How to Transfer ePub eBooks to Your iPad

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Posted April 18, 2010 at 1:18pm by iClarified

These are instructions on how to transfer a DRM-free ePub formatted eBook to your iPad for reading in iBooks.

Step One
Download the ePub title and save it on your desktop. In this example I will be downloading the iPad Programming book by Daniel H Steinberg and Eric T Freeman.

How to Transfer ePub eBooks to Your iPad

Step Two
Launch iTunes by clicking its icon in the dock

Step Three
Click to select Add to Library... from the File menu.

Step Four
Select the eBook file from your Desktop and click the Choose button.

Step Five
Click to select Books from the list of libraries on the left. Notice your book is now listed.

Step Six
Connect your iPad to the computer and select it from the list of devices on the left.

Step Seven
Click to select the Books tab.

Step Eight
Check the Sync Books checkbox if it isn't already enabled.

If All books is selected then all your Books will be transferred to the iPad. If Selected books is selected then you will need to look below for the newly added Book and check the checkbox next to its title.

Now click the Apply or Sync button at the bottom right of the window.

You may receive a warning that this will erase all the books on your iPad if this is your first Books sync. Click the Sync Books button.

Step Nine
Once the sync has completed you can open iBooks on your iPad to read your newly transferred title.

*Note: If you do not have iBooks on your iPad you can download it free from the App Store.

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Rich Doug - October 10, 2016 at 5:44am

Dude, thanks, but I hate iTunes. I'd prefer to use WinX MediaTrans to sync ePUB eBooks, PDFs, etc. from computer to my iPad fast and smoothly, with no data loss. Exporting or deleting iBooks from iPhone iPad can also be easily achieved with this smart tool.

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KeithTucker - December 29, 2014 at 12:25pm

I have transferred ePub ebooks from Windows laptop to iPad using both iTunes & email. Books appear in Book folder on iPad but I get an error message saying that they cannot be opened as the file maybe corrupted or not in the right format. Does this mean the book files are not DRM-free? Can ebooks which are not DRM-free be transferred?

mazharok - September 16, 2014 at 10:35am

Cooool!! i was very much impressed with the stuff in the article

EJ - July 13, 2014 at 2:50am

One simple way is to email the epub file directly into the email registered on your iPad/iPhone. Open the email in your iPad/iPhone and Open it with iBooks.

Andresito77 - June 26, 2014 at 4:21am

Me gusto el articulo y lo que buscaba porque me lo voy a meter todo en un mp3 para poder reproducirlo con mi pinganillo espia

dadanada - December 25, 2013 at 6:21pm

This article is old. Now you should try emailing the epub file to your ipad, click on it in the email, and it will transfer to iBooks.

Bob H - December 13, 2013 at 3:19am

My version of iTunes 11 doesn't have a "Books" tab in the Library Panel. I checked the Preferences, and there's no "Books" option to check. How do I get "Books" to show up in the Library?

MissT - October 4, 2013 at 7:57pm

So annoying I've been trying all week to download on iPhone, iPad and laptop!! 5 hours today and still no success. I see it in my iTunes act on the computer but can't get it on iBooks on my apple devices..

TIM ROMERO - March 27, 2014 at 9:14pm

Right click and Check your properties tab and make sure your computer is not hiding the file. Unchecked this and whamo the book loaded on my ipad

Michel - March 19, 2013 at 7:51pm

I downloaded my book from OverDrive from my public library and it wont let me drag it into iTunes, or open up from and email and it doesnt show up in my ibooks when I choose it. Am I doing something wrong or is it because it's a rented book? How do I read rented ebooks then if I cant put them in my itunes?

Laurie - April 5, 2013 at 6:37pm

When I use OverDrive for my library books, the books only appear in the OverDrive app itself.

scribbler.tom - December 19, 2012 at 1:49pm

If you have Dropbox on your desktop and your iPad, you can copy the ePub file to your Dropbox account. When you try to open the file in the Dropbox app, you'll get an error saying that you can't view the file. But if you touch the download icon in the upper right corner, one of your options will be to open the file in iBooks (assuming you have the iBooks app installed). Touch that and you're good to go.

Cynde - August 1, 2012 at 7:51pm

Thank you .......... That was easy, almost to easy. Thanks for your help

JamesHenry - May 19, 2015 at 8:26am

Wow, fantastic weblog layout! How lengthy have you ever been blogging for? you make running a blog glance easy. The overall look of your web site is fantastic, as well as the content!

Thinh - March 23, 2012 at 5:30pm

every time I transfer new epub book to ipad, the old epub gone, i see only the new epub. How can i add the new epub without lost the old epub. (i do option selected check box for the epub i want to transfer only.) Thanks

Spinosum - October 17, 2011 at 2:17am

Simplest way to transfer epub to iPad is as follows: 1. Download epub from sites you know 2. Email the epub file to yourself (eg. GMail) - do not zip or rar it 3. Open up the email in your iPad, and click on the attachment (the epub file) 4. Choose "Open in iBook" and that's it.

Sue asset - November 5, 2011 at 11:43pm

Sue and Geoff, Found an easy way to get EPub files into the IPad Hugs Lib

joan - October 2, 2012 at 12:09am

the email solution was great, thanks so much

Cor - December 14, 2012 at 12:05pm

Wow, I seriously can't thank you enough. I don't know why I didn't think to do this, I was going crazy because I was going to have to update my entire Apple software. THANK YOU

Karin - April 16, 2011 at 4:54pm

Thanks, so easy. Great step by step explanation!

ur man - June 22, 2010 at 11:15pm

does anyone know where to download free epub ebooks????

ludachris - May 1, 2010 at 12:10am

You can also just drag the epub file right into itunes and drop it over the "books" tab.

Jetgadget - May 23, 2010 at 4:20am

How Many books maximum? I am at 390 now? Ibooks looks great