Converting Ebook Formats - .mobi to .epub

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 • 38 comments

As I recently blogged, I picked up an iPad, and have been using it (mainly) as an ebook reader.

I prefer using the Kindle app on the iPad to read ebooks, and the Amazon Kindle book store seems to have the best price/range as well.

But I recently had a situation where I had bought a digital copy of Programming in Scala: A Comprehensive Step-by-step Guide which only comes in PDF and ".mobi" versions. .mobi is the format used by the Kindle, so I thought "woo hoo" this should be easy, right?

Wrong.

It's not possible to get .mobi books into the Kindle app that weren't purchased from Amazon right now. I did some googling and found a number of forum posts recommending iPad/iPhone file system tools to drop the ebook into the Kindle folder. Unfortunately on Windows I wasn't able to get these to show the Kindle app's folder.

So I tried looking for another solution, and although the iBooks app isn't as good as the Kindle app for reading, I figured converting the .mobi book to an .epub book for iBooks would be an easier task.

As it turns out, it was! Here's how to do it -

The same process can also be used to convert books from/to other ebook formats.

The key tool here is "Calibre" - an open source ebook management tool. Download a copy from http://calibre-ebook.com/
Install it, I'll assume that you're installing on Windows and with the default settings.
Start the program when installation is complete. When you're prompted as below, choose "Apple" as your default reader.
Once it's loaded, use the "Add button to add the .mobi (or other format) book to Calibre. It should then show up in the list of books.
Click the "Convert" button. When the conversion options dialog appears, use the default settings and click OK.
You should see a "Job" appear in the Jobs monitor in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Wait for the book to be converted and the Job count to return to zero.
Right click the book and choose the "Save to disk -> Save only EPUB format to disk" option and choose where to save the resulting ebook.
The ".epub" book can now be dragged from the file system to iTunes and synced on the iPad.

Calibre seems to be another great open source tool that I've never heard of. It's a shame the ebook distributors such as Apple and Amazon can't settle on a single format, and/or provide better interoperability between their formats/devices, but I guess vendor lock-in is still the modus operandi for the time being.

Anyhow, open-source ftw!

About the Author

Richard Nichols is an Australian software engineer with a passion for good design and simple solutions.

You could follow him on twitter or subscribe by RSS or email.

You might also enjoy reading -

eBooks + DRM = Fail

Discuss / Comment

There are 38 comments.

David on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 at 07:31

Recently got into e-books and it was a lifesaver to find this post, thank you Richard.
Gern on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 at 11:28

Great post. I found this very useful. I have also found the rest of your blog very interesting.
Stephen on Sun, 10 Apr 2011 at 02:09

Definitely helpful. Recently switched from a WinMo phone, using MobiPocket software, to an Android software. No ebook reader software for Android actually supports the .mobi format, so I was going nuts trying to find ways to convert all my books to use them on the new phone.
nick on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 at 17:06

From what I can tell most companies are using the standard epub format. The only one that isn't is Amazon who uses mobi. The issue is that they probably have more ereaders and books than any of the other manufactures (Sony, BN, Kobo, etc).

If you are looking for interoperability then I would stay away from amazon.
maxima on Thu, 4 Aug 2011 at 01:21

Thanks for the post Richard. I had a .mobi file that wouldn't read on my Android device with Kobo Reader.

This worked perfectly !! Appreciate it !
Spring on Sat, 10 Sep 2011 at 17:51

Thanks for this post - was a life saver!
Mark on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 at 04:00

Awesome! Just what I was looking for, Thanks.
Asim on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 at 15:33

Guys I am new to this ebook thing and just planning to buy my first one and considering the price and other issues I think of buying Kindle but most of the ebooks i have are in epub and pdf formats which are not properly read in Kindle,,So can anyone suggest me if i can convert pdf and epub files into mobi for kindle and how good is the quality of the converted file,?
Your help can save my $50 as if i cannot convert epub and pdf into mobi I'll have to buy Sony's reader which is expensive than kindle by $50. Anyone who is a veteran kindle user please give me some advice
Sonja on Sun, 13 Nov 2011 at 22:17

Asim: Calibre is able to convert epubs into mobi without problems. PDF's is another matter. Most PDF files have codes in them that are not easily transferred in other formats, and you often end up with an unreadable file if you try to convert it. PDF is just not a good format for books unless you use the acrobat reader to open it.

I am currently having a Nook but plan on purchasing a kindle fire. As I do not want to lose out on all my books that I have currently, I made sure that calibre will deliver a good result for me when I convert the epubs to mobi.
Paul on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 at 03:27

Thank you Richard!

I have recently joined the Apple fraternity and your blog is saving me my hair. I have collection of mobi format ebooks that I can now enjoy on my 4S.

Cheers.
Jess on Thu, 29 Dec 2011 at 00:52

THANK YOU!!!! Works like a charm!
John on Sun, 15 Jan 2012 at 13:15

Thanks a Million !!
Flip on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 at 23:13

This was perfect and the step by step worked flawlessly.
Cyn on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 at 23:02

Needed these instructions to help out a friend with converting his mobi which he couldn't open on a work computer.

Worked perfectly....thank you for your step-by-step!
Raj on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 at 12:31

Thank you Richart!
I have recently purchased an ipad2, lucky to find this post.
This will definitely help lot of people.
lee on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 at 07:37

Hi all, an easy way to get a mobi book into an iDevice, is to set up the mail service on the iDevice, open your PC email program then compose a mail, attach the mobi file and email it to yourself.
On the iDevice open your mail, select the book attachment and the iDevice will ask f you want to open in Kndle, select yes. All very easy.
G on Sun, 19 Feb 2012 at 01:27

THANKS!!

This is the real deal - the first program I've come across that converts ".mobi" to ".epub".

Really easy to use.
Andrea on Sun, 19 Feb 2012 at 20:17

Thanks for sharing the info! was really a big help!!!
Phuong on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 at 01:42

I just used Lee's method, and it works like a charm. Thanks!!
Adnan on Sat, 10 Mar 2012 at 16:46

Calibre does not make a good conversion
Caroline on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 at 11:13

THANK YOU!!
Epubconverter on Sat, 14 Apr 2012 at 10:24

Calibre is a pretty impressive solution for e-book management. Its vast number of features, the fact that it can convert between a lot of e-book formats and that you can edit any e-book you want are pretty impressive. Even more impressive is that Calibre gives you all of this for free, without charging you one cent.
sue on Tue, 15 May 2012 at 17:15

does it work for sony e-readers too do i need calibre
greatful on Thu, 24 May 2012 at 04:05

Thank you VERY much for recommending Calibre! Works exactly as you said it would, honestly this is probably the first program I have ever downloaded that worked so effortlessly! HUGE THANK YOUS!
Terri on Sun, 3 Jun 2012 at 22:58

Thank you sooo much for sharing your resolution Richard! I have been an avid reader for several decades and only recently starting going the digital route. It has been frustrating finding all the books in a series at reasonable prices if at all in epub format. You rock!
fran on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 at 21:28

what a help.. thankyou....was so easy to follow instructions.....i was so nearly sending my sony e reader back..have now converted 40 books.. fantastic ..still 100's to do but don't mind now i know how to do it ...
S. T. Rizvi on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 at 05:03

Dear All,
Please remember.!!! most of the ePubs (iPad) PRC (Amazon) are not up to the mark or not professionally designed. Make sure the epubs & prc files has cover image, toc, ncx, etc.
If you need any help regarding this matter feel free to contact me..!!!
tashbi@gmail.com
skype id: tashbi (Kamran Rizvi)
Best Regards,
Kamran
Parky on Sat, 1 Sep 2012 at 04:04

Thank u sooo much! :D
Neal O'Horo on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 at 01:11

Thank you so much for this post.
Mayan on Fri, 2 Nov 2012 at 09:10

Thank you
sinned on Fri, 2 Nov 2012 at 21:22

Thanks! Worked like a charm! The Calibre program was easy to use especially after you spelled it out for us!
Nicole Wong on Sun, 18 Nov 2012 at 05:19

I love this programme. Thanks a bunch!! ;)
Wesley on Sat, 24 Nov 2012 at 19:22

Thanks for this! Coincidentally, I needed to use the info for the *exact* same book (Programming in Scala, ;)), but I wanted to read the Kindle version using iBooks on the iPad.
steven on Tue, 18 Dec 2012 at 03:34

I like Calibre, thanks for your article.
Giacomo on Wed, 19 Dec 2012 at 04:06

Thanks for sharing, that helped me out a lot (:
Jacob Bruinsma on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 at 00:54

Just download FBreader for whaterever you use. It reads Epub and Mobi. There are also a lot of online converters, like 2epub.com. Calibre orders your library in what they think is smart. Obviously, they are not librarians, you lose control of your book-storage and what they think is a good way to file publications is pityfull. Stay in control of your books!
BT on Tue, 2 Apr 2013 at 14:05

Dude, for a random article I just came across, this was super helpful. You've made my interactions with my Nook infinitely easier (and placated my OCD in the process).
Penni on Sun, 21 Apr 2013 at 18:28

Thanks. This was a lifesaver. :-)

Add a comment