Do Audible Books Expire? (Explained & Solved)

Audible is arguably the king of the audiobook world and part of the reason for its success lies in the huge library of content that users get to experience.

However, Audible audiobooks are accessed in different ways using different subscription methods and payment methods, and as such, it has led to some confusion around when books may expire.

In this article, we look at the questions about Audible books expiring to ensure you know everything you need to.

How Long do Audible Books Last?

Any books purchased on Audible are accessible forever, regardless of membership status. However, books from the Plus Catalog will only last as long as the user is subscribed to Audible. Books from the Plus Catalog are periodically updated, meaning that some books will not remain accessible forever.

Do Audible Books Disappear Once You’re Done with Them?

If you’re slowly reaching the end of an epic audiobook that you’re sure you’ll want to listen to again, you may be worried that it’ll disappear once you’re finished.

Thankfully, that won’t happen. All content that is added to your library will stay in your library long after you finished listening to it. In fact, unless you choose to remove it from your library yourself, it will remain there forever.

• The only content that you can permanently remove from your library is the titles that you have selected from Audible’s Plus Catalog.
• You can remove titles from a device by deleting the download, but it will remain in your library.
• You can also choose to archive titles. However, this does not mean that the title will be lost to you.

Even content that you no longer have access to after canceling your subscription, such as titles from the Plus Catalog, will still appear unless you choose to remove them.

This allows your library to act as a record of all you’ve ever listened to and also the titles you are yet to listen to.

If you want to dip back into an old story, then simply navigate to your Audible library from either the Audible website or the app on your device, then browse your collection of audiobooks to find the one that set fire to your imagination.

Revisiting your favorite audiobooks is possible even without a subscription, as you will always retain access to your Audible library.

If you’re struggling to find an audiobook on Audible that was previously in your library, then don’t panic, it’s probably still there.

The first thing that all users should do if they believe that their Audible library is not listing an audiobook that they know should be there is to refresh the library.

How to Refresh your Audible Library on an Android Device to Find your Missing Audiobook:

1. Before you attempt a manual refresh, try swiping down. This should activate the refresh animation (a spinning circle).
   • If this does not solve the problem immediately, then take the next steps.
2. Tap ‘Profile’ followed by the gear icon.
3. Now select ‘Help & Support’
4. Tap the three vertical dots.
5. Now choose ‘Full Library Refresh’
6. You should see your book titles at the top of the Titles and All section.

How to Refresh your Audible Library on iOS to Find your Missing Audiobook:

1. Launch the Audible app on your iOS device.
2. Tap ‘Profile’ followed by the gear icon, which will be found in the top right corner of your screen.
3. Next, select ‘Data & Storage’
4. Choose ‘Refresh Library’
5. Finally, navigate back to your library and select ‘Titles’ and then ‘All Titles’

Remember, refresh times vary. If you have a lot of audiobooks in your library, it will take much longer for the refresh process to complete.

As previously mentioned, it is possible to archive audiobooks you own. Archiving audiobooks helps clear audiobooks out of the way so you can find your brand-new books more quickly.

However, if you’ve accidentally archived some of your audiobooks, then you may fall into the trap of believing that they’ve disappeared.

Here’s How to Remove your Missing Audible Book from your Archive:

Removing an audiobook from archives and bringing it back to your library is simple and identical on both Android and iOS devices.

Just follow the instructions below:

1. Launch the Audible app on your device.
2. Open the Library and then select ‘Collections’
3. Now open ‘Archive’
4. Tap the 3 dots found by the title of the book you thought had disappeared.
5. Choose ‘Remove from Archive’
6. Return to your Library and you’ll find that it has been restored.
7. Now you can choose to download the title onto your device if you wish.

If these solutions did not help you find your missing Audible audiobook then try the following:

• Signing out and back into your account.
• Ensuring your library is displaying ‘All Titles’ in the filter.
• Confirming that you are in the correct marketplace for your geographical region.

Please also read our article about why some books aren’t available in your region!

Are Audible Books Yours to Keep Forever?

Understanding whether the books you have in your library are yours to keep forever depends on two factors:

1. Whether you purchased them.
2. Or whether have borrowed them from the Plus Catalog.

Audible subscribers have access to Audible’s Plus Catalog. The Plus Catalog consists of thousands of titles that are available to listen to at no extra cost and allows unlimited listening.

The Plus Catalog is one of Audible’s most alluring perks to becoming an Audible member, as there is something to suit all tastes, and moreover, includes Audible Originals and exclusive content.

However, Plus Catalog titles are not yours to keep forever unless, of course, you purchase them. 

Here’s more on the Plus Catalog:

• Both members and non-members alike can purchase audiobooks on Audible to keep forever.
• Purchases can be made on the desktop site, the mobile site, and the mobile app.
• You can choose to pay for your audiobooks with either a credit card, a coupon, or the free credits included with your membership plan.
• These titles will never leave your library once purchased and can be listened to whenever you want, even without a current subscription to Audible.

Is There any way You can Lose a Book on Audible?

It’s fairly difficult to lose your books on Audible. All titles should appear in your library unless you accidentally archive them.

You can remove titles from your device, but you will always be able to find them again in your library to redownload at your leisure.

However, there are cases in which a title that was available on the Plus Catalog is removed – if this happens then you will no longer have unlimited access to it and would have to purchase it in order to listen to it again.

Luckily, Audible ensures that customers are made aware if a title is due to be removed from the Plus Catalog.

“If a title is leaving the Plus Catalog in the next month, we display an ‘Included until’ message on the product detail page, the home screen, the Library and the search results page.”

[Source: Audible.com]

Understanding the time and date on which the title will be leaving the Plus Catalog is crucial to ensuring you’re not caught out and lose the book you’ve been listening to.

There are many places that Audible displays the ‘Included until’ message on the platform so that you can plan accordingly.

Despite the fact that the Plus Catalog does remove books, you can be sure that they’ll be replaced with even more great content.

Audible states that the Plus Catalog is continually growing and evolving to give members more of what they love to listen to.

Do FREE Audible Book Titles Expire?

Audible’s credit system is a fantastic way of getting your hands on some free audiobooks. Credits are an Audible currency that is used in place of spending on your credit card.

Audible Premium Plus members are granted credits (the amount of credits depends on the exact plan you are currently on), and these credits can be used to purchase content on Audible.

Titles that you buy using credits are yours to keep forever – they never expire.

Furthermore, users who sign up for a free trial will also be given one free credit to spend as they like on an audiobook of their choosing.

Once again, the audiobook that they purchase using this free credit will never expire. That’s a pretty good incentive to give the free trial a whirl!

However, there are some cases in which the credits themselves expire. Credits usually expire after one year after purchase, with the exception of credits received via membership on the iOS app or Google Play.

What Happens to Your Books if you Cancel the Subscription?

Sometimes we get to a stage in which a subscription is not working for us. Whatever your reason for needing to cancel your Audible subscription, it’s important to understand what happens when you do.

Once your membership plan ceases with Audible, you’ll be pleased to know that not everything is lost:

• All purchased books will always be accessible even after the user cancels their subscription to Audible. This includes any audiobooks that were purchased with credits, too.
• Access to the Plus Catalog, however, will not be possible.
• The Plus Catalog titles that you were listening to or you planned to listen to will still appear in your library but will have a lock symbol on them.
• Most members will want to spend any remaining credits they have before canceling their membership, as any unspent credits will be lost once the subscription ends.
• Any remaining credits included in an iOS app membership or Google Play membership with Audible still be available even after cancellation.

Check out our article about what happens to Audible credits when you cancel your membership.

How Long do you Have to Read a Book on Audible?

The length of time you have to get through books on Audible depends on the factors that we’ve covered above.

If you’ve purchased a title using any of the payment methods, whether that’s a straight purchase with your credit card, or using a free credit included in your membership or free trial, then it’s yours to keep forever.

You can take as long as you like when it comes to listening to purchased audiobooks on Audible.

When it comes to titles in the Plus Catalog, however, the duration of time you can take to listen to that Audiobook will vary.

Listening to Plus Catalog titles is a perk that comes with being an active member of Audible. So the length of time you have to listen to an audiobook included in the Plus Catalog is dependent on how long you choose to subscribe and pay for the service.

Once your subscription ends, so does the time you have to finish the book you’re listening to.

Moreover, there are titles that leave the Plus Catalog altogether. Keeping an eye on what titles are leaving will give you the time frame in which you need to complete that book.

Sources

Will my Audiobooks Disappear After I’ve Listened to Them?

Why isn’t my Audiobook Showing up on my Android Device?

How Long do Titles Stay in the Plus Catalog?

Why do Credits Expire?