How to convert EPUB to PDF on iPhone and iPad

Apple Books on iOS and iPadOS can print and share a PDF, but it offers neither for an EPUB. There is no export, and the share sheet will not hand the book to another app as a PDF. So the conversion has to happen somewhere else.

The good news is that it can happen in Safari, on the device, without installing anything.

1. 1

   Find the EPUB in Files

   Open the Files app and look in Downloads, iCloud Drive, or On My iPhone. Books arriving by email or message can be saved to Files from the share sheet.

2. 2

   Open the converter in Safari

   Go to the EPUB to PDF converter and tap Choose EPUB. The picker shows Files, iCloud Drive and any other storage app you have.

3. 3

   Tap Convert

   The layout is built for one hand: the convert button stays within thumb reach and the progress stays on screen.

4. 4

   Save the PDF

   Tap Download. Safari puts it in your Downloads folder in Files. From there, the share sheet can open it in Books, save it to iCloud Drive, or send it on.

• Do not let the screen lock mid-upload. iOS will suspend Safari, and a large book’s upload can be interrupted. Keep the tab in front until it finishes.
• Books opened from Messages are awkward to get at. Recent iOS versions make importing EPUBs from Messages less direct; saving to Files first is the reliable path.
• Files may preview the EPUB instead of importing it. Tap Share and pick your destination rather than tapping the file.
• Large books on cellular. A 100 MB book is a 100 MB upload. Use Wi-Fi where you can.

iOS has a well-known shortcut: in any print preview, pinch outwards on the page thumbnail to open it as a PDF, then save it. It is genuinely useful — but it needs an app that can print the EPUB in the first place, and Books cannot. It works on PDFs, web pages and documents, not on ebooks.