Do pdfs in ibooks sync wirelessly across devices? Also do pdfs in ibooks count against iCloud storage limits?

Yes, and that happens automatically assuming you have iCloud set up, sinc, etc. On your iOS devices, go to Settings> (scroll down) to iBooks and turn off/on Sync Collections

As for using iCloud storage, go to Settings>iCloud>Manage Storage and see if iBooks is on the list.

I'm not using iBooks so I can't confirm that it shows separately here related to backup. Also you'll find that these files are quite small so should account for a problem.

In my case, books seem to be syncing correctly between iPad and iPhone via iCloud, but this is not the case with PDFs. When I open a PDF from an email in my iPad (using the "Open in iBooks" button), it goes to the PDFs collection. I expected it to appear automatically in iPhone via iCloud, because I turned on the Sync Bookmarks and Sync Collection in both devices, and I am obviously logged with the same apple id in both. The oddest thing is that it does work for selected files, but I simply can't find a pattern. Any thoughts?

I am experiencing the same thing. The books I purchase throught the iBooks store seem to sync wirelessly through iCloud just fine. However, none of the PDFs I have saved I to iBooks on my iPad 2 have synced to my iPhone. I have confirmed that I have sync bookmarks and collections activated on both devices. Both devices are running iBooks 2 and iOS 5.01. A google search has turned up many instances of this problem but no solutions. Anybody have any suggested solutions?

Apple's site provides the following:

Organize your bookshelf however you like. Create collections by genre, for example. And keep PDFs — user guides, business proposals, project plans — on your bookshelf, too. When someone emails you a PDF, or if you find one on the web, you can choose to open it in iBooks. Or sync the PDFs on your Mac or PC to your iPad in iTunes. Then go to your bookshelf and tap to open one.

At one of the MacWorld sites, I found a post that implies only purchesed items via the bookstore will sync via icloud. The bottom line seems to be that syncing pdf files doesn't work via icloud, only using iTunes.

PDF's in iTunes can be wirelessly sync'd to an iOS device by:

1. Settings: General: iTunes Wi-Fi Sync

2. Sync Now

NOTE: The " Sync Now " button only is clickable if the device is plugged into power (I think I understand the reason but think its kind of dumb you need to be attached to a wire to do a wireless sync).

sorry if i've missed something....but if during the day i open emails, etc with attached pdf files on my ipad and open them in ibooks.....how exactly am i getting them to show up on my iphone and my macbook wirelessly? I've been searching a long time and i don't feel like i've got a clear answer...and maybe because there isn't....

on the ipad under general settings i did the itunes wifi sync...connected to my macbook with a cable and clicked "sync with this ipad over wifi".....the pdf's still don't show up on macbook. The books show up...which is useless since the ibooks purchased from itunes cant be read on the macbook.....but should the/ can the pdf's???

I am experiencing the same issue with PDFs as fmp000. What's odd is that no one on this post has mentioned that if one creates "categories" on either the iPad or iPhone in iBooks, these categories are readily (and immediately) visible on the alternate device. But the contents of a category is empty on the alternate device. My Settings parameters in iCloud are set to synch collections in iBooks. The iBooks software has not been repaired to my knowledge. Short of plugging in each device to iTunes, which is not an acceptable solution in my opinion, Apple has dragged its feet on this problem. What's more, plugging in each device EVERY TIME there is a new PDF (or needing to REMEMBER what PDF is on WHICH device) moots the point of having iCloud).

How can we request a bug fix from Apple?

The Apple store told me to use Dropbox or similar to achieve wireless pdf syncing. I've said this several times regarding different aspects of Apple that are frustrating-but once again Apples emphasis on seamless integration with multiple devices is misleading at minimum.

I was having the same problem. I figured out if I download the PDF document onto both devices, it will sync bookmarks, page locations, etc. I was unable to sync the document as a whole; but if its on both devices it seems to sync fine. It ***** to download it originally on both devices, but at least it woks after that.

Hope that helps.

I was misled into thinking iBooks and iCloud was like the amazon kindle app and cloud storage. With the kindle app I can download PDFs delete them and redownload from the cloud later. It seems iCloud and iBooks only works for purchased content. I guess I'll be switching everything to the kindle app unless there is some real iCloud iBook solution. Of course I can use Dropbox or other means but with apps you can organize your books. The problems with iCloud and iBooks has made it clear how strong the kindle app really is.

Now its 2015, still no resolution on this issue? If anyone able to sync pdf books/slides across all iDevices automatically through Wi-Fi? If so pls describe the steps .

Yea I don't know why it's taking so long for Apple to include iCloud syncing for things like PDFs in iBooks....

I agree it is now 2016 (sixteen!) and still the only way to transfer or sync books between my Mac and any iPhone or iPad is by going the oh so old-fashioned tethered way in iTunes. I do not even keep a cable handy anymore! they stay with the chargers, not my laptop!!!

Just had a thought that could explain why they haven't added this feature. They've been pretty focused on iCloud drive which can hold your PDFs for you and keep them in sync across your devices. The difference between that and iBooks is that Apple makes money on storage plans for iCloud but it wouldn't for PDFs in iBooks. Maybe they realized this and the PDF section in iBooks is just a remnant of a planned feature they dropped?

Finally a workaround. iBooks is not the best location to sync PDFs on all your devices using the cloud. If you haven't done so already, go into your Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive > Toggle Show On Home Screen to ON.

In the iCloud Drive application, Tap Select > On the bottom Left side of the screen, select New Folder > Name your folder (PDFs) > Create.

Once created, you can save all your PDFs into this folder. So far the most tedious way to move my PDFs from iBooks to iCloud Drive, was emailing each PDF to myself, press & holding the document in the email, select Save Attachement, & selecting my iCloud Drive PDF folder to save.

All my PDFs are now synced on all my Apple devices. I tried Adobe cloud, but decided to keep everything with Apple.

Hope this helps everyone.