Transfer pdfs from ipad to mac

Question

Transfer pdfs from ipad to mac

OK, so long, long time user, now confronted by Catalina 10.15.7 on my MacBook Pro. I have plugged in my iPad Pro 11" running iOS 14.2 via USB, synced it using the Finder window (no more iTunes app) and all is OK... but... when I open Books on the MBP it lists all the collections I have on the iPad in the left side of the window but the collections are empty.

How do I get the PDFs off my iPad, onto the Mac and for them to be useable? I have backed up the iPad, so know they are safe. However, in the Sync Finder window, if I choose the Books tab and select 'Sync books onto iPad' I get a warning that:

"Are you sure you want to remove existing music, films, TV programmes and books from this iPad and sync with this library?"

Well, no, I want to keep all the PDFs and books on my iPad and copy them on to the Mac.

Both iPad and Mac are using the same Apple ID, so no issue there.

I have found that if you open Music then the device (iPad) appears in the left pane and you can right click on it and 'Transfer Purchases', but this does not happen in Books. Although my collections are listed in the left pane, the device does not appear.

So, does anyone know how I do this please?

iPad Pro 11-inch Wi-Fi

Posted on Nov 16, 2020 10:09 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 16, 2020 11:45 AM in response to Tom Grzelinski

Or... use Air Drop, which is way simpler. All you then have to do is switch wi-fi on the iPad and your Mac, find the file in your iPad, and I think the air drop feature is in the share button. Find your Mac, and press send. The Mac should pick it up, and dump it in your Downloads or somewhere else, should it ask you.

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

127,516 points

Nov 16, 2020 10:51 AM in response to Tom Grzelinski

Could you not plug a USB drive into the iPad via a lightning to USB adapter, and use the iPadOS File manager to move the PDF onto the external storage?

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Answer 3

Rudegar

Level 10

183,928 points

Nov 16, 2020 10:51 AM in response to Tom Grzelinski

Transfer files between iPad and your computer - Apple Support

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/80770/how-to-transfer-pdf-from-ipad-to-pc-mac

more

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Answer 4

Nov 17, 2020 1:50 AM in response to Tom Grzelinski

Thanks for the replies, unfortunately none work.

Rudegar – The 'Files' tab in the Finder window does not show Books content, so you cannot use it to transfer Books content. The Stackexchange suggestion could work but I would have to send every book/PDF individually to myself via email or dropbox as Books only allows you to select one book/PDF at a time for sharing/sending.

VikingOSX – As above, unfortunately iOS Files manager does not show you Books content, so this solution does not work.

Michael Hutchison – Again, as above, when in Books you can only share/send one book/PDF at a time.

The trouble here is that my iPad has hundreds of books/PDFs that I want to transfer to my Mac. I was hoping there would be a simple way to do this. Prior to Catalina, using iTunes to sync, it all just worked and the PDFs were on my Mac in the iBooks app.

I don't want to check the "Are you sure you want to remove existing..." button and find that Catalina sync deletes all my PDFs. I know I could get them back on the iPad by restoring from a backup, but I still would not have the PDFs on my Mac.

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Transfer pdfs from ipad to mac

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