How to Fix It if Book Chapters Are Missing in the Audible App

What to know

•  Chapter indexing option on the Audible app’s playback screen can become unavailable due to bugs, incomplete file downloads, library sync issues, corrupted cache, and the like.
• To fix the issue and bring back the ‘Chapters’ icon on the Audible app, you can update the app from the Play Store or the App Store, remove the audiobook from your device and redownload it, and adjust the display size setting on your device.
• You can also go into Profile > Settings > Data & Storage and change download quality and download the book in multiple parts.
• Other fixes include refreshing the library or resetting the application from Profile > Settings > Help and support > three-dot menu, as well as clearing the app cache, and reinstalling the app.   

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If audiobooks are nuggets of gold, the Audible app is the goldmine. With thousands of audiobooks in a variety of genres, the Audible app is the usual stomping ground for book lovers that lets them browse, buy, and listen to their books, pause and resume their listening from where they left off, speed up the narration, and skip to the chapters they deem most useful. But for all such listener-friendly features, the Audible app is not without its issues.

Every now and then, users tend to encounter bugs and problems with important features that can derail their listening experience. One such issue is when the chapters of the book are not available from Audible’s playback screen, which can be quite frustrating if you want to go back or forward to a chapter or just to see the chapter titles.

However, this can be fixed with relative ease. Here’s everything you need to know to fix the ‘Book chapters not available’ issue on the Audible app.

Book chapters not available in the Audible app? 9 ways to fix

When you download and start listening to an audiobook on the Audible app, its contents and chapter titles are available under the ‘Chapters’ icon (which looks like a table of contents with three horizontal lines). On the Audible app for both Android and iOS devices, the Chapters icon is found on the player screen above the progress bar to the left. 

If you don’t see the Chapters option on the player screen, that is when you know that something’s gone wrong with the app.

However, this can be fixed easily with the solutions given below.

Note: Though we’ve included examples for Android devices for demonstration purposes, they’re similar (if not the same) to the Audible app for iOS as well. 

FIX 1: Update App

The Audible app gets regular updates to patch known bugs which many users have found useful in fixing the ‘chapters not available’ issue. So it’s the first thing you should do too. 

Open the Play Store or the App Store, search for Audible, and check if any updates are available. If there are, tap on Update.

Then launch the Audible app and open your audiobook to see if the Chapters icon is restored. 

Related: How to Read and Listen to Book at Same Time on Kindle [2023]

FIX 2: Delete and re-download the book

Often, the problem lies not with the app but with the downloaded file itself. This can happen if the audiobook has encountered issues while downloading. If certain elements haven’t been downloaded properly, such as the metadata that is responsible for the chapters list, you may not see the chapters icon itself. The fix in this case is simple.

Firstly, launch the Audible app, and tap on Library.

Tap on the three-dot icon next to the book whose chapters are missing.

Select Remove from device.

Once deleted, tap on the file to download it again. 

Wait for the download to complete before you start listening. Once complete, tap on the book to open the playback screen and check if the Chapter titles are available. 

Related: How to Get Audible Titles Not for Sale in Your Country

FIX 3: Change Download Quality from ‘Data & Storage’ Settings

Changing the quality of the file can sometimes resolve issues related to playback, including ones involving missing elements like Chapter titles. To apply this fix, open the Audible app and tap on Profile.

Then select Settings (gear icon).

Tap on Data & Storage.

Under ‘Download Quality’, change the quality of file downloads. If it is set to Standard, switch to High. If it’s already at High, switch to Standard. 

Then remove the audiobook from your device and re-download it as shown in the previous fix. Once downloaded, check if the issue is resolved and if the chapter titles are available now.  

Related: How to download Audible books and convert AAX to MP3 on PC

FIX 4: Download the audiobook in parts

By default, a complete audiobook is downloaded as a single file. The Audible app then parses the file according to its metadata to show the chapters within it. But if the process is hindered along the way because of missing or incomplete parts, the ‘Chapters’ become unavailable. 

To fix this issue, you can change the download type so that the audiobook is downloaded in parts. Here’s how:

Launch the Audible app, tap on Library, then tap on the three-dot icon next to the affected title and select Remove from Device.

Then tap on the Profile icon.

Tap on Settings.

Select Data & Storage.

Scroll down and select Multi-part under ‘Download by parts’.

Return to your library and tap on your audiobook to download it again. 

Wait for the audiobook to finish downloading and then play to check if the Chapters section is available from the playback screen.   

FIX 5: Adjust Display size setting on your device

A few Reddit users have found a rather ingenious fix to this issue. By simply increasing or decreasing the font size, they were able to get the ‘Chapters’ option back on the playback screen. You too may be able to fix the issue similarly. Here’s how to adjust the display size settings on your Android device:

Open the Settings app on your device, and select Display.

Select Display size and text.

Here, use the slider under ‘Display size’ to make everything bigger or smaller. 

Once done, return to the Audible app, open a title, and check if the ‘Chapters’ icon is available again.

FIX 5: Refresh Library from Help

Your Audible library is synced and refreshed whenever you add or remove titles or make any other changes. But it is not always guaranteed to work as such. If you don’t see the ‘Chapters’ icon for any of your audiobook titles, you may have to force refresh your library. Here’s how:

In the Audible app, select Profile > Settings > Help & Support. 

On the Help & Support page, tap on the three-dot icon at the top right corner.

Select Full Library Refresh.

Then open a title from the Library, and check if Chapters are available again. 

FIX 6: Reset Application from Help

Sometimes, the problem lies with the temporary cache data that’s been accumulated over time as well as the partial downloads that didn’t complete. Audible lets you remove all this and reset the app so that you can start afresh. Here’s how to reset the application from within the Audible app:

In the Audible app, select Profile > Settings > Help & Support. On the Help & Support page, tap on the three-dot icon at the top right corner as shown before.

Then select Reset Application.

When prompted, click OK.

Once the reset is complete, open a title from your Library and check if the issue has been resolved.

FIX 7: Clear app cache

As an alternative to the previous fix, you can also clear Audible’s app cache from App settings on your device. Here’s how:

Tap and hold on the Audible app icon and select the i button (App Information).

Select Storage and cache.

Here, tap on Clear cache.

Then launch Audible and check if the issue is resolved. 

FIX 8: Sign out and Sign in again

Signing out and signing back into the app may not sound like a big fix. But it can sometimes do the trick. If you haven’t tried this fix already, sign out from the Audible app by going to Profile > Settings > Sign out.

Select Sign out again to confirm.

On the sign-in page, make sure that the selected marketplace is the correct one.

Then tap on Sign in.

Enter your email and password and sign back in. Go to your library, open a title, and check if the ‘Chapters’ option is available from the playback screen. 

FIX 9: Uninstall and reinstall the app

When all else fails, it’s time to do a clean sweep and reinstall the Audible app on your device. Though this will remove your downloaded books, it won’t have any impact on your library or your purchased books. So go ahead and Uninstall the Audible app on your device. 

Then reinstall Audible from the Play Store or the App Store. 

And sign in as usual. 

Download the books in your library and play them as usual. You should get back the ‘Chapters’ icon on the playback screen.

FAQ

Let’s take a look at a few commonly asked queries about fixing playback issues on the Audible app.

Will I lose my book position if I remove an Audible title and then redownload it?

No, you won’t lose the position in your book if you remove your Audible title from your device and then re-download it. The narration will pick up from where you left off. 

Why are some of my Audible books not available?

There are a few reasons why your Audible books may no longer be available in your library. Audible title availability depends on your geographical location and whether Audible has the licensing agreement to sell it in your region. It’s also possible that Audible has removed the title from its platform. But if you’re sure that the title is available but it’s not available in your library, open ‘Help & Support’ from the Settings page in the Audible app, tap on the three-dot icon at the top right corner, and select ‘Full Library Refresh’.  

How do I change my Audible region?

To change your Audible region, you will have to change the Audible marketplace that you’re signed into. To do so, first log out from the Audible app. Then, on the sign-in page, tap on ‘Marketplaces’ and select your Audible region and sign back in. 

Why can’t I see chapters for some Audible audiobooks?

If you aren’t able to see the chapters for some Audible audiobooks, it’s possible that the book itself doesn’t include chapters. On the other hand, if the chapters were available before, it may be an issue with the app itself. Refer to our guide above to know how to fix it. 

For all its user-friendly features, the Audible app is not without its bugs and issues. This is evident from the frequent app updates Audible gets, most of which are only for bug fixes and improvements. In any case, the issues related to the app can be fixed with ease. We hope this guide helped you fix issues related to the unavailability of book chapters on the Audible app. Until next time! Keep reading.