Save and mark up PDFs on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the Books app

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can use Apple Books to save, sign, mark up, and share PDFs.

iPhone, iPad, and Mac showing the Apple Books app. You can open PDFs on all of these devices, but you can use the Books app to edit PDFs only on the iPhone or iPad.

the Apple Books iOS app icon

You can add PDFs to your Apple Books Library on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, then access your files on any of your other devices using iCloud Drive. Learn more about using Apple Books.

Save or import a PDF

You can save a PDF from your email or a website into the Books app. You can also save a webpage or email as a PDF, import PDFs from other apps, or use your Mac to add PDFs to your Apple Books Library.

Save a PDF file that's attached to an email or on a website

  1. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPad touch, tap the PDF to open it.
  2. Tap the share button .
  3. Tap Copy to Books.

Save a webpage as a PDF

  1. In Safari, open a webpage.
  2. If you want to keep only text and images in the PDF and remove extra elements, tap the appearance button  at the top of the screen, then tap Show Reader View.
  3. Tap the share button . 
  4. Tap Books.

Save an email as a PDF

  1. In the Mail app, tap an email.
  2. Tap the more actions button , then tap Print.
  3. Use two fingers to pinch open on the preview. A larger preview appears.
  4. Tap the share button  in the upper-right corner.
  5. Tap Copy to Books.

Import a PDF from another app

Each third-party app is different. Steps might vary.

Look for the share button . Then choose Copy to Books. You might also see an option to "Open in," then choose Copy to Books.

Use your Mac to add a PDF to your library

On your Mac, open Apple Books, then find your PDF file in Finder or on your Desktop and drag the file into your Library.

Your PDF will be available in the Books app on any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, as long as you're signed into the same Apple ID and have iCloud Drive turned on for Books.

A PDF in the Books app includes information about baking, knife skills, and cooking. You can use the Markup button to draw or write on top of this information.

View, mark up, or sign a PDF

On the Library tab, find the PDF that you want to view or mark up. Tap the PDF to open it. Tap the PDF again to see these buttons:

  • Tap the back button  to close the PDF and return to your library.
  • Tap the table of contents button  to view all pages in the PDF. You can also jump to any Bookmarks from here.
  • Tap the share button  to see your share or print options.
  • Tap the Markup button  to draw and write on top of your PDF. If you print or email the PDF, it'll contain any signatures and markup that you’ve added to it. Learn more about how to use Markup.
  • Tap the search button  to find a word or phrase in the document or a specific page number.
  • Tap the bookmark button  to save your place for later.

iPhone showing options that appear after you tap the more options button, including copy, share, rename, print, and more.

How to print or email a PDF from the Books app

  1. In the Books app, tap the Library tab, then find the PDF that you want.
  2. Tap the More Options button in the lower-right corner below the PDF.
  3. To print, tap Print . Or to mail the PDF, tap Share PDF , then tap Mail.

Delete a PDF

  1. Open the Books app.
  2. Tap Library.
  3. Find the PDF that you want to delete, then tap the more options button the More Options button below the PDF.
  4. Tap Remove.
  5. Tap Delete Everywhere to remove the PDF from iCloud Drive on all of your devices. Or tap Remove Download to remove it only from the device that you're using.

Learn more

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