.epub files
.epub file
Electronic Publication
The open ebook standard — reflowable text that adapts to any screen size.
What opens a .epub file
- Windows
- Calibre, Thorium Reader, Adobe Digital Editions
- macOS
- Books (built in), Calibre, Thorium Reader
- Linux
- Calibre, Foliate, Thorium Reader
- In a browser
- Google Play Books
What a .epub file is
EPUB is a zipped package of HTML and CSS defined by the W3C, and it is what every ebook shop except Amazon sells. Text reflows to fit the screen and font size, unlike a PDF. Apple Books opens it on Mac, but Windows ships nothing that reads EPUB, so Calibre or Thorium Reader is the usual install; books bought with Adobe DRM need Adobe Digital Editions and the account they were bought with.
Converting it
A .epub file is commonly converted to .pdf, .mobi, .azw3, .docx or .txt. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .epub
- Full name
- Electronic Publication
- Category
- E-books
- MIME type
- application/epub+zip
- Created by
- IDPF / W3C
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .epub file?
- On Windows use Calibre; on macOS use Books (built in); on Linux use Calibre. The open ebook standard — reflowable text that adapts to any screen size.
- What is a .epub file?
- Electronic Publication. EPUB is a zipped package of HTML and CSS defined by the W3C, and it is what every ebook shop except Amazon sells. Text reflows to fit the screen and font size, unlike a PDF.
- Can I convert a .epub file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .pdf, .mobi, .azw3, .docx or .txt, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .mobi — Mobipocket Ebook Amazon's older Kindle format, retired for new content in 2022.
- .azw3 — Kindle Format 8 The Kindle ebook format with modern layout support — usually DRM-locked.
- .cbz — Comic Book Archive (ZIP) A zip file full of page images, renamed so comic readers pick it up.
- .cbr — Comic Book Archive (RAR) The same idea as CBZ but built on RAR, so it needs a RAR-capable reader.
- .djvu — DjVu Scanned Document A scanned-document format that compresses text pages far better than PDF.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place