All Books Still in Calibre Folder, but Not Showing Up Anymore In Calibre

BorumaPublishing · Yesterday, 05:59 PM

Hi, everyone. I've been using Calibre for years to convert files for my indie publishing company, and never had a single problem. But something went waka when I copied all my files to a new external hard drive. For some reason, even though all my book folders are still in my Calibre folder, they're no longer showing up in Calibre. Only the most recent book I processed, as a test, is showing up. And it's showing up with (1) after the folder name instead of (6317) which is what the other copy of the same book shows.

Is there some easy way to make Calibre recognize all the other 3,900+ books again without manually reprocessing every single one of them?

For reference, I'm using Windows 10 and version 0.9.16 because none of the newer versions will work anymore. I've tried installing several different 8.0.x versions and everything did work before I copied all files to the new hard drive, but they don't work anymore. So I'm pulling my hair out, and I appreciate any help anyone can offer to get things working again!

BorumaPublishing · Yesterday, 06:07 PM

Afterthought: When I try to process a book, it tells me "Could not convert 1 of 1 books, because no supported source formats were found." But I did specify AZW3, ePub, and Mobi in Preferences > Output Options.

BetterRed · Yesterday, 07:11 PM

A calibre library isn't just the Author folders and Book subfolders, there's a bunch of other stuff, some of which is hidden, viz:

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Use the Move option in Library Switch/create

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BR

BorumaPublishing · Yesterday, 07:27 PM

I've tried Switch/Create, Quick switch, Rename, Check Library, and Restore database. I've also tried New Location, Use the previously existing library at the new location, Create an empty library at the new location, and Move current library to new location.

Moving the current library to a new location doesn't help because it's still just displaying the two books I recently tried to process--even though it did move over all the other books associated with those two authors. They're in the new Calibre folder, but they aren't displaying in Calibre, and none of the other books that were in my original Calibre folder were moved.

From everything I've read, I'm thinking the problem may be with my metadata.db file, but I don't know how to open and fix it.

theducks · Yesterday, 07:33 PM

Those 2 books left over, simply need to be Added (the Normal, Calibre way)
Books that were lost (track of), will not be moved as the don't exist to Calibre.
Add the remains after a Move, is the official way

BorumaPublishing · Yesterday, 07:37 PM

Okay, if you're telling me I need to manually reprocess over 4,000 books, the answer is no. I don't have the time or the energy to do that. I love Calibre and I've been loyal to it for 11 years, but I'll find another program entirely before I put myself through that.

Is there a way to get them to show up properly? Because doing the Move didn't do it.

BorumaPublishing · Yesterday, 07:41 PM

And I can't reprocess them, anyway...or any new books...because it says I haven't set up the supported source formats I already set up!

Sirtel · Yesterday, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BorumaPublishing

Okay, if you're telling me I need to manually reprocess over 4,000 books, the answer is no. I don't have the time or the energy to do that. I love Calibre and I've been loyal to it for 11 years, but I'll find another program entirely before I put myself through that.

Is there a way to get them to show up properly? Because doing the Move didn't do it.

Create a new, empty library. Right-click Add Books -> Add from multiple folders -> Assume... -> click Yes. Then navigate to your old library folder (the one containing books that Calibre no longer recognizes) and select it.

BorumaPublishing · Yesterday, 09:23 PM

Well, I'm having to do each author separately. But that seems to be working, and is a LOT less work than having to reprocess everything from scratch. THANK YOU!

When I get this part done, I'll come back to ask how to get it to accept new books for processing. I don't know why it keeps saying I haven't selected source formats when I have.

DNSB · Yesterday, 09:25 PM

The Adding Books preferences only shows exclusions not inclusions on the third page.

Yesterday, 05:59 PM	#1
BorumaPublishing Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: none	All Books Still in Calibre Folder, but Not Showing Up Anymore In Calibre Hi, everyone. I've been using Calibre for years to convert files for my indie publishing company, and never had a single problem. But something went waka when I copied all my files to a new external hard drive. For some reason, even though all my book folders are still in my Calibre folder, they're no longer showing up in Calibre. Only the most recent book I processed, as a test, is showing up. And it's showing up with (1) after the folder name instead of (6317) which is what the other copy of the same book shows. Is there some easy way to make Calibre recognize all the other 3,900+ books again without manually reprocessing every single one of them? For reference, I'm using Windows 10 and version 0.9.16 because none of the newer versions will work anymore. I've tried installing several different 8.0.x versions and everything did work before I copied all files to the new hard drive, but they don't work anymore. So I'm pulling my hair out, and I appreciate any help anyone can offer to get things working again!

Yesterday, 07:11 PM	#3
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,825 Karma: 30277270 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	A calibre library isn't just the Author folders and Book subfolders, there's a bunch of other stuff, some of which is hidden, viz: Use the Move option in Library Switch/create BR

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Yesterday, 06:07 PM	#2
BorumaPublishing Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: none	Afterthought: When I try to process a book, it tells me "Could not convert 1 of 1 books, because no supported source formats were found." But I did specify AZW3, ePub, and Mobi in Preferences > Output Options.

Yesterday, 07:27 PM	#4
BorumaPublishing Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: none	I've tried Switch/Create, Quick switch, Rename, Check Library, and Restore database. I've also tried New Location, Use the previously existing library at the new location, Create an empty library at the new location, and Move current library to new location. Moving the current library to a new location doesn't help because it's still just displaying the two books I recently tried to process--even though it did move over all the other books associated with those two authors. They're in the new Calibre folder, but they aren't displaying in Calibre, and none of the other books that were in my original Calibre folder were moved. From everything I've read, I'm thinking the problem may be with my metadata.db file, but I don't know how to open and fix it.

Yesterday, 07:33 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,127 Karma: 60406498 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Those 2 books left over, simply need to be Added (the Normal, Calibre way) Books that were lost (track of), will not be moved as the don't exist to Calibre. Add the remains after a Move, is the official way

Yesterday, 07:37 PM	#6
BorumaPublishing Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: none	Okay, if you're telling me I need to manually reprocess over 4,000 books, the answer is no. I don't have the time or the energy to do that. I love Calibre and I've been loyal to it for 11 years, but I'll find another program entirely before I put myself through that. Is there a way to get them to show up properly? Because doing the Move didn't do it.

Yesterday, 07:41 PM	#7
BorumaPublishing Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: none	And I can't reprocess them, anyway...or any new books...because it says I haven't set up the supported source formats I already set up!

Yesterday, 09:23 PM	#9
BorumaPublishing Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2025 Device: none	Well, I'm having to do each author separately. But that seems to be working, and is a LOT less work than having to reprocess everything from scratch. THANK YOU! When I get this part done, I'll come back to ask how to get it to accept new books for processing. I don't know why it keeps saying I haven't selected source formats when I have.

Yesterday, 09:25 PM	#10
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 46,960 Karma: 169810634 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	The Adding Books preferences only shows exclusions not inclusions on the third page.