How to Delete Downloaded Books and Audiobooks on iPhone and iPad

If you’re an avid reader, you might make use of Apple’s Books app to download ebooks and audiobooks for offline use while you’re on the move. Ebooks that you download will take up storage space on your device just like any other content, so you may want to clear up your downloads every now and then from the iPhone or iPad.

The Books app that comes pre-installed on iOS and iPadOS devices not only gives users access to a large catalog of ebooks and audiobooks but also allows them to download the content for offline reading and listening. While this makes it easy to access your content even when you’re not connected to the internet, it comes at the cost of your device’s physical storage space. Therefore, it’s important to remove these downloaded books after you’ve read them and make sure they don’t pile up over time.

How to Delete Downloaded Books & Audiobooks from iPhone and iPad to Free Up Local Storage

The following steps are applicable to all recent versions of iOS and iPadOS, so you don’t have to try updating your device just for this procedure. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Launch the Books app from the home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
   
   
2. Upon launching the app, you’ll be taken to the Reading Now section. Tap on “Library” from the bottom menu to proceed.
   
   
3. Here, you’ll be able to view all the ebooks and audiobooks in your library. Tap on “Edit” at the top-right corner of the menu to select the books that you want to delete.
   
   
4. Now, simply tap on the books that you want to delete and then tap on the trashcan icon at the bottom-left corner.
   
   
5. Next, choose “Remove Downloads” from the pop-up menu and you’re good to go.
   
   
6. Alternatively, you can use this method to delete one book at a time. Tap on the triple-dot icon under an ebook to access more options.
   
   
7. Next, choose “Remove” from the menu that shows up at the bottom of your screen.
   
   

That’s all you have to do. Now, you know two ways to delete downloaded books and audiobooks from your iPhone and iPad.

One important thing to keep in mind is that you’ll only be able to delete the books that don’t have a cloud icon beneath them. This is because the books that have a cloud icon are stored on iCloud and not the local storage of your iPhone or iPad.

Also, deleting all your downloaded books and audiobooks won’t remove them from your library. All the content will still be stored in iCloud, so you can continue to access them as long as you’re connected to the internet. You can also use these steps to hide some of the books that you’ve read from your library.

Likewise, you can remove video content that you’ve downloaded using various apps and free up storage space too. Luckily, Apple allows you to manage all your downloaded videos from one place. If you’re interested, you can learn more about deleting downloaded videos from iPhone and iPad.

We hope you were able to free up a considerable amount of storage space by removing downloaded books that you’ve already read. How many books did you delete in total? How much space did you free up? Do share your experiences and make sure to leave your valuable feedback in the comments section down below.