Where apps hide your files

Finding Apple Books audiobooks

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Apple Books keeps downloaded audiobooks inside a hidden app container, and leaves the rest in iCloud until you download them. Here is the folder, how to reach it and how to remove downloads safely.

The folder

Audiobooks that Apple Books has downloaded to your Mac go in a subfolder of a Books container:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/Audiobooks/

Its parent, .../iBooks/Books/, holds downloaded and imported ebooks (EPUB and PDF) and a Books.plist file that lists them. Books relies on that plist, so leave it alone. One level higher, the iBooks folder also contains Downloads, Temporary and Updates folders.

The Audiobooks folder stays empty until you download an audiobook. Purchases you have not downloaded stay in iCloud: Apple's Books guide says they show an iCloud status icon in your library, and double-clicking one downloads it.

Open it

In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path above. In Terminal:

open ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/Audiobooks

To list names only, without opening any files:

ls ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/Audiobooks

Recent macOS versions protect other apps' containers, so the first time Terminal reads this folder you may be asked whether it can access data from other apps. Allow it if you want the listing, or decline and use Finder instead.

What you will find inside

Apple does not document how Books names or formats downloaded audiobooks, so do not expect tidy titles or a fixed file extension. The name in your library may not match the name on disk. A map of the surrounding folders:

Location	What it holds
.../iBooks/Books/Audiobooks/	Downloaded audiobooks
.../iBooks/Books/	Downloaded and imported ebooks and PDFs, plus Books.plist
.../iBooks/Downloads/ and Temporary/	Items in progress and scratch files
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iBooksX/Data/Documents/	The app's own data, including the BKLibrary library database
~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~apple~iBooks/	Books' iCloud Drive folder, for items synced that way
~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.iBooks/	Data shared between Books and its helper processes

Purchased audiobooks can be copy protected, so a file copied out of the container may not play anywhere but Books.

Getting audiobooks out the supported way

Apple Books has no export for purchased audiobooks. The supported options:

• Listen in Books on any Mac, iPhone or iPad signed in to the same Apple Account, downloading only what you need on each.
• For audiobook files you added to Books yourself, keep your original copies; those are the files you own.
• For anything bought, treat the library in Books as the copy, not a file you can hand to another player.

Apple's guide also notes that audiobooks bought on audible.com can be downloaded to Books once the Mac is authorised on audible.com.

Freeing space

Audiobooks are large, often hundreds of megabytes each. Check what you have, read only:

du -sh ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/Audiobooks

To see which titles are taking the space without opening the folder, look at the library in Books: an audiobook still showing the iCloud status icon is not on your Mac, so every one without the icon counts towards that total.

Remove downloads through the app, which is the route Apple documents:

1. In Books, click Audiobooks (or another collection) under Library in the sidebar.
2. On the audiobook, click the More button (three dots), click Remove, then choose Remove Download.

The book stays in your library with an iCloud status icon and you can download it again whenever you like. Hide Audiobook, in the same menu, is a different action: it hides a purchase from your library on every device.

To stop downloads piling up, open Books > Settings, click General, and turn off Download new purchases automatically.

Deleting files straight from the container leaves Books' library database out of step, so it may show items as downloaded when they are gone. If you must clean up by hand, quit Books first and move only individual items from Audiobooks to the Trash. Never delete Books.plist, BKLibrary or other database files.

Moving to a new Mac

Do not copy the container. Sign in with the same Apple Account on the new Mac, open Books, and your purchased audiobooks appear in the library, ready to download again. Files you added yourself are the exception: copy your originals across and add them to Books again.

Why search cannot see them

~/Library/Containers is left out of Spotlight results, so searching for a book's title finds nothing even when the file is on disk. And because the file name may be an internal ID, even a folder-by-folder search in Finder can miss it.

Finding audiobooks again

Once Everywhere has Full Disk Access, which macOS requires before any app can read other apps' containers, typing Audiobooks jumps to this folder even though Spotlight will not show it, and every file inside is listed by its real on-disk name. ⌘↵ reveals the match in Finder, or ⌘T opens a Terminal there for the ls and du checks above. It searches file names only, so a title that appears only inside the book's metadata will not match.

Common questions

Where are audiobooks stored on a Mac?

Downloaded Apple Books audiobooks are in ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/Audiobooks. If that folder is empty, nothing is downloaded and your purchases are still in iCloud.

Can I copy audiobooks from Apple Books to another player?

Not purchased ones in any supported way. Books has no export and purchases can be copy protected. Audiobook files you added yourself remain the originals you started with.

How do I delete an audiobook download without losing the book?

In Books, click the audiobook's More button, choose Remove, then Remove Download. The book stays in your library with an iCloud icon and can be downloaded again.

Can I store Apple Books audiobooks on an external drive?

Books has no setting for a download location. To save space, remove downloads you are not listening to and turn off Download new purchases automatically in Books > Settings > General.