What Is an EPUB File?
An EPUB file (short for electronic publication) is in the Open eBook file format. You can download EPUB files and read them on your smartphone, tablet, e-reader, or computer. This freely available eBook standard supports more hardware eBook readers than any other file format. EPUB 3.2 is the latest EPUB version. It supports the latest versions of HTML, CSS, and SVG, and has built-in support for embedded interactivity, audio, and video.
How to Open an EPUB File
These books can also be opened on a computer with several free programs, such as Calibre, Adobe Digital Editions, Apple Books, EPUB File Reader, Stanza Desktop, Okular, and Sumatra PDF. In addition to a few of the programs just mentioned, Mac users can read EPUB files with Readium. Plenty of iPhone and Android apps view EPUB files. There are also add-ons and extensions for Firefox and Chrome that let you read in the browser just like other documents. EPUBReader for Firefox and Simple EPUB Reader for Chrome are just a couple examples. Google Play Books is another place you can open EPUB files by uploading them to your Google account and viewing it through the web client. Since EPUB files are structured like ZIP files, you can rename an EPUB eBook, replacing .epub with .zip, and then open the file with your favorite file compression program, like the free 7-Zip tool. Inside, you should find the contents of the EPUB eBook in HTML format, as well as the images and styles used to create the book. The format supports embedding files such as GIF, PNG, JPG, and SVG images.
How to Convert an EPUB File
There are several ways: You can try a conversion by opening the book in one of the other readers and choosing to save or export the open file as another file format, although this is probably not as effective as using Calibre or other online file converters.
Still Can’t Open It?
One of the most common mistakes when opening an unfamiliar file type is misreading the file extension. Although different file formats use different file extensions, they sometimes look an awful lot alike, which can be confusing when trying to open or convert one. For example, a PUB file is only one letter away from using the exact same suffix as EPUB files, but instead of being eBook files, they’re used by Microsoft Publisher as documents. It’s also easy to confuse an EPM or EBM file for an EPUB file. EBM files are either EXTRA! Basic Macro files or Embla Recording files, but neither format is an eBook. The first opens with Micro Focus software and the other is used by Embla RemLogic software. If you discover that your file actually isn’t using the EPUB file extension, re-read it to see what the extension is and then research it on Google or here on Lifewire to learn more about what it’s used for and how to open and/or convert it.
