Adobe Digital Editions on the Mac - Installing Adobe Digital Editions on your Mac

If you already have the Adobe Digital Editions application installed on your computer, proceed directly to (ST2437-en) Entering your Adobe ID in Adobe Digital Editions for Mac.

The Adobe Digital Editions application lets you open ebooks on your computer or transfer them to your e-reader.

1. Determine which version of Adobe Digital Editions you need to install. To verify which version you have if you already downloaded the application:

  • Open the Adobe Digital Editions application on your computer.

  • Click on Adobe Digital Editions in the menu.

  • Click on About Adobe Digital Editions.

  • The version is indicated below the name of the application.

Which Version Of Adobe Digital Editions Do I Install?

If you want to transfer ebooks from your computer to your e-reader, note that the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions is known to cause occasional file-opening problems with some e-readers. During the process of transferring an ebook from Adobe Digital Editions to an e-reader, an error message may appear saying that the file cannot be opened due to an authorization issue. To avoid this problem, installing Adobe Digital Editions version 3 is recommended unless your Mac is running macOS Catalina and later versions.

From Catalina onward, the macOS operating systems no longer support 32-bit applications. While Adobe Digital Editions version 3 is a 32-bit application, the latest version is a 64-bit application. If you have problems transferring ebooks from Adobe Digital Editions to your e-reader and your Mac's operating system is macOS Catalina (or later), you will need to install an older version of the macOS operating system, such as Sierra.

For more information on the incompatibility of 32-bit applications on macOS Catalina, see https://support.apple.com/HT208436.

How do I uninstall this version of Adobe Digital Editions on my Mac to install version 3?

Clear authorization for your computer

  1. Open Adobe Digital Editions on your computer.

  2. Click the Help menu.

  3. Click Clear Permission...

  4. Enter your Adobe ID password and click Continue.

  5. Click Clear Authorization and then click OK.

Move the folder containing your Digital Editions documents

  1. Click on your Mac's desktop.

  2. Click on the File menu.

  3. Click on New Finder Window.

  4. In the Finder window, click on Documents.

  5. Right-click on the Digital Editions document and select Rename.

  6. Rename the document so that it is no longer recognized by Adobe Digital Editions and move it to your desktop.

Uninstall Adobe Digital Editions

  1. In your Finder window, click on Applications.

  2. Right-click on the Adobe Digital Editions application and select Place in Trash. You can do the same with the shortcut to the application.

  3. From the application bar on your computer, right-click on your trash can and select Empty trash.

  1. To download version 3 of Adobe Digital Editions for PC, click here: https://download.adobe.com/pub/adobe/digitaleditions/ADE_3.0_Installer.dmg. To download the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions, visit the following page and click the link to download Digital Editions for Windows: https://www.adobe.com/solutions/ebook/digital-editions/download.html .


  1. Once the download is complete, click on the installation file from your browser to open it. You can also access your download by opening a new Finder window:

  • Click on your Mac's desktop.

  • From the menu, click on File.

  • Click New Finder Window.

  • In your Finder window, click on Downloads.

  • Click on the downloaded installation file. The installation file will have a .dmg extension.


  1. In the new installer window, click Digital Editions Installer.

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  1. Click Continue, then Continue, and then Accept to accept the terms of the software license agreement.

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  1. Click Continue, then click Install, then enter your Mac's password and click Install Software to begin the installation.

  2. Once the installation is complete, click Close to close the installer.