LuceVoce

Scan a folder for books and watch it

How to add every book in a folder or drive in one go, choose whether to copy them or read them where they are, and watch folders for new books.

Windows
Yes
Mac
Yes
iPad
Yes
iPhone
Yes
Show steps for

A scan looks through a folder and everything in it, in the background, adds every book LuceVoce can read, and tells you what it found. A watched folder goes further: books that appear there later are added on their own.

Scan a folder or drive

  1. Select the arrow beside Add and choose Scan a folder or drive… (on iPhone and iPad, Scan a folder…). You can also start it from Settings > Library, or on Windows and Mac drag the folder onto the window.
  2. Under Folder or drive, pick where to look:

Windows

Type a folder such as D:\Books or a drive such as E:, select Browse…, or select one of the Places: Documents, Downloads, Desktop, OneDrive and your drives.

Mac

Type a folder, select Browse…, or select one of the Places.

iPhone and iPad

Select Browse… and choose a folder in the Files app. iPhone and iPad scan folders you choose, not a whole drive.

Choose how the books are kept

Before you select Start scan, choose under Keep the books:

  • Where they are (recommended): nothing is copied. A book that moves later shows as missing until you show LuceVoce where it went.
  • Copied into the library: takes disk space; the originals can then move or go.

Under Put them in, pick a folder of your library, or leave Top level (no folder). Then select Start scan.

Follow the scan

  • The scan counts folders, files, books found, added, already in the library and skipped as it goes.
  • Select Hide to keep scanning in the background; a line in the library shows the progress, with Show to bring it back.
  • Select Cancel scan to stop.

Read the report

When the scan ends, the report lists:

  • Added
  • Already in the library: the same file, or a book that looks like one you have.
  • Protected by DRM: books that cannot be read. See Books protected by DRM.
  • Not supported yet: file types LuceVoce does not read yet.
  • Other files left out, and files that Could not be read.

Select Scan another to start again, or Close.

Watch a folder for new books

  1. Open Settings, then Library.
  2. Under Watched folders, select Add a folder… and choose the folder.
  3. Under Books from watched folders are kept, choose Where they are or Copied into the library.

New books that appear in a watched folder, such as a download or a copy, are added a few seconds after they stop changing, and a message names each one. To stop, select the remove button next to the folder. A folder that cannot be watched says why in the list.

Windows

Watched folders are checked all the time LuceVoce runs.

Mac

Watched folders are checked all the time LuceVoce runs.

iPhone and iPad

Watched folders are checked while LuceVoce is open. Books that arrived while it was closed are added the next time you open it. The Books folder of LuceVoce in the Files app is always watched.

Good to know

  • LuceVoce never moves or deletes your files in a scanned or watched folder.
  • When one book is there in several formats, such as an EPUB and a PDF, they become one book in your library and the other formats are kept with it. LuceVoce opens the best one, preferring EPUB, then AZW3, DOCX, MOBI, FB2, ODT, DOC, RTF, HTMLZ, PDF, TXTZ, Markdown and plain text.
  • A scan leaves out system folders, hidden files, links, very small files and protected books. Scanning the same folder again adds only what is new.
  • A scan does not add web pages (HTML, MHT) or PowerPoint files; add those with Add.
  • A folder of numbered audio tracks is added as one audiobook. A folder of short songs is music and is left out.
  • If a scan finds folders but no files, the folder may belong to a cloud service such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive that has not downloaded its files to this device.
  • On a Mac, files that iCloud Drive keeps only online are not downloaded by a scan.
  • Books added one by one with Add are always copied into the library. To change how scanned books are kept by default, open Settings, Library, then Scanned books are kept.

Related

  • Browse and organise your libraryHow the LuceVoce library shows your books in a grid, a list or by series, how to sort and file them in folders, and how to reopen recent books.
  • Add your first bookHow to add books, documents and audiobooks to your LuceVoce library with the Add button, drag and drop, or by opening a file from another app.
  • Fix a book whose file is missingWhat it means when a book in your library shows File missing, and how to use Find file to show LuceVoce where the book's file is now.
  • File formats LuceVoce can readEvery book, document and audiobook format LuceVoce opens, from EPUB, PDF and Kindle to Word, comics and MP3, and what it does with each one.
  • Books protected by DRMWhy LuceVoce refuses books and documents protected by DRM or a password, how to recognise them, and what you can do to listen to the book instead.

Last updated 13 November 2026