How to open EPUB on computer or online – 10 ways

Users come across ePub files on computers or mobile devices, so they are wondering how to open a file of this format. EPUB (Electronic Publication) is an electronic book format that has the “.epub” extension.

The EPUB format is compatible with various software and is supported by many devices. This format is widely used in the world, EPUB is often used to store electronic books and documents.

The content of the ePub file is saved in a compressed form, it is a ZIP archive containing the following elements:

• description in XML format;
• text in HTML or PDF format;
• CSS styles;
• media content: images, video, audio;
• fonts;
• metadata.

Due to the fact that e-books and documents are stored in this popular format, users often have questions about how to open the EPUB format.

In this article, we will look at different options for viewing the contents of an e-book file, which program to open EPUB on a computer in the Windows operating system, how to open EPUB on Android, and how to read EPUB online.

First, you will learn how to open the EPUB format on a computer using various programs.

How to open an EPUB file in a browser

If you use a browser, you do not need an additional program that opens EPUB files on your computer. Some browsers have built-in support for the EPUB format, other browsers require an extension to be installed that can open files of this format in the browser.

Yandex Browser and Microsoft Edge (HTML) support EPUB files out of the box. Opening an e-book is very simple: you just need to select a browser as a program designed to open this type of file.

Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge (Chromium) and Mozilla Firefox browsers can use the EPUBReader extension, which can be downloaded from the respective browser’s extension store. This extension from one developer is supported in different browsers.

The EPUBReader extension opens e-books in several ways:

• link to download the book
• using the button on the toolbar.

You can read books in the browser in the following way:

1. Click the extension button on the toolbar.
2. In a new tab, click on the folder image to select a book on your computer.
3. The e-book in EPUB format will open in a browser window.

If you click on the center of the screen, a panel with extension settings will appear at the bottom of the window, where you can select the background color, font size, open the table of contents, make a bookmark, change the display style.

Other similar add-ons have been created for browsers that open this format. Therefore, if you have EPUB books and have questions about how to open such a file, the browser will be one of the best solutions to this problem.

How to open EPUB on computer in Caliber

The free program Caliber is intended for viewing, converting books, creating a library. Caliber can open a wide variety of file formats, including the ePub format.

The application has a built-in viewer – an e-book reader. Do the following:

1. In the Caliber program window, click on the “Add Books” button.
2. Right-click on the title of a book in the application window.
3. In the context menu, click on “View” and then on “Open in caliber reader”.

How to open an EPUB file on a computer in ICE Book Reader Professional

ICE Book Reader Professional is a free program for residents of the former USSR, which is used to read electronic books on a computer. In ICE Book Reader Pro you can read, organize your library, export books to multimedia files.

Perform the following procedure:

1. In the ICE Book Reader Professional program window, click on the folder button.
2. In the window that opens, click on the “Plus” button to select a book on your computer.
3. Click on the title of the book to open the EBUP file in the application window.

Opening EPUB format in Cool Reader

The free Cool Reader program is designed to read e-books in various formats. Cool Reader has support for the EPUB format.

You need to go through the steps:

1. In the Cool Reader window, enter the “File” menu, in the context menu, click on “Open …”.
2. Now you can read e-book in EPUB format in Cool Reader window.

How to read EPUB books in AlReader2

Alreader2, a free book reader, opens EPUB files on your computer. The application supports various types of files, can read from archives.

In AlReader2 go through the steps:

1. Click on the “File” menu.
2. Click on the “Open File” menu item.
3. Select a file on the PC whose contents will be displayed in the application window.

Reading EPUB books in Sumatra PDF

Sumatra PDF is a free e-book and document viewer. Despite the name, Sumatra PDF supports many other formats, including EPUB files.

Go through the following steps:

1. Click on the button with three stripes in the upper left corner of the Sumatra PDF program window, select “File” from the menu, click on the “Open …” item.
2. In the Explorer window that opens, add a book from the PC, click on the “Open” button.

How to open EPUB on Windows in STDU Viewer

STDU Viewer is a free program for non-commercial use. STDU Viewer is an electronic document viewer of several formats. Supported formats include EPUB.

Do the following:

1. Enter the “File” menu, click “Open …”.
2. Add a file to the program window.

Viewing an EPUB file in Universal Viewer

Universal Viewer Pro is a universal viewer for various types of files in the Windows operating system. The program is free for most residents of the former USSR.

In the Universal Viewer Pro window, perform the necessary actions to open the file:

1. From the “File” menu, click on “Open…”.
2. An EPUB book opens in the file browser window.

How to open EPUB online

You can open an EPUB file online using a service on the Internet. In this case, the user does not need to use the software on his computer.

The user will read the book in the browser by opening the page of the online service.

The FViewer service is an online cloud file viewer that has an “EPUB viewer” page that supports opening files of this format.

Reading files online on the FViewer site is as follows:

1. Drag the file into a special form or add a file from a PC using the “Browse …” button. To view an Internet file, paste the link to the file in the URL field.
2. Click on the “View” button.

The service has a panel on which there is a search form, here you can open the table of contents, make a bookmark, write a note.

How to open EPUB on Android

If the file has the EPUB extension, then how to open this format on a mobile device running the Android operating system? The Google Play Store has many applications for reading e-books. Almost all readers support EPUB files.

To open an EPUB file, you can use any of the applications mentioned in the article on the best extensions for reading e-books on Android : PocketBook Reader, eReader Prestigio, Moon Reader, FullReader, Cool Reader, AlReader, FBReader.

Article Conclusions

If the user is interested in the question of how to open the EPUB format on a computer, he can use the program installed on the PC or an online service on the Internet. With a large number of applications, you can open EPUB on your phone. In this article, we have analyzed which program to open the EPUB file in different situations, including online.