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Books app keeps books in two folders with the name "books"

One of the folders is seen in iCloud Drive, the other books folder is not visible

This is very confusing. I would like to see all books in one folder, not two. And not with the same name.

Duplicates arise easily in Books app, and this is a problem too.


MacBook Air (M3, 2024)

Posted on Nov 17, 2024 11:56 AM

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16 replies

Nov 24, 2024 10:47 AM in response to Bomiboll

Calibre interface is intrusive, cannot customize; it is not a pleasant reading experience.


Can't customise Calibre?



And it's a book manager, you don't have to read the books in Calibre, you can open them in any app you prefer.


But again, you're at an impasse. Either accept how Apple Books works or use another app. That's your choice and reposting the same complaint over and over gets neither you nor I anywhere.

Nov 19, 2024 12:07 AM in response to Bomiboll

Not having them in one location makes it impossible to discover duplicates or books that do not show up in the Books App.


Books app is not designed to work that way. You interact with your books via the app. Just like with Photos, Contacts, and a whole host of other apps on your Mac. If you are losing annotations I suggest you troubleshoot that, as the apparent duplication is not the likely cause, but rather a failure in the books database. I do not believe the annotations are stored "in" the book, but rather in that DB.

Nov 19, 2024 2:47 PM in response to Bomiboll

Then don't compare it to Music app, compare it to Contacts, where you can't see where the library is.


But this doesn't matter. How you think things should be is interesting biographical information, but that is not how Books.app works. The developers have designed it in the way they have. Your options are simple: use the App as it is designed to be used or use an app that works the way you prefer. Using the app is not compulsory and there are other options. What's not an option is to alter how the app works.


Oh and you can transfer books to a new computer via iCloud, quite seamlessly.


Calibre is an excellent open-source manager for a library of books - I have some 4k books in two libraries managed by it. If you want an app that syncs across devices then check out Yomu, it's inexpensive. And there are more options than that again.

Nov 21, 2024 3:37 AM in response to Bomiboll

Yomu is a very poor reading experience. I would not use that.


Then use something else. Whatever. It doesn't change the fact that you can't change how Books.app works.


Calibre has no collections like Books has. That is a problem.


You can easily create collections in Calibre using Tags. Or use something else. Whatever. It doesn't change the fact that you can't change how Books.app works.



Nov 18, 2024 3:26 PM in response to Bomiboll

Bomiboll wrote:

One of the folders is seen in iCloud Drive, the other books folder is not visible
This is very confusing. I would like to see all books in one folder, not two. And not with the same name.
Duplicates arise easily in Books app, and this is a problem too.



See if there is anything here


ref:Apple Books User Guide for Mac - Apple Support



Nov 21, 2024 2:16 AM in response to Yer_Man

Yomu is a very poor reading experience. I would not use that.

Calibre has no collections like Books has. That is a problem.

It shows where my library folder is, an information I wanted.


Here is an example of what Books app shows, telling that it has found duplicates

I wonder what it means "modifications aren't in sync" duplicates appear here and there


Nov 18, 2024 7:17 PM in response to Yer_Man

Not having them in one location makes it impossible to discover duplicates or books that do not show up in the Books App.

Searching for a book with spotlight refers to the folder location. Then I open that book and make annotations. Next time I open that book, the annotations are gone. That is because there are duplicates or triplicates

Nov 19, 2024 7:33 AM in response to Yer_Man

If you compare to Music app, i can see where the library is.

So I can search it for duplicates, if there are any. For this task I can use an app like Speedy Duplicate Finder or Gemini or even manually check it. But as for the Books app there is no option like that.

I always want to know where an app keeps its library (i e my files); it makes transfer to another computer much safer. If you don't know where your files are , you may lose them

Books app keeps books in two folders with the name "books"

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