vonBunau

Q: where are the  iBooks  files stored in  el capitan

I wanted to save my media files libraries....

cool with Itunes files, Movies....

but where is the new location for iBooks ?

I don't want  to save my whole disk !!!

Posted on Oct 19, 2015 5:24 PM

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Q: where are the  iBooks  files stored in  el capitan

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  • by fastasleep,

    fastasleep fastasleep Apr 29, 2016 3:49 PM in response to iljajj
    Level 1 (47 points)
    Apr 29, 2016 3:49 PM in response to iljajj

    iljajj wrote:

     

    The ebooks are still on your hard drive (or ssd), but they're hidden inside the iCloud drive (e.g., iCloud Drive > iBooks > xxxxxx.epub). However, any good search utility (including Spotlight) will trace them. Just do a file name search in that folder using ".epub".

     

    A larger problem, and one that I hadn't anticipated, was that although iBooks does not change the file extension .epub, it does re-format the ebook itself. Therefore, going back to Calibre or somesuch utility using the same epub files, will not be possible – it's a one-way process.

     

    I don't think this is correct, have you actually seen an iBooks folder in your iCloud Drive folder?


    The files are stored in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books

  • by fastasleep,

    fastasleep fastasleep Apr 29, 2016 3:55 PM in response to christopherfromemsworth
    Level 1 (47 points)
    Apr 29, 2016 3:55 PM in response to christopherfromemsworth

    christopherfromemsworth wrote:

     

    If iBooks synchronises between my Apple devices, including the iMac, why isn't there an iBooks folder on iCloud drive?

     

     

    I think one problem with this whole thing is they should've just called it iCloud for iBooks and not "iCloud Drive" as people are associating that with the iOS app and folder within OS X where you can see folders of data used by different apps. iBooks actually stores its local data in a "hidden" directory within your Library that you're not actually meant to access directly, kind of like you shouldn't be digging around in your iTunes or Photos Libraries directly as those are managed by their respective apps. Nobody should be looking for an iBooks folder in iCloud Drive to open/delete/organize books, you're supposed to do that from within the app itself only.

     

    I'm blaming marketing for this one...

  • by christopherfromemsworth,

    christopherfromemsworth christopherfromemsworth Apr 29, 2016 11:16 PM in response to fastasleep
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 29, 2016 11:16 PM in response to fastasleep

    I'm sure you are right. Once upon a time filing systems on a computer were open and transparent to the average user; you stored the files where you wanted to store them. Apple clearly didnt want that to be the case with iOS, and this principle seems to have seeped into OSX as well. So we have a sort of hybrid.

    Do you trust Apple or any cloud-based system to look after all your files  in perpetuity? Not me!

  • by Noura Shehab-Eldeen,

    Noura Shehab-Eldeen Noura Shehab-Eldeen Apr 30, 2016 9:33 AM in response to fastasleep
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apr 30, 2016 9:33 AM in response to fastasleep

    I Was SUGGESTING that they should be "shown" on icloud drive.

    I Can't find my books, they're not listed in iBooks with iCloud sign beside them.. They don't show at all

    ive backed my phone 2 months ago or so and since then I've added new files to iBooks which I hadn't backed up

    IBooks library on my iTunes show only some of the books I downloaded from iTunes store

  • by Noura Shehab-Eldeen,

    Noura Shehab-Eldeen Noura Shehab-Eldeen Apr 30, 2016 9:43 AM in response to christopherfromemsworth
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Apr 30, 2016 9:43 AM in response to christopherfromemsworth

    it's not about trust.. I just want to access my files and have them deleted without my knowledge that's all... these restrictions theI've made may have made it harder for hackers and viruses to attack Apple's devices and software but it also made it extremely hard to transfer files or handle them however I want..

  • by meela$h,

    meela$h meela$h May 26, 2016 2:46 AM in response to fastasleep
    Level 1 (24 points)
    iBooks
    May 26, 2016 2:46 AM in response to fastasleep

    There is, in fact an iBooks folder in the iCloud Drive folder, but it is hidden. You can see its contents in terminal:

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

     

    And also, as he mentioned by searching for the title using spotlight.

     

    Basically, when you turn on iCloud for iBooks, apparently it copies all your locally stored books from ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books to the iCloud drive and then deletes them from the previous location.

     

    Now, I'm not sure why some are not deleted and stay local. Maybe because space runs out? Out of a few hundred books, 21 of mine remained local.

  • by Beechtree,

    Beechtree Beechtree Jul 20, 2016 1:05 PM in response to iljajj
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Jul 20, 2016 1:05 PM in response to iljajj

    RIght mouse button on file and choose parent directory.

  • by Beechtree,

    Beechtree Beechtree Jul 20, 2016 2:06 PM in response to Beechtree
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Jul 20, 2016 2:06 PM in response to Beechtree

    iljajj wrote:

     

    "The ebooks are still on your hard drive (or ssd), but they're hidden inside the iCloud drive (e.g., iCloud Drive > iBooks > xxxxxx.epub). However, any good search utility (including Spotlight) will trace them. Just do a file name search in that folder using ".epub"."

     

    Rename a pdf in test12345.pdf, add it to iBooks, search this file in Finder, choose the file in iCloud Drive/iBooks, right mouse button and choose parent directore, a new window is opened in Finder with all your iBooks-files stored in iCloud (and on your harddisk or ssd).

  • by bezanson,

    bezanson bezanson Jul 27, 2016 11:19 PM in response to vonBunau
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jul 27, 2016 11:19 PM in response to vonBunau

    Note: I am running OS X 10.11.6 and iOS 9.3.3 for the below discussion.

     

    There are two locations for iBooks under newer Mac OS X and iOS when using iCloud drive to have your content available and synchronized between OS X and iOS.

    • ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks
      • This is the location for any items you have "purchased" through iBooks. This includes FREE books as well, such as the Apple User Guides.
    • ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/iCloud~com~apple~iBooks/Documents
      • This is where any items that you add to iBooks (pdf and ePub) get moved to.
      • Note that ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/  is your iCloud drive local copy -- though the directories you see in the Finder are prefixed with "com~apple~"
    • ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/
      • This is where any files or folders you create in iCloud are stored under OS X.
  • by sandman42,

    sandman42 sandman42 Aug 6, 2016 10:24 AM in response to vonBunau
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 6, 2016 10:24 AM in response to vonBunau

    I found the actual ebook files here:

     

    /Users/<username>/Library/Mobile Documents/iBooks/iBooks

     

    The .../Library/Containers... folder does contain a plist capturing the ebook catalog with relevant data (including location).

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