Convert PDF to EPUB
Turn a PDF into a reflowable ebook.
Or drop one anywhere on this page
What to know about PDF to EPUB
Reading a PDF on a phone or an e-reader is a poor experience: the page is a fixed size, so you spend the time zooming and dragging rather than reading. An EPUB reflows to whatever screen it is on, and that is what this produces — a real ebook with chapters, headings and paragraphs rebuilt from the document's text, not a wrapper with pictures of pages inside it. The conversion happens on your own device.
How to convert a PDF to EPUB
- 1
Choose the book
Pick the PDF you want to read on a phone or e-reader. It opens on your device, and no copy travels anywhere.
- 2
Chapters are rebuilt
Headings become chapters where the document has them, and pages become chapters where it does not.
- 3
Download the ebook
Save the .epub and open it in Apple Books, Calibre, Kobo or any EPUB reader.
What PDF to EPUB accepts and produces
- Input
- One PDF of flowing text, or a scan if you turn recognition on.
- Output
- A valid EPUB that reflows to fit any e-reader screen.
- Limits
- Reflowable text is the point, so the original page layout is deliberately not preserved. A PDF that is mostly figures or fixed layout makes a poor ebook.
- Offline
- Yes, once the rendering engine has been fetched on your first visit.
Why PDF to EPUB here
- Real reflowable text that adapts to any screen size
- Chapters and a working table of contents
- A valid EPUB 3 package, not a PDF in disguise
- Converted on your device, with nothing uploaded
Where your file goes
Nowhere. This tool runs inside your browser, and the page is served with a policy that forbids it from sending your document anywhere. You can confirm that yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab, and process a file.
Questions
Is this a real EPUB or a PDF wrapped in one?
A real one. The package holds XHTML chapters containing actual text, with a manifest, a spine and a navigation document — the structure an e-reader needs to reflow the words to your screen. Wrapping page images in an EPUB container is a common trick and produces something you still have to pinch and zoom.
How are chapters decided?
By the document's largest headings where it has them, so a report with section titles becomes a book with those sections. When no clear headings exist, each page becomes a chapter instead, which at least gives you a usable table of contents rather than one unbroken scroll.
Will it work on a Kindle?
Modern Kindles accept EPUB directly, and older ones can take one through Amazon's Send to Kindle service, which converts it for you. Apple Books, Kobo, Calibre and most phone readers open it as it is.
What happens to illustrations and cover art?
They are left behind. The conversion rebuilds the words, so figures, charts and the cover do not travel into the ebook. A novel or a report converts well; a photography book or an illustrated childrens title does not, and is better read as the original PDF.
Does the original page layout survive?
No, and that is the point of an ebook. Fixed pages are what makes a PDF awkward to read on a small screen; an EPUB gives up the layout so the text can reflow to whatever you are holding.
Can it convert a scanned book?
No. A scan contains pictures of pages rather than text, so there is nothing to reflow. You will be told rather than given an empty ebook.
Will footnotes, headers and page numbers appear oddly?
Sometimes. Running heads and page numbers are ordinary text on the page as far as a PDF is concerned, so they can appear mid-flow in the ebook. Skimming the result and deleting strays in an EPUB editor takes a couple of minutes.
Does the file validate?
It is built to the EPUB 3 structure — mimetype first and uncompressed, a container descriptor, a package document and a navigation document — and opens in the common readers. It is not run through a formal validator as part of the conversion.
Is my PDF sent anywhere to be converted?
No. Everything happens inside this tab and the document is discarded when you close it. Watch the network panel, or turn the network off and convert anyway.