How to Add PDF Files to Read in Apple Books on your iPad or iPhone

June 1, 2021 / By

This brief tutorial will show you how to add PDF files to the Books app to read on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Once upon a time (2010), this guide explained how to add PDF files to the iBooks app. Apple has since replaced iBooks with Apple Books – or Books for short. One of the many things Apple changed is the way you transfer PDF files to your iOS device and into the Books app – it’s significantly easier now. We’ll cover a couple of different ways for both Windows users and macOS users.

Add PDFs to the Books app from Windows

  1. The easiest way is to just email the PDF file to your iPhone or iPad. Send the file as an attachment to an email account that you can access on the iPad or iPhone. If you don’t have a mail account setup on your iOS device, Gmail is a pretty good option since you can access it via Safari on your iPad/iPhone (no need for an app) and the file size limit for attachments is 25MB. Note: if emailing the PDF isn’t a viable option for you, see the section below titled “even more ways to add PDF files to Books”
  2. Once you’ve emailed the PDF to an email account you can access on your iOS device, tap the .PDF attachment.

    3. a PDF file as an attachment in an email

  3. The document will open in a ‘preview’ screen. Tap the Send to button in the upper-right corner of the preview window (see screenshot below).

    4. an arrow pointing at the iOS Send to button in a PDF preview

  4. Tap Books from the list of available apps.

    5. an arrow pointing at Books from a list of Apps that could open a PDF on an iPad or iPhone

  5. The PDF will now load into the Books app. If you tap the back button …

    6. a PDF in the Books app on an iPad

  6. … you’ll see that the PDF is also in your Library.

    7. the Boos Library with a new document

  7. That’s it! Repeat as needed with additional documents.



Add PDFs to the Books app from macOS

  1. The easiest way to transfer a PDF from your Mac to an iPad or iPhone is AirDrop. If for some reason AirDrop isn’t a viable option for you, see the “even more ways to add PDF files to Books” section below.
  2. Once you AirDrop the PDF to your iOS device, tap the Accept button.

  3. When you’re asked which app you would like to open the document with, select Books

    4. selecting an App from AirDrop

  4. The PDF will now load into your Books app. If you tap the back button …

    5. a PDF in the Books app on an iPad

  5. … you’ll see that the PDF is also in your Library now.

    6. the Boos Library with a new document

  6. That’s it! Repeat as needed.

Even More Ways to Add PDF Files to Books

If you’re a Dropbox user, there’s also a nifty way to use Dropbox to add PDF files to Books.

If you have an iCloud.com account, use the web interface and instructions from Apple on how to use Mail Drop for large files.

If you follow the steps in this guide but replace the words “Android device” with “iOS device” you can transfer files back and forth between devices using just a browser on your computer and a browser on your iPad or iPhone.

If this article helped you, I'd be grateful if you could share it on your preferred social network - it helps me a lot. If you're feeling particularly generous, you could buy me a coffee and I'd be super grateful :)

buy a coffee for simplehelp.net

Home » iPad » How to Add PDF Files to Read in Apple Books on your iPad or iPhone