How do I add a PDF to my Apple Books library?

Last reviewed: September 25, 2026 · Markdown version

On an iPhone you send the PDF to Books from the share sheet; on a Mac you import it from the File menu. Apple's Books guide opens with the promise: "You can open and save PDFs in the Books app that you receive in Mail, Messages, or other apps" (Read PDF documents in the Books app on iPhone, read 25 September 2026). Before you start, one condition from the same page: "Apple Books isn’t available in all countries or regions."

On iPhone

"Tap the PDF attachment to open it" — in Mail, Messages, Files or wherever it arrived.
Tap the Share button, "then tap Books from the list options."

After that, the PDF sits in your Books Library. From there Apple describes sharing or printing it (tap Library, then the More button below the PDF) and marking it up with the Markup button. If the PDF is still sitting in a Safari tab, save it from Safari first.

On a Mac

Apple's Mac guide: in Books, "Choose File > Import", select the PDFs, "then click Import". Dragging works too: "You can also drag and drop books, PDFs, and some audiobooks into your library" (Import books, audiobooks or PDFs in Books on Mac, read 25 September 2026).

One surprise on the Mac, in Apple's own words: "PDFs open in Preview (or your default PDF reader), rather than in Books." So the Mac library lists the PDF, but reading it happens in another app.

Seeing the same PDFs on iPhone and Mac

This runs through iCloud Drive, and it has two switches on the phone. Apple's iCloud guide: go to Settings, your name, iCloud; "Make sure iCloud Drive is on"; then "Tap See All or Show All, then turn on Books." On iOS 18 or later, also "Go to Settings > Apps > Books, then turn on Home and iCloud Drive" (Set up iCloud for Apple Books on all your devices, read 25 September 2026). On the Mac, in System Settings, iCloud, Drive: turn on Sync this Mac, then "Click Apps Syncing to iCloud Drive, then turn on Books." Apple's note is the thing to check first if nothing shows up: you must be "signed in to the same Apple Account on each device".

Files Books will not open

Apple's Mac import page names them: "Some content (such as ACSM, AZW and ODM files) can only be opened in the associated third-party app." An .acsm file is what some ebook stores hand you instead of a finished PDF — Kobo's help says a DRM-protected book usually downloads as "a file that ends in .acsm" (Add eBooks with Adobe Digital Editions, read 25 September 2026) — which is why a "PDF" you bought can refuse to import. What that file is and what to do with it.

Books is a shelf, not a search engine

For reading and annotating a handful of documents, Books is pleasant. For a folder of statements or papers you need to search through, a reading app is the wrong tool shape — here is what iPhone offers for searching PDFs.