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This wikiHow teaches you how to add books from your Calibre library to your iPad. Thanks to a handy iPad app called Calibre Companion, you can now easily add books from your PC to your iPad using Wi-Fi. Once you've wirelessly transferred the book to your iPad, you can easily open in your favorite e-reading app, such as Apple Books or Kindle, to start reading.
Steps
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Install Calibre Companion on your iPad. Installing this free app on your iPad allows you to transfer books from your PC to your tablet wirelessly. [1] X Research source To install the app:
- Open the App Store on your iPad.
- Tap Search and search for "Calibre."
- Tap Calibre Companion in the search results.
- Tap GET to install.
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Open Calibre Companion on your iPad. You can tap OPEN if you're still in the App Store, or tap the new icon with a stack of books in your app list.
- The first time you launch the app, you'll need to tap the green Next button a few times to move through the welcome screens. At the end, tap Get started to reach the main screen.
- If your iPhone is not connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the PC running Calibre, you'll need to connect to that network now.
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Tap the right-pointing arrow on Calibre Companion. This gets the app ready to connect and displays some instructions on the screen.
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Open Calibre on your PC. It'll be in the Windows menu. Your library will appear.
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Click Connect/Share at the top of Calibre. It's the globe icon connected to three small squares at the top of the Calibre window. A menu will expand.
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Click Start wireless device connection . This prepares Calibre to communicate with your iPad.
- You can add a password on this screen if you'd like, but there's no need since you're just doing a quick transfer to your own iPad over Wi-Fi.
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Click OK on your computer. Now you're ready to connect.
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Tap CONNECT in Calibre Companion on your iPad. It's the green button at the bottom. A menu will expand.
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Tap as Wireless Device . It's the first option. After a few moments, the connection will be made and the "CONNECT" button will change to "DISCONNECT." Now that you're connected, read on to learn how to get your favorite books onto your iPad.
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Check the format of the book you want to transfer. If you want to read your book in the Apple Books app that came with your iPad, the books you transfer must be in the EPUB, IBOOKS, or PDF format. [2] X Research source To see which format your book is, right-click the book in your Calibre library on your computer and select Show book details .
- If the book is in the MOBI format, it's made for the Amazon Kindle app, which you can download for free from the App Store on your iPad. If you really want to use the Books app instead of Kindle, you can convert MOBI to EPUB in Calibre before transferring it. To do so:
- Select the book and click Convert Books on the toolbar.
- Select EPUB as the "Output Format" at the top-right corner of the window.
- Click OK at the bottom-right corner to convert.
- If the book is in the MOBI format, it's made for the Amazon Kindle app, which you can download for free from the App Store on your iPad. If you really want to use the Books app instead of Kindle, you can convert MOBI to EPUB in Calibre before transferring it. To do so:
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Select the book(s) you want to add. If you want to add more than one book at once, you can hold down the Ctrl key as you click each title in your Calibre library.
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Click the Send to Device button in Calibre. It's the black icon with a blue up-arrow. This will immediately transfer the selected book(s) to Calibre Companion on your iPad. You'll see the book(s) on the main Calibre Companion screen.
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Disconnect Calibre Companion from Calibre. Now that you've transferred the book(s) you want to read, you can close the Calibre app on your computer to disconnect, or tap Disconnect at the bottom of Calibre Companion on your iPad.
- You do not have to remain connected to Calibre to read the books you've transferred.
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Tap the book you want to read in Calibre Companion. Information about the book will appear.
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Tap Read . It's the blue book icon in the upper-right area of the page. This opens your iPad's sharing menu.
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Tap Books to open the book in the Apple Books app. Apple's Books app has an orange icon with a white open book inside. As long as the ebook is in the EPUB or PDF format, you'll be able to open it in the Books app.
- If the book is in the MOBI format and you've installed the Kindle app, tap Kindle to open the book instead.
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Tap the book in the Books or Kindle app to start reading. The selected book is now added to your Books or Kindle library.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionIn my Calibre there is no "Connect/share" button.Gwyneth LlewelynCommunity AnswerYou might need to upgrade your version of Calibre. Calibre 6 has that button.
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QuestionHow do I get books from my Kindle to show up in Calibre Companion on my iPad? My friend has shared her library to my Kindle and I want to use Calibre Companion to store my library and metadata.Gwyneth LlewelynCommunity AnswerThe short answer is: you can't, *unless* your friend has all her books without DRM (Digital Rights Management), since Amazon, as a rule of thumb, protects all their eBook sales with DRM. The exceptions are free books, that either the author gives away, or that have expired copyright (i.e. those downloaded from Gutenberg.org or Archive.org). This essentially means that those books are encrypted and thus cannot be read directly. Your only choice is to use the Kindle application on your iPad... that is the only legal way of doing so.
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QuestionI have an older iPad, and sadly it won't run any recent iOS, so Calibre companion won't install. What other options do I have?Gwyneth LlewelynCommunity AnswerIf your iOS is still recent enough to be able to use iCloud, you can use that. You don't need to install anything. Start with opening your Calibre library stored on disk — all your books should be there. Then go to icloud [dot] com and drag & drop all your books there. If you got a folder already named iBooks, excellent, use that one. If not, just create a new folder, and then, from the Files app on your iPad, navigate to that folder. Things in the ePub format (and any other that iBooks can open) should be immediately visible and you can view them directly in iBooks.
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About This Article
Article Summary
X
1. Install Calibre Companion on your iPad.
2. Open Calibre Companion and tap the arrow.
3. Click Connect/Share
in Calibre on your PC.
4. Click Start wireless device connection
and select OK
.
5. Tap CONNECT
in Calibre Companion on your iPad.
6. Tap as a Wireless Device
on your iPad.
7. Select a book in Calibre on your computer.
8. Click Send to Device
.
9. Select the book in Calibre Companion and tap Read
.
Did this summary help you?
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- "I've spent hours trying to find a way to move ebooks to my old iPad without realising that my Calibre could do the job. (Many apps won't work any more on this ipad mini). Thank you so much for your detailed instructions - so simple!" ..." more
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