Add PDFs to new iBooks won't sync to iPad

Hi zejjez,

You're right - iBooks sync (via iTunes) works only one way, from Mac to iPad/iPhone. If you create a pdf on the iPad/iPhone, there are two ways to get it back to the Mac.

First is to go into iTunes, make sure the iPad/iPhone is connected to the Mac either by WiFi or USB cable, and select it. Then in iTunes go File->Devices->Transfer Purchases from "<iPad/iPhone name>".

Second is to use Documents to Go on the iPad/iPhone and Documents to Go Desktop on the Mac. Put the new pdf in the desktop folder on Docs to Go on the iPad/iPhone and then sync with the Mac desktop, The new pdf will then appear on the Mac.

But I've discovered that with either of these methods, if you delete a pdf from the iPad/iPhone, and then Transfer Purchases or sync with Docs to Go, the file will still be there on the Mac. This is a mess, and I do hope Apple get it sorted out soon. From the fact that Preview has a subfolder in the Mobile Documents folder, and iBooks hasn't, I'm guessing that the intention is eventually to make Preview into a proper iCloud app and make it available in iOS (and, I hope, on icloud.com so one can get at them from a non-Apple platform, just as one can with Pages and Numbers documents). But that is just a guess.

IN SUMMARY, none of the suggestions work. When I 1) add PDFs and 2) go in iTunes and 3) check to select the PDF Books I want (fyi - I am under "Books" tab when my iPhone is plugged in >> the result is nothing.

So thanks Team but to reiterate much of what has been said, there is still NO ANSWER anyone provided for this problem. The two solutions I read were really just the normal process for syncing which agreed, should have worked but most of us are already aware of that and that's why we are on this board. And the one idea to "Sync Books" for "All books", well, anyone should be able to select individual PDF books and they should not have to select all so that's not a solution, and it doesn't work.

CAN ANYONE SOLVE THIS FEED and put this to rest - it's a pretty big problem on an apple forum to have no answer?

I think I figured it out . . . the answer is there is no solution. This is one more of those Apple scripting bugs of a broken product released with glitches. I'm not being sarcastic. Let's just call it what it is a fess up. Apple is on a streak of releasing problem software for some time now, I think pretty much to date from Steve Job's passing... Apple is failing in some of these releases.

Here's what worked for me.

On your mac, go to settings/icloud/icloud drive/options

Make sure books is ticked, in my case it was, I unticked it then ticked it back and...it worked, all my pdf, books, non-apple books synched with my iPad.

🙂