iPad Pro How to move files from MacBook to iPad Files?

[travelsheep]

I can't find out how to transfer my book collection (several hundreds of epub and pdf) from my MacBook to my iPad Pro 11 M1 Files folder.

I tried Airdrop but whenever I try to send more than one file at a time I get "Cannot receive all these items at the same time". Sometimes I can send 5 files at a time. My record is 29. Both ipadOS and macOS are the latest.

When using a USB cable my iPad shows up in my MacBook's Finder, but the Files tab only lists apps, and not the "On My iPad" location.

I wonder why I spent the extra money on 256GB when I can't use it...

Any tips?

Is there a third party app that can move files between a MacBook and an iPad? It's bloody ridiculous... iPad certainly is not a computer.

 

[ecatomb]

You can try with :
- Apple Books app (can put pdf on it, maybe epub too)
- iCloud drive

It won't be a direct copy from macbook to iPad, so will have to wait few times until you have it on iPad

 

[Shirasaki]

Yes. Apple’s iPad being a computer campaign is not only false but also blatant lying on the capability of iPad in general. One of the worst campaign in my book.

There are tons of third party file managers that allow you to transfer tons of files from MacBook to iPad easily. Documents, GoodReader both are good choices. You can also opt in syncing your ebooks to your iPad.

 

[subjonas]

Yes. Apple’s iPad being a computer campaign is not only false but also blatant lying on the capability of iPad in general. One of the worst campaign in my book.

There are tons of third party file managers that allow you to transfer tons of files from MacBook to iPad easily. Documents, GoodReader both are good choices. You can also opt in syncing your ebooks to your iPad.

I thought the campaign was saying that iPad is not a computer but it may be able to take the place of one for certain people.

 

[boogiedout]

Just drop them into iCloud Drive on the mac and they’ll be on the ipad….simple

 

[BarredOwl]

The answer to your question is iCloud (drive).

 

[subjonas]

Just drop them into iCloud Drive on the mac and they’ll be on the ipad….simple

The answer to your question is iCloud (drive).

Using cloud services like iCloud and Dropbox certainly works, but it seems unnecessary and wasteful to require a paid subscription (unless free tier is enough) and to send your personal files to a company’s server farm a hundred miles away and back just to transfer them to your device right next to you.

Just thought of these options:
- In the Files app (or similar) on your ipad, establish an SMB connection to your Mac. Then just browse your Mac from your iPad and you should be able to copy files to a location on your iPad, all in the Files app.
- I believe there are usb sticks that work between Mac and ipad. I think they require their own app to transfer though.
- Also, if Airdrop won’t let you do that many files, have you just tried zipping the files?

 

[Shirasaki]

Also, if Airdrop won’t let you do that many files, have you just tried zipping the files?

Zip means one needs double the space just for storing them. Sure, one can break those into smaller chunks but that's still lots of work and require lots of space to unzip those files.

I believe there are usb sticks that work between Mac and ipad. I think they require their own app to transfer though.

If the USB stick is formatted as APFS, I don't think special app is required.

Using cloud services like iCloud and Dropbox certainly works, but it seems unnecessary and wasteful to require a paid subscription (unless free tier is enough) and to send your personal files to a company’s server farm a hundred miles away and back just to transfer them to your device right next to you.

Yeah, I agree. Using iCloud to do this is unnecessary, especially after the CSAM system. Who knows if the cloud provider just flags some of your files as suspicious and prevents you from downloading them again? Plus, uploading usually takes a much longer time than downloading, and uses lots of bandwidth.

 

[subjonas]

Zip means one needs double the space just for storing them. Sure, one can break those into smaller chunks but that's still lots of work and require lots of space to unzip those files.

It might be a decent workaround if it’s just a one time or occasional thing, but I agree it wouldn’t be an ideal solution.

 

[bodhisattva]

I can't find out how to transfer my book collection (several hundreds of epub and pdf) from my MacBook to my iPad Pro 11 M1 Files folder.

I tried Airdrop but whenever I try to send more than one file at a time I get "Cannot receive all these items at the same time". Sometimes I can send 5 files at a time. My record is 29. Both ipadOS and macOS are the latest.

When using a USB cable my iPad shows up in my MacBook's Finder, but the Files tab only lists apps, and not the "On My iPad" location.

I wonder why I spent the extra money on 256GB when I can't use it...

Any tips?

Is there a third party app that can move files between a MacBook and an iPad? It's bloody ridiculous... iPad certainly is not a computer.

As others have mentioned, simply add the PDF/EPUB to the Books app on the Mac. After a moment open Books on the iPad (or any iOS device) and your books will show there as well for download. I keep all my books (thousands also) organized in folders in Books and they sync easily between my devices as well as my place in the book, comments, highlights, notes, etc. You have to embrace the software that is there, but now that I have it make it simple to always have my books with me and available on any device. Not to mention if I have a hard drive failure I don't lose it all! Been there done that.

 

[Zazoh]

You have to embrace the software that is there …

This.

If something is hard in today’s age there is another way to do it. It may not be the method you learned decade ago but the payoffs usually better. Manually syncing files between devices one owns is a legacy technology no longer needed.

 

[neutrino23]

I use iCloud for this. I used to use an app called Remote File Manager to access an NAS device. Worked well. $4.99.

I think you get 5GB for free. It wasn’t that much to get a lot more.

 

[Shirasaki]

Manually syncing files between devices one owns is a legacy technology no longer needed.

Yet offline data management is still considered an essential part of data security for stuff that is not suitable online. Not to say those ebooks are, but they might be. You also don't want ransomware exploiting zero-days to ruin your life. But that's the topic for another day.

 

[subjonas]

I agree, if it’s just epubs and pdfs, you should probably just use the Books app which was made precisely for syncing your books. My suggestions were for general files, and more for one and done transfers, and not having to use cloud servers. I do wish the Files app had automatic selective folder sync via smb wifi. I think I heard other apps like FileBrowser can do it, but haven’t looked into it quite yet.

Yet offline data management is still considered an essential part of data security for stuff that is not suitable online. Not to say those ebooks are, but they might be. You also don't want ransomware exploiting zero-days to ruin your life. But that's the topic for another day.

Thankfully, the Books app doesn’t require iCloud syncing. It can be turned off and just synced via wifi or usb.

 

[travelsheep]

Just drop them into iCloud Drive on the mac and they’ll be on the ipad….simple

I use a new Apple account on my iPad because the iPad is picked up by guests and friends, and their kids too. Therefore it's a standalone device with no integration, totally ridiculous user management, Apple's solution to "Family Sharing" is just sad. I'm not upgrading to a bigger iCloud account just to be able to share it. So that's why "just drop them into iCloud" does not work.

 

[travelsheep]

I agree, if it’s just epubs and pdfs, you should probably just use the Books app which was made precisely for syncing your books. My suggestions were for general files, and more for one and done transfers, and not having to use cloud servers. I do wish the Files app had automatic selective folder sync via smb wifi. I think I heard other apps like FileBrowser can do it, but haven’t looked into it quite yet.


Thankfully, the Books app doesn’t require iCloud syncing. It can be turned off and just synced via wifi or usb.

1. I can only send one book at a time, at best a couple, then it's "Cannot receive all these items at the same time".

2. Furthermore Books is a one-way street, non-Apple-Store-bought epubs and pdfs are stuck in there, not able to move them out again.

 

[travelsheep]

As others have mentioned, simply add the PDF/EPUB to the Books app on the Mac. After a moment open Books on the iPad (or any iOS device) and your books will show there as well for download. I keep all my books (thousands also) organized in folders in Books and they sync easily between my devices as well as my place in the book, comments, highlights, notes, etc. You have to embrace the software that is there, but now that I have it make it simple to always have my books with me and available on any device. Not to mention if I have a hard drive failure I don't lose it all! Been there done that.

Books is a one-way street. Once you drop one epub in there you cannot get it out again. Also, how did you get thousands of books into Books? Via Airdrop? Airdrop does not work for more than a few books at a time.

Also, comments, highlights etc only work if you have one Apple account. However, this iPad is also picked up by friends, guests, and their kids, I will not put my main Apple account there.

 

[Abazigal]

You may be better off using a flash drive to transfer files from your Mac to your iPad and vice versa, if airdrop isn't sufficing and you don't have a cloud-based intermediary like Dropbox.

 

[Zazoh]

I use a new Apple account on my iPad because the iPad is picked up by guests and friends, and their kids too. Therefore it's a standalone device with no integration, totally ridiculous user management, Apple's solution to "Family Sharing" is just sad. I'm not upgrading to a bigger iCloud account just to be able to share it. So that's why "just drop them into iCloud" does not work.

I wouldn’t use iCloud on a shared device either as my device is my life. If you are going to use his as a communal device, I’d leave it at that and get a second one for you.

I can’t imagine a world where I hand my devices over to friends and their kids. The privacy risks to them and me is too great.

Family of four. Four phones, four iPads, and two MacBooks in this house. Family sharing works great, and we retain our privacy.

 

[subjonas]

1. I can only send one book at a time, at best a couple, then it's "Cannot receive all these items at the same time".

2. Furthermore Books is a one-way street, non-Apple-Store-bought epubs and pdfs are stuck in there, not able to move them out again.

1. Are you talking about airdrop? Not sure because in the post you replied to, I only mentioned the Books app. In post #7, I mentioned zipping the files before airdropping. Did you try that? Also did you see my other suggestions in post #7? I regularly move files between my iPad and Mac via the Files app using an smb connection, so I can attest that is an option that works well.

2. That’s strange. I don’t how it is post-Mojave, but when I sync books in itunes, I can deselect books that I want removed from my iDevice, whether Apple-bought or not.

 

[ScanTheNavian]

I remember how that suffocating and claustrophobic feeling disappeared when I installed Goodreader on my iPad 3. All of a sudden I was able to transfer files in a simple way.

 

[Martin29]

I use file browser app on my IOS devices. It connects to my mac exactly as finder in Mac OS, and I can both access and transfer files as I wish, to and from machines, cloud accounts etc.

That one app has made my iPad a practical and useful tool when dealing with thousands of files in multiple locations.

 

[subjonas]

I use file browser app on my IOS devices. It connects to my mac exactly as finder in Mac OS, and I can both access and transfer files as I wish, to and from machines, cloud accounts etc.

That one app has made my iPad a practical and useful tool when dealing with thousands of files in multiple locations.

Do you know if there are any major differences in function between File Browser and the stock Files app? I know both can access Mac files when on the same WiFi, but I thought I read somewhere that File Browser can do automatic selective folder sync (though I imagine it’s only automatic after you open the app).

 

[Bodhitree]

I use a new Apple account on my iPad because the iPad is picked up by guests and friends, and their kids too. Therefore it's a standalone device with no integration, totally ridiculous user management, Apple's solution to "Family Sharing" is just sad. I'm not upgrading to a bigger iCloud account just to be able to share it. So that's why "just drop them into iCloud" does not work.

Why not share a folder with the docs from your main iCloud account with the new one you use? Then you can always copy them into local storage if you need to free up space. At worst you will be able to copy a few GB at a time of data.

 

[Retrostarscream]

This will help you move your files around from MacBook and iPad. This is assuming you have an iPad with a USB C connection, but even if you don’t there is a standard USB A connection as well as the portable storage has both. I can confirm this works on both Macbook and readable by “files” app on iPad. Hope this helps solve your problem.

Kingston Digital Data Traveler Micro Duo