Hello Everyone!

Vjr · 09-19-2026, 11:12 PM

I'm entirely new to this forum or any other forum for that matter. I have a massive problem with my Calibre Library. I was getting some help (I thought) from Google AI and they left me with a problem that is overwhelming. They left me with the advice that I join this forum to see if anyone could help me, or take my computer to a technician to see if they could find somewhere on my hard drive the files that were deleted because I followed their advice. To be completely fair to Google, although I really don't feel like being fair right now, they have helped me in the past, but not recently.

Here's what happened in nutshell. They had me do a batch edit to wipe out KFX formats from my Calibre database and it wiped out all formats for over half my books, 1,448 to be exact. I tried following their directions to restore the formats for hours, and finally told them I thought they were grasping at straws. They agreed and sent me here. If anyone knows anything to help me without manually trying to re-add all those titles one by one, please let me know.

Sirtel · 09-20-2026, 09:30 AM

Welcome to MobileRead!

Do you have a backup copy of your library? Calibre doesn't create one automatically, so if you deleted your books without a backup, unfortunately you'll have to add them back manually. Not necessarily one by one, though - there are options to add books in bulk, which you can see by right-clicking on Add Books. If you want to preserve the existing metadata, then it'll be more complicated - you might have to add formats to the existing book records one by one, or merge newly added books with older entries manually.

And of course, always, always keep a backup. Just a copy of your library folder on an external drive is enough.

You may want to ask for more advice in the calibre subforum here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums//f...play.php?f=236

DNSB · 09-20-2026, 05:09 PM

Unfortunately, in my experience, most people learn that backups are a good idea is by not having one.

Sirtel · Yesterday, 02:31 AM

Hold on a bit... how exactly did you delete them? If from the calibre GUI, you might be able to restore them from the calibre trash bin. If from File Explorer, then there's no way to restore them other than manually.

Dr. Drib · Yesterday, 08:50 AM

^^^

Sirtel is correct.

Click on the SIDE ARROW of the ridiculously named REMOVE BOOKS icon at the top area of calibre. Let it scroll down and then hover over the 'Restore Recently Deleted' choice. If you see your 1,448 books listed, then you can recover those wily buggers.

Good luck.

Vjr · Yesterday, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Hold on a bit... how exactly did you delete them? If from the calibre GUI, you might be able to restore them from the calibre trash bin. If from File Explorer, then there's no way to restore them other than manually.

I'm not sure how it happened, but I was in the Calibre program when it happened. Google AI had instructed me to batch delete all KFX formats, but I decided to just do one book, or at least I thought I was just deleting one book's KFX format, but somehow it deleted all formats from 1448 of my titles.

Sirtel · Yesterday, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vjr

I'm not sure how it happened, but I was in the Calibre program when it happened. Google AI had instructed me to batch delete all KFX formats, but I decided to just do one book, or at least I thought I was just deleting one book's KFX format, but somehow it deleted all formats from 1448 of my titles.

Well, what do you see when you right-click on the Remove Books icon and select "Restore Recently Deleted"? Do you see the deleted formats?

09-19-2026, 11:12 PM	#1
Vjr Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2026 Device: ipad	Hello Everyone! I'm entirely new to this forum or any other forum for that matter. I have a massive problem with my Calibre Library. I was getting some help (I thought) from Google AI and they left me with a problem that is overwhelming. They left me with the advice that I join this forum to see if anyone could help me, or take my computer to a technician to see if they could find somewhere on my hard drive the files that were deleted because I followed their advice. To be completely fair to Google, although I really don't feel like being fair right now, they have helped me in the past, but not recently. Here's what happened in nutshell. They had me do a batch edit to wipe out KFX formats from my Calibre database and it wiped out all formats for over half my books, 1,448 to be exact. I tried following their directions to restore the formats for hours, and finally told them I thought they were grasping at straws. They agreed and sent me here. If anyone knows anything to help me without manually trying to re-add all those titles one by one, please let me know.

09-20-2026, 09:30 AM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 15,745 Karma: 251065353 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	Welcome to MobileRead! Do you have a backup copy of your library? Calibre doesn't create one automatically, so if you deleted your books without a backup, unfortunately you'll have to add them back manually. Not necessarily one by one, though - there are options to add books in bulk, which you can see by right-clicking on Add Books. If you want to preserve the existing metadata, then it'll be more complicated - you might have to add formats to the existing book records one by one, or merge newly added books with older entries manually. And of course, always, always keep a backup. Just a copy of your library folder on an external drive is enough. You may want to ask for more advice in the calibre subforum here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums//f...play.php?f=236

09-20-2026, 05:09 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 54,553 Karma: 182340325 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Unfortunately, in my experience, most people learn that backups are a good idea is by not having one.

Yesterday, 02:31 AM	#4
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 15,745 Karma: 251065353 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	Hold on a bit... how exactly did you delete them? If from the calibre GUI, you might be able to restore them from the calibre trash bin. If from File Explorer, then there's no way to restore them other than manually.

Yesterday, 08:50 AM	#5
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 46,281 Karma: 61420445 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	^^^ Sirtel is correct. Click on the SIDE ARROW of the ridiculously named REMOVE BOOKS icon at the top area of calibre. Let it scroll down and then hover over the 'Restore Recently Deleted' choice. If you see your 1,448 books listed, then you can recover those wily buggers. Good luck.