can't add ebooks to Calibre

[doray]

I'm trying to help a family member add ebooks (already downloaded to his Mac) to Calibre, for eventual transfer to Kindle. We've tried and tried, but can't get books into Calibre!

We tried dragging books in from his user Library to the Calibre window -- it wouldn't let him do so -- as well as adding books via "Add Books" (nothing happened). He's using a current version of macOS and just recently downloaded Calibre.

He can't see Preferences on the top right of the screen, like I think he should be able to, and nothing happens when he clicks Configure.

The books are in epub format, and we made sure that was selected.

What can we do? Thank you in advance!

[Paperbackstash]

When you say nothing is added, do you mean it shows an error, or just literally nothing happens, that the books when dragged disappear from screen and just do not show up? Any errors when using add books manually? I'm not tech savy with Calibre, although I use it, but am curious what the error is showing you.

[doray]

Thank you so much for responding, Paperbackstash! When we try to add ebooks, we do not get any error. Literally nothing happens -- the books just do not show up. No errors when trying to add books by dragging or via "Add Books". Just nothing.
Thanks again for any help or advice you can give!

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by doray

I'm trying to help a family member add ebooks (already downloaded to his Mac) to Calibre, for eventual transfer to Kindle. We've tried and tried, but can't get books into Calibre!

We tried dragging books in from his user Library to the Calibre window -- it wouldn't let him do so -- as well as adding books via "Add Books" (nothing happened). He's using a current version of macOS and just recently downloaded Calibre.

He can't see Preferences on the top right of the screen, like I think he should be able to, and nothing happens when he clicks Configure.

The books are in epub format, and we made sure that was selected.

What can we do? Thank you in advance!

Moderator Notice

Please don't [post the same request in multiple forums, see Guideline #3. I have removed the other one.

I'm not a MacOS user, but...

Firstly, it's very strange that you can't see Preferences anywhere. But, try pressing Ctrl+P, then click the Toolbars & menus icon, then click the Restore defaults button (bottom left).

IIRC there are/were issues with DragDrop on MacOS, but I don't remember the details. So, use one of the Add Books options, start with the first one - Add books from a single directory.

BR

[doray]

Thank you, BetterRed, and I'm sorry about posting twice! This was my first post, and I thought I should post in a sub-category but then thought better of it....

[ownedbycats]

I would also check to make sure you didn't accidentally put your library in a read-only/system-protected location, though I'm not entirely sure of how file permissions work on Mac (and I would expect Calibre to throw an error if that was the case).

[doray]

Thank you, ownedbycats! Your reply provided the key to figuring it out. We were trying to add books from his user library, which I think is a system-restricted location. Instead, he added books from the email where he'd received them, and that worked!