How to fix missing books in iBooks after MacOS Sierra update

Question

How to fix missing books in iBooks after MacOS Sierra update

After MacOS Sierra update the following happened:

1. Adding books into iBooks no longer synced across my idevices.

2. Estimated 50% in some cases in each Collection of my books on iBooks mac have disappeared

3. Books are intact and complete on iPhone and iPad, but no longer link with my Mac library

4. The new iBooks no longer have the updated icons for iCloud. No longer sync or upload to iCloud.

5. I can still download the books on iCloud on my iDevices when I need them. Cloud icon still available on each book for downloading if needed.

So my conclusion is that the books in the iCloud library that was previously synced from my Mac is still in the cloud.

Until the MacOS Sierra update, it lost connection to iCloud, and also have lost my books too, no idea why.

My concern is that if I reinstall MacOS Sierra, the Mac will update the iCloud library and also wipe the books that are missing on my Mac but still on iCloud.

Any suggestion as what I can do to get it syncing again, get my books back to my Mac and be able to sync again on all devices?

Thanks in advance!

PS. Late MacbookPro 2013. iPhone 6 Plus. iPad mini

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS Sierra (10.12), 2.6 GHz i7 Intel Iris Pro 16GB RAM

Posted on Oct 3, 2016 8:59 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Mar 24, 2017 3:32 AM in response to generalstudies™

I had the same problem, nothing from iCloud was showing up in iBooks.

The reply from pollorose tipped me off to my solution.

On your mac:

1. Open System Preferences

2. Go to the iCloud pane

3. Enable iCloud Drive

4. Click Options button next to iCloud Drive

5. Enable iBooks

As soon as I did that, the iBooks application started downloading all the missing books and pdfs.

This happened 5 minutes ago, I'll write back here if it stops working.

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Answer 2

Mar 1, 2017 2:45 PM in response to generalstudies™

This is what is happening: I purchased this book on my phone, and as soon as I launch iBooks, I get this message. Whether I click on Continue or Cancel Download, the dialog box does not leave the screen. It's stuck in a loop. Does anyone have seen this or have any idea what the problem is? Does Apple even see these posts here?

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Answer 3

Nov 7, 2017 11:50 AM in response to Oli Freyr

Thank you. This has been bugging me for weeks! 😁

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Answer 4

jjgg

Level 1

38 points

Jan 10, 2017 8:02 PM in response to generalstudies™

I'm having the same problem. Interestingly, if I search in Spotlight for any of the books I see in iBooks on my Mac, it shows up in the iBooks folder on my iCloud Drive. Only problem is, I can't see an iBooks folder on my iCloud Drive. So what gives?

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Answer 5

dave9800

Level 1

8 points

Jan 13, 2017 2:20 PM in response to jjgg

To get to the "hidden" icloud/ibooks folder here is what I did.

1. spotlight search a book you know is there

2. the results show the book in document category with "- ICloud Drive" after the name of the book.

3. scroll to bottom of results and choose "Show all in finder"

4. on this finder window locate your book, right click "Show in Enclosing Folder"

5. BOOM, now you have a finder window now pointing to this "hidden" folder

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Answer 6

Feb 28, 2017 1:08 PM in response to generalstudies™

Here is what worked for me as I was not seeing a particular book on my iPhone but was on my MAC (iBook).

On my iPhone I went into the settings.

Opened iCloud.

Opened iCloud Drive.

Enable iBook app in the list.

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Answer 7

Aug 26, 2017 11:34 AM in response to dave9800

Very Good dave9800. Thanks. Not sure why Apple feels it has to hide so much.

To get the folder to stick around, you can File->Add to Sidebar (just be sure you don't have any thing in the window selected), and from there drag it to the dock. Wish I could just unhide it.

That said, I don't think you answered the original question, though you helped me. Thanks!

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