BookShelves can open files from your Mac, iPhone, or iPad in several ways. Pick whichever fits how you already work — they all end up in the same library.
Supported formats
BookShelves reads EPUB, PDF, FB2, MOBI, AZW, KEPUB, CBZ, CBR, and CB7 — 12 formats in total. Formats like MOBI and FB2 are converted to EPUB automatically during import. DRM-protected files cannot be opened.
For the full list with details, see Supported File Formats.
On Mac
Drag and drop
Drag one or more files from Finder directly onto the BookShelves window. This is the fastest way to import a batch of books.
File picker
Click the + button in the toolbar and choose Add Books. A standard file picker opens — navigate to your files, select them, and click Open.
Open with BookShelves
Right-click any supported file in Finder and choose Open With > BookShelves. You can also set BookShelves as the default app for a format: right-click the file, choose Get Info, change the “Open with” dropdown, and click Change All.
Double-click
If BookShelves is set as the default handler for a format, double-clicking the file opens it directly.
On iPhone and iPad
Files app
Open the Files app, find your ebook, tap it, then choose Open in BookShelves from the share sheet (or long-press and use Share > BookShelves). The file is copied into the app’s library.
Share from another app
Any app that can share files — Safari, Mail, a cloud storage app — can send a book to BookShelves through the standard iOS share sheet. Tap the share icon, then choose BookShelves.
File picker
Tap the + button in the toolbar and choose Add Books. This opens the system document picker, which can browse local storage, iCloud Drive, and any connected cloud provider (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.).
Import a Calibre library
If you use Calibre to manage your collection, BookShelves can import directly from a Calibre library folder.
Tap + in the toolbar, then choose Add Folder and select the root of your Calibre library (the folder containing metadata.db). BookShelves reads Calibre’s database to pull in titles, authors, series info, ISBNs, tags, and covers.
When a book exists in multiple formats (say EPUB and PDF), BookShelves picks the best one automatically — EPUB is preferred over PDF, CBZ over CBR, and so on. You get one library entry per book, not one per file.
Browse and download from catalogs
BookShelves has a Discover tab with built-in access to public-domain catalogs:
- Standard Ebooks — beautifully formatted public-domain classics
- Project Gutenberg — the largest single collection of free ebooks
- Internet Archive — millions of digitized books
- Biblioteca Nacional de Espana — the Spanish National Library’s digital collection
Browse, search, and tap to download — the book lands in your library ready to read.
OPDS feeds
If you run your own book server or use one not listed above, you can add it as an OPDS feed. Go to Settings > OPDS Servers, enter the URL, and the catalog appears in your Discover tab. See Why Your OPDS Feed Must Use HTTPS on iOS if you have trouble connecting on iPhone or iPad.
What happens during import
A few things happen automatically when a book is added:
- Duplicate detection — if a book with the same ISBN, content, or title-and-author is already in your library, BookShelves skips it instead of creating a duplicate.
- Metadata extraction — title, author, cover image, language, and other details are read from the file.
- Format conversion — MOBI, AZW, FB2, and similar formats are silently converted to EPUB so the reader can display them.
- File repair — common issues like broken navigation, missing metadata, or malformed content are fixed automatically so books render correctly.
Free vs. Pro
The free version of BookShelves supports up to 10 books. After that, you’ll see an upgrade prompt when importing. Upgrading to Pro removes the limit entirely — all import methods work the same way regardless of tier.
Still stuck?
If a file won’t import or something looks wrong after import, let us know on the feedback page — include the format and file size, and we’ll help sort it out.