Remove a person or a device from a library

There are five things that look alike but are not the same. This table tells you which is which; below it, each one with its steps. To get to them, open the app menu (on a phone, the three bars at the top left).

I want to…	Where	What happens
Stop a person from entering a library	“People and permissions”, “Remove from…”	They stop receiving that library, and their devices delete it
Remove access from one device of a person (it was lost or stolen)	“People and permissions”, “Remove this device’s access”	That device stops receiving changes from those libraries
Unpair two devices at home (connected so they pass changes to each other)	“Sharing and devices”, “Unpair”	They stop passing changes; nothing is deleted
Remove a device from my account (mine was lost)	“Settings”, your name, “My devices”, “Remove from my account”	That device stops using your account, and it will delete its libraries when it connects
Give my phone to someone else	“Settings”, “Reset this device”	The phone is left as if you had just installed the app: no libraries and no account

Only whoever administers a library can remove people or devices from it.

Remove a person from a library

For example, someone has left the book club.

1. Open the menu and go to “People and permissions”.
2. Open the person and choose “Remove from” and the name of the library.
3. Read the notice and tap the button that says “Remove” and their name.

What happens, as the app says it:

• They can no longer enter, neither with their devices nor with their account.
• Their devices delete the library the next time they connect to the internet or to the Wi-Fi at home. Until then, they do not know.
• Their name stays in the library: their books are still theirs, and what they marked (for example, whether they have read it) is kept. In “People” they appear as “No access”.
• What they have already copied or photographed outside the app cannot be taken back.

The app does not let you remove the last person who administers, because then nobody could change the permissions. First, make another person an administrator.

Give access back

If you change your mind, open the person and tap “Give access back”. They can enter again, but their libraries do not come back to their devices by themselves. Afterwards you have to give access again to one of their devices with “Give a device access” (or, if they have an account, with an invitation; see The cloud).

Remove access from a lost or stolen device

If one of a person’s devices has been lost, remove that device, not the person.

1. Open the menu and go to “People and permissions”.
2. Open its owner and, next to the device, tap the three-dot icon (⋮) and “Remove this device’s access”.
3. The app tells you which libraries it will stop receiving. Confirm with the button “Remove access”.

What happens: that device will not receive more changes, and the changes it makes will not be taken into account. If it connects again one day, it will delete those libraries. Its owner keeps their other devices.

If the device had your account open, it is also advisable for its owner to remove it from their account (see below) or to change the password. See I lost my phone.

Remove a device from your account

If one of your devices has been lost and you have an account: on another device, open “Settings”, tap your name, go to “My devices” and tap “Remove from my account” next to the lost one. That device stops using your account and, when it connects, it will delete its libraries. Until it connects you can tap “Undo”. This does not affect what that device had shared with other people: for that, use “Remove this device’s access”.

Unpair two devices at home

If you only want two devices at home to stop passing changes to each other: open “Sharing and devices”, tap the three-dot icon (⋮) of the device and “Unpair”. No book is deleted. For them to pass changes again, you will have to pair them again (Share at home).

Careful: “Unpair” is not “Remove access”. It only makes that device stop being paired with the phone you are using to do it; it is not a way to kick it out.

Reset your phone as new

To give it to someone else (or sell it): open the menu, go to “Settings” and tap “Reset this device”.

The phone is left as if you had just installed the app: all the libraries are deleted from it and, if you had one open, your account. What is in the cloud or on your other devices is not touched. If a library existed only on that phone, it is lost: save a backup first (Backups, export and import).

Do not confuse it with “Sign out”, which deletes nothing: it is for when you are the one who will come back.