not Finish,” making it clear to everyone who is new to the system or to the reading lingo in general. The best thing is that you can update your progress, so you know when exactly you put the book down. If you do want to pick it up again at a later date and try to get through it, you’ll know either where to pick up from or where you need to get past to see if it gets any better.
It will even be possible to customize your Reading Challenges. As long as you have an updated progress on the book, these will count toward your reading goals, so you don’t need to feel like you’ve wasted your time.
Customized Lists Will Be Folded Into the ‘Did Not Finish’ Shelf
For years, readers have had to create their own custom shelf for books that they haven’t finished. Goodreads understands how time consuming that is, so it’s decided to fold any of those custom-created shelves that make sense to the system into the “Did Not Finish” shelf.
Goodreads shares that the following will be automatically folded in: “did-not-finish,” “dnf,” “abandoned,” “unfinished,” “didn-t-finish,” and “dropped.” Anything else you may need to move across automatically.
This is a gradual roll-out, but it is coming! Make sure you have the most updated version of the app.