EPUB Readers can be hardware or software that meant to support ebook files with .epub extensions and stands for Electronic publication. It is a free and open e-book standard by the International Digital Publishing. The popular example of this is Amazon Kindle which is a hardware + software platform designed specifically to read E-books.
Developer's Description. By T800 Productions. CBX Shell provides Windows Explorer thumbnail and infotip extensions for image archives. It enables thumbnail preview for ZIP, CBZ, CBR and RAR image. If you have a Windows machine, MobiHandler should work for you. Me and the developer created this. I am trying to work with DK101 to have DarkThumbs support Mobi and Azw, but coding costs money and takes time so I am trying to round up some donations to have it done.
Now, the questions can we view and read Epub format books on Windows?
Yes, as I said there are free Epub reader software available specifically for Windows 10/8/7 platforms. Apart from it, many of them available for smartphone and tablets as well. Basically, the Epub file format consists of a group of XHTML files to carry images, text, and other supported content. So, this file format does not stick to some particular platform, even if you have some knowledge of HTML, CSS, and XML, you can create your own Epub viewer tool.
However, everybody is neither a developer nor has that much time to code something. Therefore, to help those people like you and me, there are some free ePub file viewers available online to download.
Coming back to the main topic of this article. Yes, indeed there are many ebook reader apps available but all of them are not good enough to install on Windows. Moreover, you cannot go and try all of them one by one. Thus, we did some research and created a list of free but 10 best Epub readers for Windows 10 in 2020.
Top epub reader for Windows 10 (2021)
1. Calibre epub reader
The first best open-source software in the list to view and read ePub files is Calibre. It is available on the Microsoft Windows 10 store. Although the software is free to download in both 32-bit and 64-bit version but from its official website. If you try to get Calibre from the Windows store, then it is payable. Those don’t want to install it, they can use the portable version of Calibre to carry it along in a pen drive. Its user interface is quite a user-friendly and clearly visible button makes it easy to manage files. We can view the ebook library on the app in three different ways on the basis of meta-information. Furthermore, it is possible to directly download ePub ebooks on Calibre along with covers and metadata such as author, publisher, title, tags, ISBN, and more…
One of the good features of this Caliber is an eBook converter that lets us convert various document formats into e-books. Therefore, if have Amazone Kinde and want to convert some existing document to read on it, use this app. It can also handle the new KF8 format (Kindle Format 8) and offers support to all Windows platforms such as Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.
Key features:
- Inbuilt web-server for easy handling of the ePub library.
- We can download ebooks online.
- RSS feeds are supported
- Transfer of ePub files one device to another
- Calibre has a built-in editor
- With a built-in plugin system, users can extend its functionality.
- And more…
Download for free.
2. Adobe Digital Editions
Well, Adobe’s name is not unfamiliar to anyone but do you know they also offer an ebook reader tool. The name of that is Adobe Digital Editions, another popular tool to handle a virtual library of your eBooks on Windows PC. Its interface is crafted nicely and controls are at the right place thus quick to find and easy to use. We can download e-books from an online store to directly read over it. Furthermore, drag-drop features allow users to easily manage documents. Unlike most of the Adobe software, it is free, and we can say, the best reason to go for it. Apart from a simple view, double-page is also there along with support for EPUB 3. According to the ADE, the Adobe digital editions is the best EPUB3 readers that allow the interactive reading, great view of mathematical formulas along with the rendering of audio & video ebook content.
Key features:
- Sample ebooks library
- Interactive layout
- Best possible rendering of media & mathematical content
- Download and Transfer of books between devices
- Support audio and video
- Multi-lingual
- Support various screen readers such as JAWS, Window-eyes, and NVDA in Windows, and Voiceover in Mac OS.
- Multiple file-formats including EPUB, EPUB3, and PDF.
- Printing
- Buying eBooks and more
Download for Free
3. NOOK
It is not only for books but also can use to read various Magazines, Newspapers, and Comics. Just like Amazon, one of the largest bookselling brands Barnes and Nobles had launched the ePub reader app called Nook. Not only the software but also the hardware, yes like Kindle, Nook has its own ebook reader tablet called waterproof NOOK GlowLight with monochrome eInk display. It is a versatile free eReader app that can be installed on Windows 10 directly from the Microsoft app store.
The Nook ePub app is absolutely free with sample Nook books, however for newspapers or magazines, one has to pay. Well, before doing that you can enjoy the free 14 days trial of it. If we talk about the interface, it’s not going to make you feel bad at all. We can view ebooks with different fonts, line spacing, and themes, turn pages with the flick of a finger or jump to any page. It supports Windows 10 along with Android and iOS platforms.
Key features
- User-friendliness and Interface
- Supports Doc, PDF, ePub and Third-party DRM formats
- NOOK app syncs across tablet and PC
- Read from where you left
- Inbuilt store to buy books from Nook large book database
Download for free
4. Bookviser
In short, I want to say about this great free Epub Reader for Windows platform is “Simple, clean, and intuitive“. If you have a Windows tablet then you must try the Bookviser. It has a classic book interface that gives you a feeling that you are reading some ancient mysterious book. Bookviser supports ePub, txt, fb2 along with other mainstream file formats. If you are its users, then you can transfer books from the local folder, download it in the browser, and send it as an email attachment. Its beautiful interface lets us manage and edit book meta-information too.
Key features:
Epub Thumbnail Preview Windows 10
- Sync books across platforms using OneDrive
- Control screen brightness or switch to night mode
- Select the color scheme to customize reading experiance
- Use text and page search to jump to a new section of the book
- Bookmarking
- Download ebooks from Feedbooks, Project Gutenberg, and Smashwords
- Library management
- OPDS support
- Text selection and sharing
Download for free
5. Freda
This one is for those looking for a very straight forward application to read their ePub format ebooks on Windows 10. It is a slim very good ebook reader available on Microsoft store that offers more than 50k classic books for free. The sources of these free ebooks are Smashwords. Gutenburg, Feedbooks, and more… Apart from it, users can read various Epub, MOBI, FB2, HTML, and TXT format files. Furthermore, if you want to share any ebook collection to read on a smartphone, then it possible via DropBox, OneDrive, or Calibre. Offline reading of books is also possible. In addition to this, the app processes and understand margin, alignment, and other Epub file formattings.
The dark mode of the app perfectly blends into the Windows 10 black interface and also won’t hurt the eyes, while reading for a longer time.
Key features:
- More than 50000 free ebooks
- Support various online book catalogs such as Manybooks, Ebooksgratuits and more
- OneDrive and DropBox support
- Support Calibre ebook library manager, text-to-speech, speedread and auto-scroll, and OpenDyslexic font.
- EPUB, FB2, HTML and TXT formats
- Synchronization
- Text appearance and layout customization is possible
- Search
Download for free on Windows store
6. Kobo eBooks
So, like Nook and Kindle, the Kobo is also dealt with in providing a full-fledged eReader system rather than software. Well, if you are not interested in buying the hardware, try its free Kobo Desktop App. It gives you access to its eBook store that offers more than 5 million books including free ones, comics, and kids’ titles. We can install it directly from the Windows 10 App store or get the executable from its official website for Windows 7.
Key features:
- Synchronization between Desktop PC and their E-reader tablets.
- Huge online digital books library
- Bookmarking
- Continue reading where you left it
- Search
- Library Management
- Offers Day, Night, and Sepia themes
- Progress tracking
Download free on MS Store
7. Neat Reader- free EPUB viewer
As its name suggests, this app offers a similar kind of interface as well, Clean and Clear. Neat Reader is freemium software that can even work in a Web browser. Although it is available as an app for Windows, macOS, Android, Kindle Fire, and iOS, however not for Linux. There you can use its web version. And from my point of view, the web app is the unique feature of this free EPUB viewer. Just visit its online website upload ebook and start reading. Well, it can cache the ebooks, so that you can start reading where you have left your content. However, it would be greater, if you register a free account to sync and read across all supported devices including Chrome.
Key features:
- Supports ePub 2 and ePub 3 standards.
- Annotations
- Store book files, notes, reading progress on cloud
- Cross-platform support
- Web App to view ePubs online/offline in the browser
Download for free
8. Icecream EBook Reader
Another one, the great ePub viewer for Windows 10 and earlier operating system is “Icecream EBook Reader“. The developers of this program promote it as the simplest ePub reader with speed and performance. It has the capability to support all common EBook formats such as EPUB or MOBI files. This app has a beautiful interface where users can easily find out the list of books and other information such as file format and reading progress of each book. In addition to this, you can protect your eyes using the night mode feature on Windows platforms. It is a freemium product that supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Key features:
- Supports FB2, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and other formats.
- Users can manager ebook library directly on the software
- Search algorithm to find some ap[articular text in ebooks
- Reading progress show how much you have read so far.
- Copy, Translate or Search words directly on Google
- Annotation, Highlight the important text.
- Resume reading where you left
- Fullscreen & Night screen mode, Bookmarks and custom categories
Download for free.
9. Readium Open Source
After Calibre, this is the second ePub viewer app in the list that is open source. Readium is an extension for Mozilla Firefox & Chrome or chromium-browsers such as Microsoft Edge. This means it is usable on all major platforms such as Windows 10/8/7, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. What you have to do, is to download and install the Readiumextension on your Chrome browser or Microsoft edge (know how to install extensions in Edge browser). After that, whatever the book you want to read, upload the soft copy of that it to the browser. You can customize the text format, font size, background color, and Display format.
Key features:
- Supports EPUB 2.x and 3.x formats
- open-source project
- Based on HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and SVG.
- Basic customization of font and layout
- Support a wide range of platforms
- Lightweight
Download its free extension for Chrome and Firefox.
10. Liberty Book Reader
The last EpubReader in the list is the Liberty that is also available on Windows 10 App store and liked by many people. Just as the above-mentioned most of the free apps, this offers search, bookshelf categories, and ePub support. The app is quick and responsive, users won’t need to wait for the reading.
Key features:
- Offer comfortable reading
- Support popular e-book formats: ePub, FB2, and PDF.
- Advanced typesetting.
- Hundreds of books to read
- Simple and easy interface
- Night mode
- Table of content
- Bookmarks
- Search and Quick jump to another page
Download via Win Store
Verdict- Which one to choose to open ePub on Windows?
I already have Amazon Kindle to read ebooks and when it comes to Windows 10, for me the Freda because of the huge free books library of it. However, for an extensive feature and those that want to convert ePub files, this is not for them. They should go Calibre or other mentioned apps. Actually, nothing is best it all depends on the user choice, hardware, and requirement. So, my job was to list them and yours is to find the most suitable Windows’ Epub reader in that to full your needs. So, go through it and let me know which one worked in all the best possible ways for you.
Home » Blog
29.Oct.2017
Last week we saw how to search for text in EPUB books. We now complete the shell integration for this popular ebook format with a thumbnail handler and a column handler for ebook information. Thumbnails will work in windows explorer too, but author/title information will be only available in xplorer².
EPUB thumbnail handler
As far as I can tell there is no thumbnail shell extension for EPUB in particular, but as this is just a disguised ZIP archive file, we can use CBX Shell that serves thumbnail previews for ZIP and RAR image archives (CBZ / CBR), and add a registry key to handle EPUB thumbnails with the capable CBXShell handler:
Pdf Icon Preview Windows 10
For your convenience I made a small installer that first installs CBXShell then adds the above snippet to your registry:
Click to download EPUB thumbnail handler (872 KB, build 4.620)Minimum requirements: windows XP or later (32 or 64 bit)
EPUB book information as column handler
AFAIK there's no generic ebook property handler to supply information like title and book author. To make our life easier let's use the eBook Info WDX plugin that can be used via xplorer² / Total Commander plugin bridge. This plugin does all popular ebook formats so we go a long way with just one installation. Here are step by step instructions:
- Download eBook Info WDX plugin. This is a zip archive that doesn't need installation.
- Right click on eBookInfoWDX.zip (say it's in the DOWNLOADS folder) and choose Extract all menu command to uncompress the plugin and note the extraction path e.g. C:UsersYouDownloadseBookInfoWDX.
- Download xplorer² plugin helper (if you don't have it) and run it.
- Press <INS> key or use File > Browse for plugins menu and browse the folder where you extracted the plugin (step 2)
- Choose the plugin file eBookInfo.wdx (you can ignore the x64 warning) and click OK to import it. Click on Apply button to save the changes.
Steps 1-5 are rather tedious, but you only have to do them one time. When you restart xplorer² you will find columns called Title.eBookInfo, Author.eBookInfo and others, which you can select with Select columns menu command (right click on a pane's column header).
With these EPUB handlers and the thumbnail/attribute handlers for kindle books (AZW, MOBI, PRC), we can have an all mod cons shell experience for all popular ebook formats as such:
Key features:
- Sample ebooks library
- Interactive layout
- Best possible rendering of media & mathematical content
- Download and Transfer of books between devices
- Support audio and video
- Multi-lingual
- Support various screen readers such as JAWS, Window-eyes, and NVDA in Windows, and Voiceover in Mac OS.
- Multiple file-formats including EPUB, EPUB3, and PDF.
- Printing
- Buying eBooks and more
Download for Free
3. NOOK
It is not only for books but also can use to read various Magazines, Newspapers, and Comics. Just like Amazon, one of the largest bookselling brands Barnes and Nobles had launched the ePub reader app called Nook. Not only the software but also the hardware, yes like Kindle, Nook has its own ebook reader tablet called waterproof NOOK GlowLight with monochrome eInk display. It is a versatile free eReader app that can be installed on Windows 10 directly from the Microsoft app store.
The Nook ePub app is absolutely free with sample Nook books, however for newspapers or magazines, one has to pay. Well, before doing that you can enjoy the free 14 days trial of it. If we talk about the interface, it’s not going to make you feel bad at all. We can view ebooks with different fonts, line spacing, and themes, turn pages with the flick of a finger or jump to any page. It supports Windows 10 along with Android and iOS platforms.
Key features
- User-friendliness and Interface
- Supports Doc, PDF, ePub and Third-party DRM formats
- NOOK app syncs across tablet and PC
- Read from where you left
- Inbuilt store to buy books from Nook large book database
Download for free
4. Bookviser
In short, I want to say about this great free Epub Reader for Windows platform is “Simple, clean, and intuitive“. If you have a Windows tablet then you must try the Bookviser. It has a classic book interface that gives you a feeling that you are reading some ancient mysterious book. Bookviser supports ePub, txt, fb2 along with other mainstream file formats. If you are its users, then you can transfer books from the local folder, download it in the browser, and send it as an email attachment. Its beautiful interface lets us manage and edit book meta-information too.
Key features:
Epub Thumbnail Preview Windows 10
- Sync books across platforms using OneDrive
- Control screen brightness or switch to night mode
- Select the color scheme to customize reading experiance
- Use text and page search to jump to a new section of the book
- Bookmarking
- Download ebooks from Feedbooks, Project Gutenberg, and Smashwords
- Library management
- OPDS support
- Text selection and sharing
Download for free
5. Freda
This one is for those looking for a very straight forward application to read their ePub format ebooks on Windows 10. It is a slim very good ebook reader available on Microsoft store that offers more than 50k classic books for free. The sources of these free ebooks are Smashwords. Gutenburg, Feedbooks, and more… Apart from it, users can read various Epub, MOBI, FB2, HTML, and TXT format files. Furthermore, if you want to share any ebook collection to read on a smartphone, then it possible via DropBox, OneDrive, or Calibre. Offline reading of books is also possible. In addition to this, the app processes and understand margin, alignment, and other Epub file formattings.
The dark mode of the app perfectly blends into the Windows 10 black interface and also won’t hurt the eyes, while reading for a longer time.
Key features:
- More than 50000 free ebooks
- Support various online book catalogs such as Manybooks, Ebooksgratuits and more
- OneDrive and DropBox support
- Support Calibre ebook library manager, text-to-speech, speedread and auto-scroll, and OpenDyslexic font.
- EPUB, FB2, HTML and TXT formats
- Synchronization
- Text appearance and layout customization is possible
- Search
Download for free on Windows store
6. Kobo eBooks
So, like Nook and Kindle, the Kobo is also dealt with in providing a full-fledged eReader system rather than software. Well, if you are not interested in buying the hardware, try its free Kobo Desktop App. It gives you access to its eBook store that offers more than 5 million books including free ones, comics, and kids’ titles. We can install it directly from the Windows 10 App store or get the executable from its official website for Windows 7.
Key features:
- Synchronization between Desktop PC and their E-reader tablets.
- Huge online digital books library
- Bookmarking
- Continue reading where you left it
- Search
- Library Management
- Offers Day, Night, and Sepia themes
- Progress tracking
Download free on MS Store
7. Neat Reader- free EPUB viewer
As its name suggests, this app offers a similar kind of interface as well, Clean and Clear. Neat Reader is freemium software that can even work in a Web browser. Although it is available as an app for Windows, macOS, Android, Kindle Fire, and iOS, however not for Linux. There you can use its web version. And from my point of view, the web app is the unique feature of this free EPUB viewer. Just visit its online website upload ebook and start reading. Well, it can cache the ebooks, so that you can start reading where you have left your content. However, it would be greater, if you register a free account to sync and read across all supported devices including Chrome.
Key features:
- Supports ePub 2 and ePub 3 standards.
- Annotations
- Store book files, notes, reading progress on cloud
- Cross-platform support
- Web App to view ePubs online/offline in the browser
Download for free
8. Icecream EBook Reader
Another one, the great ePub viewer for Windows 10 and earlier operating system is “Icecream EBook Reader“. The developers of this program promote it as the simplest ePub reader with speed and performance. It has the capability to support all common EBook formats such as EPUB or MOBI files. This app has a beautiful interface where users can easily find out the list of books and other information such as file format and reading progress of each book. In addition to this, you can protect your eyes using the night mode feature on Windows platforms. It is a freemium product that supports Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.
Key features:
- Supports FB2, EPUB, PDF, MOBI, and other formats.
- Users can manager ebook library directly on the software
- Search algorithm to find some ap[articular text in ebooks
- Reading progress show how much you have read so far.
- Copy, Translate or Search words directly on Google
- Annotation, Highlight the important text.
- Resume reading where you left
- Fullscreen & Night screen mode, Bookmarks and custom categories
Download for free.
9. Readium Open Source
After Calibre, this is the second ePub viewer app in the list that is open source. Readium is an extension for Mozilla Firefox & Chrome or chromium-browsers such as Microsoft Edge. This means it is usable on all major platforms such as Windows 10/8/7, Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS. What you have to do, is to download and install the Readiumextension on your Chrome browser or Microsoft edge (know how to install extensions in Edge browser). After that, whatever the book you want to read, upload the soft copy of that it to the browser. You can customize the text format, font size, background color, and Display format.
Key features:
- Supports EPUB 2.x and 3.x formats
- open-source project
- Based on HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and SVG.
- Basic customization of font and layout
- Support a wide range of platforms
- Lightweight
Download its free extension for Chrome and Firefox.
10. Liberty Book Reader
The last EpubReader in the list is the Liberty that is also available on Windows 10 App store and liked by many people. Just as the above-mentioned most of the free apps, this offers search, bookshelf categories, and ePub support. The app is quick and responsive, users won’t need to wait for the reading.
Key features:
- Offer comfortable reading
- Support popular e-book formats: ePub, FB2, and PDF.
- Advanced typesetting.
- Hundreds of books to read
- Simple and easy interface
- Night mode
- Table of content
- Bookmarks
- Search and Quick jump to another page
Download via Win Store
Verdict- Which one to choose to open ePub on Windows?
I already have Amazon Kindle to read ebooks and when it comes to Windows 10, for me the Freda because of the huge free books library of it. However, for an extensive feature and those that want to convert ePub files, this is not for them. They should go Calibre or other mentioned apps. Actually, nothing is best it all depends on the user choice, hardware, and requirement. So, my job was to list them and yours is to find the most suitable Windows’ Epub reader in that to full your needs. So, go through it and let me know which one worked in all the best possible ways for you.
Home » Blog
29.Oct.2017
Last week we saw how to search for text in EPUB books. We now complete the shell integration for this popular ebook format with a thumbnail handler and a column handler for ebook information. Thumbnails will work in windows explorer too, but author/title information will be only available in xplorer².
EPUB thumbnail handler
As far as I can tell there is no thumbnail shell extension for EPUB in particular, but as this is just a disguised ZIP archive file, we can use CBX Shell that serves thumbnail previews for ZIP and RAR image archives (CBZ / CBR), and add a registry key to handle EPUB thumbnails with the capable CBXShell handler:
Pdf Icon Preview Windows 10
For your convenience I made a small installer that first installs CBXShell then adds the above snippet to your registry:
Click to download EPUB thumbnail handler (872 KB, build 4.620)Minimum requirements: windows XP or later (32 or 64 bit)
EPUB book information as column handler
AFAIK there's no generic ebook property handler to supply information like title and book author. To make our life easier let's use the eBook Info WDX plugin that can be used via xplorer² / Total Commander plugin bridge. This plugin does all popular ebook formats so we go a long way with just one installation. Here are step by step instructions:
- Download eBook Info WDX plugin. This is a zip archive that doesn't need installation.
- Right click on eBookInfoWDX.zip (say it's in the DOWNLOADS folder) and choose Extract all menu command to uncompress the plugin and note the extraction path e.g. C:UsersYouDownloadseBookInfoWDX.
- Download xplorer² plugin helper (if you don't have it) and run it.
- Press <INS> key or use File > Browse for plugins menu and browse the folder where you extracted the plugin (step 2)
- Choose the plugin file eBookInfo.wdx (you can ignore the x64 warning) and click OK to import it. Click on Apply button to save the changes.
Steps 1-5 are rather tedious, but you only have to do them one time. When you restart xplorer² you will find columns called Title.eBookInfo, Author.eBookInfo and others, which you can select with Select columns menu command (right click on a pane's column header).
With these EPUB handlers and the thumbnail/attribute handlers for kindle books (AZW, MOBI, PRC), we can have an all mod cons shell experience for all popular ebook formats as such:
Figure 1. xplorer² showing EPUB/AZW/MOBI thumbnails and author/title properties
