Apple Books Exporter

A command-line tool to export all your locally stored books from Apple Books to any directory on macOS.

Features

• 🚀 Fast bulk export of all your Apple Books library
• 📚 Preserves original formats (EPUB, PDF)
• 🏷️ Clean filenames using book titles
• 🗂️ Automatic EPUB handling - converts EPUB directories to proper .epub files
• 🎯 Smart file detection - finds books in multiple storage locations
• 🔍 Verbose mode for detailed progress tracking
• 🧪 Dry run mode to preview what will be exported
• ⚡ Progress indicators during export

Requirements

• macOS with Apple Books installed
• Books must be downloaded locally (not just stored in iCloud)
• Command line access

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

# Download and install
curl -L https://github.com/jonnyace/apple-books-exporter/raw/main/export-books -o /usr/local/bin/export-books
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/export-books

# Or install to your local bin directory
curl -L https://github.com/jonnyace/apple-books-exporter/raw/main/export-books -o ~/.local/bin/export-books
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/export-books

Manual Install

1. Download the script:

   git clone https://github.com/jonnyace/apple-books-exporter.git
   cd apple-books-exporter

2. Make it executable:

   chmod +x export-books

3. (Optional) Copy to your PATH:

   cp export-books /usr/local/bin/

Usage

Basic Usage

Export all books to default location (~/Desktop/Exported_Books):

export-books

Advanced Usage

# Export to custom directory
export-books --output ~/Documents/MyBooks

# Export with verbose progress
export-books --verbose --output /Volumes/External/Books

# Preview what would be exported (dry run)
export-books --dry-run

# Show help
export-books --help

Command Line Options

Option	Description
-o, --output DIR	Output directory (default: ~/Desktop/Exported_Books)
-v, --verbose	Show detailed progress information
-h, --help	Show help message
--version	Show version information
--dry-run	Preview export without copying files

How It Works

The tool works by:

1. Reading Apple Books database - Accesses the SQLite database where Apple Books stores metadata
2. Finding local files - Locates actual book files in various Apple Books storage locations:
   • ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/
   • ~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~apple~iBooks/Documents/
3. Processing files - Handles different formats appropriately:
   • EPUB directories: Zipped into proper .epub files
   • PDF files: Copied directly
4. Clean naming - Uses book titles for filenames, sanitized for filesystem compatibility

Example Output

$ export-books --verbose
[INFO] Found 1,234 books with local files
[INFO] Exporting books to: /Users/username/Desktop/Exported_Books
[1/1234] Zipping: Example Book Title
[2/1234] Copying: Another Book.pdf
[3/1234] Zipping: Sample Novel
...
[SUCCESS] Export completed successfully!
[SUCCESS] All 1,234 books exported to: /Users/username/Desktop/Exported_Books

Troubleshooting

"Apple Books database not found"

• Make sure Apple Books is installed and has been opened at least once
• Ensure you're running on macOS

"No books with local files found"

• Your books might only exist as metadata (not downloaded)
• Download books locally in Apple Books first
• Check if books are stored in iCloud but not synced locally

"Failed to read Apple Books database"

• Close Apple Books before running the export
• Check file permissions

Permission Issues

# If you get permission errors, try:
sudo chown -R $(whoami) ~/Desktop/apple-books-exporter

What Gets Exported vs. What Doesn't

✅ Exported

• Books with local files (.epub directories, .pdf files)
• Both purchased and manually imported books
• Books stored in Apple Books containers
• Books in iCloud Documents (if synced locally)

❌ Not Exported

• Books that exist only as metadata (not downloaded)
• Sample books
• Audiobooks (different storage system)
• Books removed but with remaining metadata

Privacy & Security

• This tool only reads your local Apple Books database and files
• No data is transmitted anywhere
• All operations are performed locally on your machine
• The tool is read-only - it never modifies your Apple Books library

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Changelog

v1.0.0

• Initial release
• Basic export functionality
• EPUB and PDF support
• Verbose and dry-run modes
• Cross-platform file detection

Author

Created by @jonnyace

Support

If you encounter issues:

1. Check the troubleshooting section
2. Run with --verbose flag for detailed output
3. Open an issue on GitHub with the error details

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