Where are my iBooks stored in macOS?

Question

I am looking here for my iBooks in macOS:

/Users/'USERNAME'/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks

But the folder is empty. When I open iBooks (the App) in Sierra, then all my books are there.

So what is happening here? Is Apple just hiding my books now? Where can I display/find them?

score 79 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 06 '18 at 21:07

79

If you’ve enabled iCloud, they’re stored in Mobile Documents folder.

Here’s the full path to books you've added:

~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~apple~iBooks/Documents/

Here's the full path to books purchased through the iBooks store:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks

The path is only accessible via Terminal. Going through Finder will only redirect you to the iCloud folder. So open up Terminal:

For books you've added type in:

open ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/iCloud\~com\~apple\~iBooks/Documents

For books you've bought on the iBooks store type in:

open ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks

This will open a Finder window with your iBooks in it.

edited Feb 06 '18 at 21:07

Bryan Bryce

103

answered Nov 03 '16 at 17:00

sayzlim

4,778

4

Hm, I cannot see this folder in Finder, but over the command line it works... – ohboy21 Nov 03 '16 at 17:05
for adding more details to the original answer. – sayzlim Nov 18 '16 at 13:04
2

Believe it's changed you guys, here's the path that worked for me ~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~apple~iBooks/Documents – Donovan Dikaio Mar 24 '17 at 03:05
hey listen i uploaded the book but it is still is not showing in mobile app – Mayank Wadhwa Nov 25 '17 at 04:30
These are not all of your books, these are only the books you've added to iBooks. If you've bought books through the iBooks store they are at the location mentioned in @anika's answer – Bryan Bryce Feb 06 '18 at 20:48
No need for terminal really. You can also hit ⌘⇧G in finder and then paste the path in – Hari Honor Dec 19 '19 at 12:23
If you use Terminal and go to the directory then the icon at the top of the window can be drag and dropped to a Finder window's list of Favorites for easy opening in future. – QuentinUK Apr 14 '20 at 12:27
Copy all the files to a back up directory. Disconnect Books from iCloud, even if you say "keep books on computer" they all disappear. Then you can re-import them from the backup. It asks whether you want to overwrite the books, so although they have all disappeared from view they must be somewhere still. – QuentinUK Apr 14 '20 at 13:09
The books all disappeared from the Books directory in the cloud (but according to the iCloud on System Preferences the space is still being used). – QuentinUK Apr 14 '20 at 13:12
They have been found at Macintosh HD > Users > QuentinUK > Library > Containers > com.apple.BKAgentService > Data > Documents > iBooks > Books – QuentinUK Apr 14 '20 at 13:30
This is good, I upvoted. But jeez, Apple, this complexity does not serve you or your users very well. I know most all the ways to hide files and folders, there's at least 4, but some deep shenanigans are operating at the OS level, particularly with regards to iCloud drive which is operating behinds the scenes to do all this syncing. Macs aren't iPads, we like our filesystems. – geoO Jan 06 '23 at 03:48

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 07 '17 at 23:31

12

I simply dragged the books onto a folder of my choice in Finder and got the epub files that way.

edited Jul 07 '17 at 23:31

Monomeeth

64,558

answered Jul 07 '17 at 19:56

Jose

121

1

Oh wow. So simple. It worked flawlessly for me on macOS 10.13.4 Beta (17E150g) and Books 1.14 (1517). Thank you! – Gwyneth Llewelyn Feb 18 '18 at 01:03

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited Feb 08 '17 at 13:51

7

/Users/USERNAME/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks

This worked for me in Sierra.

edited Feb 08 '17 at 13:51

grg

201,078

answered Feb 08 '17 at 11:40

anika

71

By ‘new OS’ I presume you mean Sierra. ‘new OS’ could refer to anything later on once Sierra is no longer the most recent OS. – grg Feb 08 '17 at 13:51

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered May 07 '18 at 00:22

If you've enabled iCloud for iBooks [1], any books you've uploaded are stored in:

~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~apple~iBooks/Documents/

Although you can't see it when you browse iCloud Drive in the Finder, the are two easy ways to get to it:

Open any PDF; when it opens in Preview, right-click the titlebar and click "iBooks (iCloud)".

or
In the Finder, press ⌘ command⇧ shiftG and paste the path.

Note that books you've purchased from the iBooks Store are stored in a different location:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks

You can open this folder the same way (⌘⇧G), but there's not much you can do here. If you want to add books to your library, add them to the iCloud folder, not here.

Just checked and confirmed locations are still accurate in macOS High Sierra (10.13.4).

[1] If you're not sure if iCloud for iBooks is enabled (understandable, since you only see it the first time you open iBooks, and there's no setting within the app), go to System Preferences → iCloud, then click "Options" next to iCloud Drive. Look for iBooks in the list. If it's checked, you're using iCloud for iBooks.

Nothing works for me to find the book I uploaded on Apple Books since the last update to Ventura 13.1, but your suggestion to right-click on the pdf name. I did, chose iBooks and it took me straight to the folder with all the books, which is now a shortcut in my Desktop. Thank you! — Andreea, Jan 08 '23 at 08:47

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 28 '17 at 02:21

1

In Sierra, I found some of my iBooks at the location listed above:

/Users/'USERNAME'/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks

However, they were not all there, only a small handful. When I went to iBooks and downloaded them from the cloud, then they started to show up as ePub files there.

edited Jun 28 '17 at 02:21

Monomeeth

64,558

answered Jun 28 '17 at 02:08

Chris

11

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 27 '20 at 14:08

I simply used finder cmd-f search with the name of a specific book, it finds the books and from there one can open the folder where whatever iteration of macOS one is running.

The books are stored with their names changed by the system to variations like "7B587F3FCFGD5A74FFE82AB3AB1BE9831FF.epub"

curious non?

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 05 '22 at 00:21

@sayzlim's answer worked for me-- type in terminal: open ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks A new window opens named books. Then, with the new window selected, go to Finder and select File->"Add to sidebar" Now a Sidebar Shortcut is created, but in order to use the shortcut, you have to Right-Click->"Open in a New Tab" to see all your ibooks

score -2 · Answer 8 · answered May 02 '17 at 15:24

I switched to iCloud storage for iBooks and then iBooks immediately started acting funky and not responding. I searched "All My Files" for ePub files, then choose all of them (+500) and opened them all at once with iBooks and they all reloaded to iBooks.... and, importantly, before I did that, I turned off iCloud storage for iBooks. I resist using Terminal because I am a novice (at best) but this situation follows typical Apple nonsense: what seems like a good idea (storing all your books on iCloud) turns into a general threat to something pretty important. I choose rather a personal "cloud" via a 3TB hard drive (LaCie) with wi-fi.

Where are my iBooks stored in macOS?

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