How do I open an EPUB file without installing an app?

Choose or drop the .epub file above. It opens in this browser tab with no app and no account, and nothing is uploaded. Books up to 50 MB open; the Contents panel lists the spine's chapters in reading order, with a note for any it skipped, and Previous and Next move between them.

Can I read an EPUB on a phone or tablet here?

Yes, in the phone's browser: tap Choose an EPUB file and pick the book from your files or downloads. On a narrow screen the panel with contents, search, bookmarks and type settings sits above the text, and every button is at least 44 pixels tall.

Why won't my EPUB open?

The page says why. Books with DRM from Adobe, Apple or Readium LCP are encrypted and are refused; fixed-layout books such as comics and picture books are refused because this reader reflows text; files over 50 MB, Kindle MOBI and AZW files, PDFs, Word documents and damaged archives each get their own message, and so does a book that would unpack past 250 MB, whose chapters and contents list come to more than 40,000,000 characters of text and markup, or whose chapters, contents list and drawings hold more than 1,000,000 elements between them. Font obfuscation, which many DRM-free books use for embedded fonts, is not DRM, and those books open.

What happens to scripts and links inside a book?

Scripts, event handlers, frames, objects and forms are removed before a chapter is shown, and no markup from the book is ever handed to the page to run. Pictures on the web are not requested: a [remote image, not loaded] marker takes their place. Links to other chapters move within the book, and links to the web open in a new tab only when you click them. The Blocked count under the reader lists what was removed.

Does it remember where I stopped reading?

Yes, in this browser. Your place, your bookmarks and the book's title and author are kept in local storage and matched to the book by a fingerprint of its contents, so opening the same file again continues where you stopped. The book itself is never stored, so you choose the file again. Forget, under Your library, removes a book's notes.

How do I convert an EPUB to plain text?

Open the book and press Download .txt. The text of every chapter in the spine is saved as one .txt file in spine order, with the title and author at the top and paragraphs separated by blank lines. Pictures and markers are left out. Copy chapter text copies just the chapter on screen.

Can I search inside an EPUB?

Yes. Type a word or phrase under Search: it looks through every chapter without regard to capital letters and counts the matches up to 100,000 (past that it says more than 100,000), lists the first 500 with the words around them, and marks up to 1,000 of them in the chapter you are reading, saying so when there are more. Choose a result to jump to its paragraph.

Why does the book look plainer than in other reading apps?

The book's own fonts and colours are never used: your font and page colour replace them, and your size, line spacing and line length set the page. Its alignment, indents, italics, small capitals and similar layout styles are kept unless you turn Book layout styles off. They are kept up to 2,000,000 characters of CSS in one chapter, 8,000,000 in the whole book with each style sheet counted once, 200,000 style sheet links and imports across the chapters, and 1,000,000 blocks of style rules across the chapters, where each import in a sheet starts a new block; past that, the rest are left out and a note under Contents says so. Style sheet imports nested more than three sheets deep are not followed, and the note says that too. Audio and video are not played and show as a marker.

EPUB Reader

Open an EPUB up to 50 MB and read it here, chapter by chapter, in the order the book's spine lists rather than the order its ZIP archive happens to store the files. The file is read in this tab and never uploaded. What this reader does differently is treat the book as untrusted: every chapter is rebuilt from an allow list before it is shown, so scripts and event handlers never run, pictures, styles and fonts on the web are never requested, and an archive whose file paths point outside the book, or that would unpack past 250 MB, is refused with the reason. Search the whole book, bookmark a paragraph, choose the font, size, line spacing, line length and a light, sepia or dark page, and save the text of every chapter as one .txt file in spine order. Your place and bookmarks come back when you open the same file again in this browser.

Drop an EPUB here

One DRM-free .epub up to 50 MB, or

Choose an EPUB file

Nothing uploadedScripts never runRemote content never loadedNo sign-up

Spine item: waiting

File: up to 50 MB

Bookmarks: waiting

Blocked: waiting

Open a book to read, search, bookmark or export it.

Choose an EPUB file

Books open in this tab and are never uploaded or stored. This browser keeps your type settings and, for each book, its title, author, when you last opened it, your reading position and bookmarks with a short excerpt of each, so opening the same file again continues where you stopped.

Try the edge cases

Two small books written for this page. Each goes through the same reader as a file of your own.

Spine order differs from ZIP orderThe Salt Road's ZIP stores ch03 first; its spine starts with the cover
read and exported in the spine's order: cover, ch01 to ch04, notes
Bookmark, then reload the pagethe same file opened again
the bookmarks and reading position come back, matched by a fingerprint of the book's contents
Entry ../../evil.xhtml, or a ZIP that unpacks past 250 MBchecked while unpacking
the book is refused with the reason before any chapter is shown

Accuracy. Reads reflowable EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 books up to 50 MB in the order their spine lists, and the text export follows that order. Scripts, event handlers, frames and forms are removed and remote images, styles and fonts are never fetched; fixed-layout and DRM-protected books, and archives that are damaged, would unpack past 250 MB or whose chapters and contents list pass 40,000,000 characters, are refused with the reason. The book's own fonts and colours give way to your type and theme settings, so a page can look plainer than in the publisher's app.

Common questions

How do I open an EPUB file without installing an app?: Choose or drop the .epub file above. It opens in this browser tab with no app and no account, and nothing is uploaded. Books up to 50 MB open; the Contents panel lists the spine's chapters in reading order, with a note for any it skipped, and Previous and Next move between them.
Can I read an EPUB on a phone or tablet here?: Yes, in the phone's browser: tap Choose an EPUB file and pick the book from your files or downloads. On a narrow screen the panel with contents, search, bookmarks and type settings sits above the text, and every button is at least 44 pixels tall.
Why won't my EPUB open?: The page says why. Books with DRM from Adobe, Apple or Readium LCP are encrypted and are refused; fixed-layout books such as comics and picture books are refused because this reader reflows text; files over 50 MB, Kindle MOBI and AZW files, PDFs, Word documents and damaged archives each get their own message, and so does a book that would unpack past 250 MB, whose chapters and contents list come to more than 40,000,000 characters of text and markup, or whose chapters, contents list and drawings hold more than 1,000,000 elements between them. Font obfuscation, which many DRM-free books use for embedded fonts, is not DRM, and those books open.
What happens to scripts and links inside a book?: Scripts, event handlers, frames, objects and forms are removed before a chapter is shown, and no markup from the book is ever handed to the page to run. Pictures on the web are not requested: a [remote image, not loaded] marker takes their place. Links to other chapters move within the book, and links to the web open in a new tab only when you click them. The Blocked count under the reader lists what was removed.
Does it remember where I stopped reading?: Yes, in this browser. Your place, your bookmarks and the book's title and author are kept in local storage and matched to the book by a fingerprint of its contents, so opening the same file again continues where you stopped. The book itself is never stored, so you choose the file again. Forget, under Your library, removes a book's notes.
How do I convert an EPUB to plain text?: Open the book and press Download .txt. The text of every chapter in the spine is saved as one .txt file in spine order, with the title and author at the top and paragraphs separated by blank lines. Pictures and markers are left out. Copy chapter text copies just the chapter on screen.
Can I search inside an EPUB?: Yes. Type a word or phrase under Search: it looks through every chapter without regard to capital letters and counts the matches up to 100,000 (past that it says more than 100,000), lists the first 500 with the words around them, and marks up to 1,000 of them in the chapter you are reading, saying so when there are more. Choose a result to jump to its paragraph.
Why does the book look plainer than in other reading apps?: The book's own fonts and colours are never used: your font and page colour replace them, and your size, line spacing and line length set the page. Its alignment, indents, italics, small capitals and similar layout styles are kept unless you turn Book layout styles off. They are kept up to 2,000,000 characters of CSS in one chapter, 8,000,000 in the whole book with each style sheet counted once, 200,000 style sheet links and imports across the chapters, and 1,000,000 blocks of style rules across the chapters, where each import in a sheet starts a new block; past that, the rest are left out and a note under Contents says so. Style sheet imports nested more than three sheets deep are not followed, and the note says that too. Audio and video are not played and show as a marker.

Reads reflowable EPUB 2 and EPUB 3 books up to 50 MB in the order their spine lists, and the text export follows that order. Scripts, event handlers, frames and forms are removed and remote images, styles and fonts are never fetched; fixed-layout and DRM-protected books, and archives that are damaged, would unpack past 250 MB or whose chapters and contents list pass 40,000,000 characters, are refused with the reason. The book's own fonts and colours give way to your type and theme settings, so a page can look plainer than in the publisher's app.