Is there an option for Calibre to not rename Kindle book files?

[htm]

I tried looking for this everywhere, but "rename" and "filename" and such generated a LOT of hits, so if this has been discussed to death before, if you could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.

I've been using a Kindle for awhile and have just discovered the joys of Calibre. Awesome program!

I've run into a fairly minor problem. When I import a book into Calibre that I've already been reading on my Kindle, it renames the .azw3 file when it stores it in the bowels of the Calibre Library folder. (Yes, I know not to mess around in there. ) The problem is that when the file gets copied back over to my Kindle (in the nice "Last, First Name" folders), all my highlights and notes are lost.

I know that these are stored in the "sidecar" (.sdr) folder. So I move my old sidecar folder into the new Last,First folder and rename it to match the new name that Calibre gives it. You also need to rename at least 2 other files inside the sidecar folder, too. Once I do this, all is well again!

The problem is, this is pretty labor intensive. And I have 100 books to do this to.

All I would have to do is move the sidecar folder into the new location Calibre creates on my Kindle (which is easy enough to do) if only Calibre would leave the name of the original file alone. It's fine that it calls it whatever it wants under "Calibre Library/Last Name, First Name/Book Name - Author", but could there possibly be an option to not rename the original .azw3 on import?

Sorry for the long question, but I wanted to make sure I covered everything.

I'm using Calibre 2.81 on a Mac, and have a fairly new Kindle Paperwhite.

Thanks again for such a great tool!!!!!

[theducks]

Originally Posted by htm

I tried looking for this everywhere, but "rename" and "filename" and such generated a LOT of hits, so if this has been discussed to death before, if you could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.

I've been using a Kindle for awhile and have just discovered the joys of Calibre. Awesome program!

I've run into a fairly minor problem. When I import a book into Calibre that I've already been reading on my Kindle, it renames the .azw3 file when it stores it in the bowels of the Calibre Library folder. (Yes, I know not to mess around in there. ) The problem is that when the file gets copied back over to my Kindle (in the nice "Last, First Name" folders), all my highlights and notes are lost.

I know that these are stored in the "sidecar" (.sdr) folder. So I move my old sidecar folder into the new Last,First folder and rename it to match the new name that Calibre gives it. You also need to rename at least 2 other files inside the sidecar folder, too. Once I do this, all is well again!

The problem is, this is pretty labor intensive. And I have 100 books to do this to.

All I would have to do is move the sidecar folder into the new location Calibre creates on my Kindle (which is easy enough to do) if only Calibre would leave the name of the original file alone. It's fine that it calls it whatever it wants under "Calibre Library/Last Name, First Name/Book Name - Author", but could there possibly be an option to not rename the original .azw3 on import?

Sorry for the long question, but I wanted to make sure I covered everything.

I'm using Calibre 2.81 on a Mac, and have a fairly new Kindle Paperwhite.

Thanks again for such a great tool!!!!!

You set your Library up (or that may have been the default. 2010 was a long time ago ) for Ln, Fn so you may need to:
Change your device template
{authors}<>{author_sort} If that does not help, you might need a fancier template that flips things around the comma

[htm]

Originally Posted by theducks

You set your Library up (or that may have been the default. 2010 was a long time ago ) for Ln, Fn so you may need to:
Change your device template
{authors}<>{author_sort} If that does not help, you might need a fancier template that flips things around the comma

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm fine with the folder names, in fact I love that part. What I'm asking is if there is any way to tell Calibre to not rename the "bookname.azw3" file when it is imported. Doing so makes the original sidecar (.sdr) folder not match the new filename, and it's laborious to have to go rename that folder (and the files inside it) for each of my older books.

Thanks!

[theducks]

Originally Posted by htm

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm fine with the folder names, in fact I love that part. What I'm asking is if there is any way to tell Calibre to not rename the "bookname.azw3" file when it is imported. Doing so makes the original sidecar (.sdr) folder not match the new filename, and it's laborious to have to go rename that folder (and the files inside it) for each of my older books.

Thanks!

If you are talking about within the Library... No

[Harvey18]

Hi Forum
Previously my downloaded books would be saved in an individual folder with the author's name. The folder with the author's name contained the epub file, book cover file, and metadata file, in the Calibre Library folder located in my Documents folder on my PC.
My five year old computer died and the new computer now saves only the epub file in the Calibre Library.
How can I change the settings in Calibre to the way they were in my old computer? This means saving in a file in the Calibre Library with author's name and everything contained therein.
Can anyone help me?
Harvey18

[theducks]

That is NOT a normal library.
A normal Calibre Library has

an Author (name) folder
inside that, a Title folder containing:

cover.jpeg
metadata.opf
1 or more book formats

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by theducks

That is NOT a normal library.
A normal Calibre Library has

an Author (name) folder
inside that, a Title folder containing:

cover.jpeg
metadata.opf
1 or more book formats

... and the Title folder will have a parenthesised number prefix - e.g "The Tempest (1234)"

BR

[htm]

Originally Posted by theducks

If you are talking about within the Library... No

Can you point me in the direction of where I could make such a request? I ask because such a feature would save me a lot of time. But importantly, I'm not sure I understand why the book file was renamed in the first place. It is already stored in a folder with the (modified) book name which is itself in a folder named after the author (as you nicely laid out for the other person who joined the fray). Why does the original book file need to be renamed at all?

Remember, I'm talking about the book stored in Calibre Library, and not on the Kindle itself.

Thanks!

[gbm]

Originally Posted by htm

Can you point me in the direction of where I could make such a request? I ask because such a feature would save me a lot of time. But importantly, I'm not sure I understand why the book file was renamed in the first place. It is already stored in a folder with the (modified) book name which is itself in a folder named after the author (as you nicely laid out for the other person who joined the fray). Why does the original book file need to be renamed at all?

Remember, I'm talking about the book stored in Calibre Library, and not on the Kindle itself.

Thanks!

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...es-and-sorting

bernie

[htm]

Thanks, gbm, I see in there where I can request features.

But now I've noticed something even weirder.

I had a book called book1.azw3. I imported it into Calibre, who decided to store it in Calibre Library as "book1 - author.azw3". Ok, fine. But when I asked it to send it to my Kindle, it wound up being called "book3 - author.azw3".

I figured Calibre was renaming the file based on a tag in the file. But where is this new name coming from when it is copied to the Kindle?

I understand putting the files in specially-named folders, and I love that. But why all this file renaming? Again, this is only a problem because I wind up losing my notes and highlights unless renaming the .sdr folder works. (I say that with uncertainty, because I just had a case where it *didn't* work, and my highlights are gone.)

Thanks for putting up with what may appear to be annoying, petty questions!

[JSWolf]

Requesting that eBooks stored in Calibre not be renamed is a request that's not going to happen. It's a futile gesture.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by htm

Thanks, gbm, I see in there where I can request features.

But now I've noticed something even weirder.

I had a book called book1.azw3. I imported it into Calibre, who decided to store it in Calibre Library as "book1 - author.azw3". Ok, fine. But when I asked it to send it to my Kindle, it wound up being called "book3 - author.azw3".

I figured Calibre was renaming the file based on a tag in the file. But where is this new name coming from when it is copied to the Kindle?

I understand putting the files in specially-named folders, and I love that. But why all this file renaming? Again, this is only a problem because I wind up losing my notes and highlights unless renaming the .sdr folder works. (I say that with uncertainty, because I just had a case where it *didn't* work, and my highlights are gone.)

Thanks for putting up with what may appear to be annoying, petty questions!

When you add a book to calibre it copies the book to the library directories and names the book based on the books metadata. When you send a book to a device, the destination, directory and name, is set using the "save template". This is set in the preferences. There is a default on the "Sending book to devices" page of the preferences. But, you can configure the driver for the device and configure a template specific to the type of device. Hopefully you will be able to get them to match what is used for the sdr folders.

[htm]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Requesting that eBooks stored in Calibre not be renamed is a request that's not going to happen. It's a futile gesture.

Does anyone at least understand why the developer(s) made the extra effort to rename the file? The name of the file shouldn't matter in the least. Kindle doesn't care; it apparently uses some ID in the metadata to identify the file. I've yet to figure out how Amazon decides to name their books (apparently not from the metadata, since you say Calibre uses that to rename them).

I looked into Kindle metadata editors (thinking if I changed the name in the metadata, Calibre would be fooled), but I suspect that is a road fraught with despair. So I will stop bugging everyone.

I don't understand why more people aren't annoyed by losing their notes and highlights when their files get renamed after importing them into Calibre. When changing the sdr folder name and the files in it *does* work, it's not something I see the typical computer user bothering with, or even thinking to do.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by htm

Does anyone at least understand why the developer(s) made the extra effort to rename the file?

Yes, to access to all the files in a standardized way, so the access is optimized.

[DoctorOhh]

You already got the answer to your question. Calibre has an incredible template system that allows the file name when sent to the device to be in just about any format you desire. Created on the fly from any field. The file name when sent to the device is predicable and customizable.

I've never used it, but it seems to me that you ought to be able to use the GetFileName plugin to grab your original filename on import to calibre then use the column name where the original filename is stored in the send to device template and end up with the same filename on your Kindle as you started with.

Originally Posted by htm

I don't understand why more people aren't annoyed by losing their notes and highlights when their files get renamed after importing them into Calibre. When changing the sdr folder name and the files in it *does* work, it's not something I see the typical computer user bothering with, or even thinking to do.

I'm going to guess most folks aren't annoyed because they process their books first via calibre, then use calibre to transfer them back to their kindle. Once the books are processed as desired is when the folks start reading / highlighting and adding notes to these books. I imagine once on the device the highlights and notes will all follow the new filename?

Unfortunately for you, you chose to process a library of books that you already had notes and highlights on and then resent those books to your Kindle. Thus the problem that exists for you often is never seen by other Kindle users.

Good luck