lost my library

[thistlebarrow2]

I have recently had problems with my computer and Windows 10 has been reinstalled. In doing so I seem to have lost my library. Calibre is shown on the desktop, but when I open it there are no books. The books are still held in the computer folder.

How can I reconnect?

[kovidgoyal]

http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq....libre-is-blank

[thistlebarrow2]

do I download a new calibre? I already have one on my computer, but it does not have my book in it

[AnemicOak]

As the link Kovid posted says...

There can be two reasons why calibre is showing a empty list of books:

Your calibre library folder changed its location. This can happen if it was on an external disk and the drive letter for that disk changed. Or if you accidentally moved the folder. In this case, calibre cannot find its library and so starts up with an empty library instead. To remedy this, do a right-click on the calibre icon in the calibre toolbar and select Switch/create library. Click the little blue icon to select the new location of your calibre library and click OK. If you don’t know the new location search your computer for the file metadata.db.

Your metadata.db file was deleted/corrupted. In this case, you can ask calibre to rebuild the metadata.db from its backups. Right click the calibre icon in the calibre toolbar and select Library maintenance->Restore database. calibre will automatically rebuild metadata.db.

...did you try either of those solutions?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by thistlebarrow2

do I download a new calibre? I already have one on my computer, but it does not have my book in it

@thistlebarrow2 - calibre has three parts to it - the software, the configuration data, and the library(ies) - they are stored separately.

By default the software itself is typically installed into this folder C:\Program Files\Calibre2. You should not change anything in this folder.

By default the configuration data is created at C:Users\<your user name>\AppData\Roaming\calibre. You don't normally need to change anything directly in the configuration folder, the exception is if you want to override resources.

The default library is created at C:Users\<your user name>\Documents\Calibre Library. The content and location of this and any other libraries is under your control, but do not use a file manager (e.g. File Explorer) to change anything in a library folder, always use the calibre library manager.

When a new version of calibre is installed it does not change the configuration data or the calibre library(ies).

There is nothing unusual about the above scheme, it's what most well formed Windows applications use, or should use.

BR

[thistlebarrow2]

I have followed the instruction and now have access to my library once more.

Thanks you very much for your help, and for taking the trouble to explain it all so well

regards

Paul