What do I do if the Mac tool isn't importing my Apple Book highlights?

Persistent spinning wheel or error:

Possible Resolutions:

  1. Resync the Mac tool
    1. Logout of the Mac tool.
    2. Select Resync to log back in and to run the sync again.

  1. Open Apple Books on your computer
    1. If you've never opened the Apple Books app on your computer (e.g. you only read on your phone or tablet), the database may not be synced and thus the Mac tool won't be able to find any of your highlights.
    2. Launch the Mac app at least once to force a sync, wait for your most recent data to appear, then try the Mac tool again.

Mac tool caveats:

  1. The Mac tool only works for Big Sur and newer at this time. If you can't or don't want to upgrade the OS, then you can use the following instructions to get your highlights into Readwise --> How do I import Apple Books highlights from my iPhone/iPad?
  2. The Mac tool cannot import highlights made on PDFs as Apple Books doesn't follow the PDF spec to create "real" highlights. You can use the following instructions to get PDF highlights into Readwise --> Can I import highlights from PDFs read in Apple Books?