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How do I add books to my iTunes Library in iTunes 11?

How do I add books to my iTunes Library in iTunes 11? I believe I used to add books to the books section in the Library, but now all I see in my Library are music, movies, TV shows, and apps.

Posted on Feb 7, 2013 4:45 PM

25 replies

Feb 7, 2013 10:17 PM in response to Community User

If you don't have the left-hand sidebar showing then you can enable it via option-command-S on a Mac, control-S on a PC. If Books doesn't show as an option under your Library then go into Edit > Preferences (on a PC Alt-E should get the Edit drop-down menu to appear) and on the General tab make sure that Books is ticked. You can add books to it via File > Add To Library (Alt-F should open the File menu on a PC)

Mar 11, 2014 12:56 AM in response to dltom

It won't be listed in Preferences nor under Librrary in iTunes - you need to connect your device to computer and select it in iTunes, and one of the tabs that you get on the 'device' (for selecting which of your content to sync to the device) should be Books e.g I have the left-hand sidebar enabled on my Mac's iTunes (option-command-S) and I connect my iPad and select it on that left-hand sidebar, then across the right-hand side of the screen I see the following tabs :


User uploaded file


With OS X 10.9 your management of your books on your computer is done within the iBooks app, all that iTunes now does is allow you to sync the books that are in iBooks to a device

Mar 11, 2014 7:26 PM in response to King_Penguin

I am grateful for your help. But I am still not quite there. I have


1. Opened iBooks on my Mac.

2. Dragged the pdf into iBooks.

3. Connect my iPad to the Mac.

4. Opened iTunes.

5. Selected my iPad in the column on the left in iTunes.

6. Found Books in the tabs, opened it and found the pdf there. Selected it.

7. Syncronised the iPad in iTunes

8. Opened iBooks in the iPad. The pdf is not there.


What have I done wrongly or left out?

Mar 12, 2014 1:01 AM in response to dltom

You haven't missed out anything, that should work and have copied the PDF to your iPad. In the iBooks app on your iPad which 'collection' are you viewing - tap the Collections button at teh top left of the bookshelf and then tap 'PDFs' on the list that should appear, does the PDF show on that ?


If not, then to to check if your computer's iTunes thinks that it's on the iPad, connect the iPad to your Mac's iTunes and on the left-hand sidebar select the Books category under the iPad 'device'


User uploaded file


The right-hand side of the iTunes screen should then display the books/PDFs that are stored on your iPad - does the PDF show on that ?

Mar 12, 2014 1:31 AM in response to King_Penguin

When I tap Collections and then PDF's, the pdf I am trying to load is not there.


Then I went to Books, under Devices. Other pdf's are there, but not the one I am trying to load.


I did successfully load a pdf a day or so ago by using Mail on the Mac. I addressed the e-mail to myself, attached the pdf and sent the e-mai. When it appeared on my iPad, I opened it, opened the pdf and save it to iBooks. It is now in IBooks on the iPad.


I would prefer to use the iBooks method, but if that doesn't work, I can use the more cumbersome e-mail method

Sep 1, 2014 3:38 AM in response to dltom

Did you ever get Books back in to the Library section of your "iTunes"? King_Penguin great advice!

dltom wrote:


I am grateful for your help. But I am still not quite there. I have


1. Opened iBooks on my Mac.

2. Dragged the pdf into iBooks.

3. Connect my iPad to the Mac.

4. Opened iTunes.

5. Selected my iPad in the column on the left in iTunes.

6. Found Books in the tabs, opened it and found the pdf there. Selected it.

7. Syncronised the iPad in iTunes

8. Opened iBooks in the iPad. The pdf is not there.


What have I done wrongly or left out?

How do I add books to my iTunes Library in iTunes 11?

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