Reading e-books on an e-reader or tablet is a popular activity. But what if your e-books are on your PC or laptop? Fortunately, you can transfer it. You just need to know how.
In the first part of this article you could read how to transfer e-books from your PC to an e-reader, tablet or smartphone with the program Caliber (add link). This works fine for many devices, but unfortunately there are exceptions. Some e-readers, tablets or smartphones do not work well with Caliber, including iPads and iPhones. Fortunately, in those cases you can always transfer the e-books by hand.
Converting an eBook with Caliber
Every e-reader and e-reader app for a tablet or smartphone can read e-books in certain file formats. You can read more about this in the first part of this article under the heading: file formats.
If you have eBooks in file formats that your device cannot handle, you must first convert them to a file format that is accepted. You can use the aforementioned Caliber for that.
You first add an e-book to the Caliber library:
• Press the button Add books.
• Go to the folder with your e-books.
• Click on the desired eBook. You can also add multiple e-books. To do this, hold down the CTRL key and click on the books.
• Click on To open.
• The e-book or e-books are added to the library.
Then have the book converted if you want:
• Select the eBook by clicking on it.
• Press the button Convert books.
You can indicate in detail how an e-book should be converted, but in most cases this is not necessary.
• Click at the top right at Output format on the list.
• Click on the desired file format for the e-book. The original eBook will continue to exist in its current file format.
• Click at the bottom right on OK.
The eBook will be converted and the copy will be placed in the eBook folder you specified earlier. The e-book can be recognized by the new file format or type. For example MOBI.
Put an e-book on an e-reader
You can usually connect e-readers directly to your PC with the supplied USB cable. If possible, transfer your eBooks via File Explorer (or Finder in MacOS). Keep in mind that the actions can differ slightly per e-reader:
• Connect your e-reader to the computer with the USB cable.
• Select on the eReader pc link, usb link, connect or a similar link. If necessary, refer to the manual to see where this option is located.
• Open File Explorer.
• Go to the folder containing the eBook.
• Copy the eBook.
• Open the e-books folder on the e-reader. If necessary, look in the manual for which folder this is or see where the already installed e-books are on the e-reader.
• Paste the eBook.
• Right click on the e-reader in Explorer and click on Eject.
Put an eBook on an Android device
Android tablets or smartphones can be connected directly to your PC with the supplied USB cable. Then you transfer your e-books via Explorer (or Finder in MacOS). Keep in mind that the actions can differ per Android device:
• Connect your Android device to the computer with the USB cable.
• If prompted, grant permission on the Android device for the pairing.
• Open File Explorer.
• Go to the folder containing the eBook.
• Copy the eBook.
• Open the e-books folder on the Android device. Check where the already installed e-books are on the e-reader. Usually this folder is called Books.
• Paste the eBook.
• Right click on the Android device in Explorer and click Eject. If that option isn’t there, you can just unplug your device.
Put an eBook on an iPad or iPhone
You can connect an iPad or iPhone directly to your PC with the supplied USB cable. To transfer books from Explorer to the mobile device, use the iTunes app. In MacOS you just use Finder. If you don’t already have iTunes, download it from the Microsoft Store:
• Search on iTunes.
• Download and install iTunes.
To transfer an eBook:
• Connect your iPad or iPhone to the computer with the USB cable.
• If prompted, grant permission on the mobile device for the pairing. The iTunes app will automatically open on your PC.
• In iTunes, click in the box to the left of Devices on your iPad or iPhone.
• Click on Boken.
• Open File Explorer. Make sure that the iTunes window also remains in view.
• In Explorer, go to the folder containing the eBook.
• Drag the eBook to the right box in iTunes containing the books.
• Hold the mouse pointer in iTunes in the left box iPad or iPhone. Click on the up arrow behind it (eject).
Other ways
In addition to this way of transferring e-books from your PC, there are also other methods to get e-books on your e-reader, tablet or smartphone. Think of sending an email with an e-book as an attachment or putting e-books in an online cloud space such as OneDrive or Dropbox. You can then download the e-books from your tablet or smartphone. Transferring e-books using a memory card is also an option. The possibilities with certain devices, especially e-readers, are more limited in this regard, because there are not always internet or mail options. You can usually insert a memory card into your e-reader to transfer e-books.