Is It Possible to Transfer Calibre Library to New Laptop?

pmatch1104 · 02-11-2015, 10:57 PM

The motherboard on my HP laptop bit the dust. I have over 1700 books in my calibre library and loaded onto my Galaxy Tab4 Nook. I was able to retrieve the hard drive from the old laptop and will be able to transfer the data to my new laptop, HP ProBook. I tried syncing with the Galaxy Tab4, hoping it would copy the books into calibre but no luck ... unless I did something wrong.

Is there an easy way to get all my books back into calibre now that I've downloaded it to my new laptop? Or am I screwed and have to add them individually all over again?

Thanks in advance for any help.

itisbomb · 02-11-2015, 11:16 PM

From Calibre's manual http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....ter-to-another

How do I move my calibre library from one computer to another?
Simply copy the calibre library folder from the old to the new computer. You can find out what the library folder is by clicking the calibre icon in the toolbar. The very first item is the path to the library folder. Now on the new computer, start calibre for the first time. It will run the Welcome Wizard asking you for the location of the calibre library. Point it to the previously copied folder. If the computer you are transferring to already has a calibre installation, then the Welcome wizard wont run. In that case, right-click the calibre icon in the tooolbar and point it to the newly copied directory. You will now have two calibre libraries on your computer and you can switch between them by clicking the calibre icon on the toolbar. Transferring your library in this manner preserver all your metadata, tags, custom columns, etc.

Note that if you are transferring between different types of computers (for example Windows to OS X) then after doing the above you should also right-click the calibre icon on the tool bar, select Library Maintenance and run the Check Library action. It will warn you about any problems in your library, which you should fix by hand.

Note
A calibre library is just a folder which contains all the book files and their metadata. All the metadata is stored in a single file called metadata.db, in the top level folder. If this file gets corrupted, you may see an empty list of books in calibre. In this case you can ask calibre to restore your books by doing a right-click on the calibre icon in the toolbar and selecting Library Maintenance->Restore database

BetterRed · 02-12-2015, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmatch1104

I was able to retrieve the hard drive from the old laptop and will be able to transfer the data to my new laptop, HP ProBook.

As well as the library you should be able to grab the configuration folder from your old disk, if you were running XP it should be in <user profile>\Application Data\calibre, if you were running Vista or later it should be in <old user profile>\AppData\Roaming\calibre

Also see ==>> How do I backup calibre?. Next time it might be the disk that fails.

BR

ficbot · 02-13-2015, 02:29 PM

I just did this. I kept my entire library in Droipbox, so it was very easy. I just installed Dropboix on my new machine, moved the whole folder over and then ran Calibre. It asked me if I wanted to make a new library or use an existing one, and I pointed it to the right folder. Everything transferred over, including my custom fields. The only thing I had to re-do was download and configure the plug-ins.

pmatch1104 · 02-22-2015, 01:53 AM

Thank you! I followed your instructions and have my library now installed on my new laptop.

Gladtobemom · 02-04-2016, 01:51 PM

Another thank you from me. I was able to install the library on my daughter's machine quickly and with ease.

02-11-2015, 10:57 PM	#1
pmatch1104 Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Nook	Is It Possible to Transfer Calibre Library to New Laptop? The motherboard on my HP laptop bit the dust. I have over 1700 books in my calibre library and loaded onto my Galaxy Tab4 Nook. I was able to retrieve the hard drive from the old laptop and will be able to transfer the data to my new laptop, HP ProBook. I tried syncing with the Galaxy Tab4, hoping it would copy the books into calibre but no luck ... unless I did something wrong. Is there an easy way to get all my books back into calibre now that I've downloaded it to my new laptop? Or am I screwed and have to add them individually all over again? Thanks in advance for any help.

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02-11-2015, 11:16 PM	#2
itisbomb Addict Posts: 399 Karma: 1997754 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Third planet from the sun Device: PaperWhite 4	From Calibre's manual http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....ter-to-another How do I move my calibre library from one computer to another? Simply copy the calibre library folder from the old to the new computer. You can find out what the library folder is by clicking the calibre icon in the toolbar. The very first item is the path to the library folder. Now on the new computer, start calibre for the first time. It will run the Welcome Wizard asking you for the location of the calibre library. Point it to the previously copied folder. If the computer you are transferring to already has a calibre installation, then the Welcome wizard wont run. In that case, right-click the calibre icon in the tooolbar and point it to the newly copied directory. You will now have two calibre libraries on your computer and you can switch between them by clicking the calibre icon on the toolbar. Transferring your library in this manner preserver all your metadata, tags, custom columns, etc. Note that if you are transferring between different types of computers (for example Windows to OS X) then after doing the above you should also right-click the calibre icon on the tool bar, select Library Maintenance and run the Check Library action. It will warn you about any problems in your library, which you should fix by hand. Note A calibre library is just a folder which contains all the book files and their metadata. All the metadata is stored in a single file called metadata.db, in the top level folder. If this file gets corrupted, you may see an empty list of books in calibre. In this case you can ask calibre to restore your books by doing a right-click on the calibre icon in the toolbar and selecting Library Maintenance->Restore database

02-13-2015, 02:29 PM	#4
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I just did this. I kept my entire library in Droipbox, so it was very easy. I just installed Dropboix on my new machine, moved the whole folder over and then ran Calibre. It asked me if I wanted to make a new library or use an existing one, and I pointed it to the right folder. Everything transferred over, including my custom fields. The only thing I had to re-do was download and configure the plug-ins.

02-22-2015, 01:53 AM	#5
pmatch1104 Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Nook	Thank you! I followed your instructions and have my library now installed on my new laptop.

02-04-2016, 01:51 PM	#6
Gladtobemom Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Cybook, Palm Z72	Another thank you from me. I was able to install the library on my daughter's machine quickly and with ease.