Calibre basics: managing your own ebook library

Calibre is a free program for Windows, macOS and Linux that acts as the home for your ebook collection. Think of it as the library catalogue; your reader is just one place books get sent to.

The mental model

• Your books live in a Calibre library folder on your computer.
• Calibre stores metadata — titles, authors, covers, series — separately from the files, and can fix it in bulk.
• When you connect a reader, Calibre shows it as another shelf you can copy books to and from.

The three tasks that cover most use

1. Add books. Drag files in. Calibre reads the metadata and downloads better covers and descriptions on request.
2. Convert formats. Right-click a book, choose Convert, pick EPUB for most readers or AZW3 for Kindle. Calibre keeps every format it has made.
3. Send to device. Connect over USB, select books, click Send to Device. Add the plugins for wireless sending later if you want it.

Worth knowing

• Keep the library folder in your normal backups. Losing it loses your organisation, not just the files.
• The built-in metadata editor is faster than any web catalogue once you learn the bulk-edit dialog.