How to Convert PDF to EPUB on iPhone and iPad (Free, No App Required)
You can convert a PDF to EPUB directly on your iPhone or iPad using Safari — no app install needed, and the resulting EPUB opens straight in Apple Books, where it reflows to your screen instead of forcing you to pinch and zoom. Here's how to do it in under two minutes, plus the iPad-specific ways to get the file into Books.
How to convert PDF to EPUB on iPhone or iPad
- Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad and go to toolkit.bot/pdf2epub
- Tap "Upload PDF" and choose your file — from Files, iCloud Drive, or your photo library (if it's a scanned PDF)
- Wait 15–60 seconds while conversion runs in the cloud
- Tap "Download EPUB" when it appears
- Safari's download manager shows the file — tap it, then tap "Open in Books"
If you don't see "Open in Books", tap the share icon (the box with an arrow) and scroll through the app list until you find Books. The EPUB is now in your Apple Books library, synced to iCloud, and available on your other Apple devices as well — reading position, highlights and bookmarks included.
On iPad: three ways to open the EPUB in Books
The steps above work on any iPad model. Because the iPad has a more complete Files app, you also have these routes:
- From the Files app (simplest): open Files → Downloads, tap the EPUB. It opens in Apple Books and is saved to your library.
- From the Safari download: tap the download indicator in the top-right corner of Safari, tap the EPUB, then Open in Books.
- From another device via AirDrop: convert on your Mac or iPhone, AirDrop the EPUB to the iPad and accept — it opens directly in Apple Books.
What about the PDF in Files?
If your PDF is already in the Files app (from an email attachment, Dropbox, or AirDrop), you can still convert it:
- Tap the PDF in Files to preview it
- Tap the Share button → "Copy" (or use the share sheet to open Safari)
- In Safari, go to toolkit.bot/pdf2epub and upload the file
Alternatively, tap the Share button on the PDF → "Open in Safari" if your device supports it, then navigate to toolkit.bot.
Why not just read the PDF directly in Apple Books?
You can add PDFs to Apple Books on iPhone and iPad, but they're stored separately from your books and don't behave like books:
- The font size slider doesn't work on PDFs
- Dark mode doesn't invert PDF backgrounds the same way
- No chapter navigation or table of contents
- PDFs zoom out to fit the page — smaller text on a phone screen
After conversion, the EPUB reflows to your preferred font size, supports dark mode properly, and shows a full table of contents if the PDF had headings. In Books you also get:
- Font choice — several typefaces, including a dyslexia-friendly option
- Highlights and notes — tap any word to highlight or annotate; they sync via iCloud
- Reading position — pick up where you left off on iPad, iPhone or Mac
- Full-text search within the book, and proper VoiceOver reading order — PDF reading order is often broken
What types of PDFs work well?
- Books and reports — excellent output
- Academic papers (arXiv, IEEE, two-column) — column detection preserves reading order
- Scanned documents — OCR runs automatically, no extra steps
- PDFs with tables — converted to HTML table elements, readable in Books
Sending the EPUB to Kindle instead
If you prefer Kindle to Apple Books, after downloading the EPUB:
- Tap the EPUB in Safari downloads → Share → "Send to Kindle" (if you have the Kindle app installed)
- Or go to send.amazon.com in Safari and upload the EPUB directly
More detail: how to send EPUB to Kindle →
Free tier limits
5 conversions per month free, no account required. Files are deleted from the server immediately after download. If you convert regularly, unlimited conversions are $9/month, or Pay As You Go at $5 for 10 conversions.
Convert a PDF to EPUB on your iPhone — free, works in Safari.
Convert PDF to EPUB →