Search by ISBN number

Enter an ISBN number to find a book.

This tool can also help you validate an ISBN number, fix an incorrect or incomplete ISBN, or convert between ISBN-10 and ISBN-13.

What's an ISBN number?

The ISBN is a unique serial number for a book. It's usually printed next to the barcode on the back of the book, and on the copyright page.

Each edition of a book has its own ISBN. For example, hardcover and paperback versions of a book will have different ISBN numbers.

The ISBN can have 10 digits (ISBN-10) or 13 digits (ISBN-13). ISBN-10 is an older format which can be converted to an ISBN-13.

Do all books have an ISBN?

Most modern books do, but since ISBN numbers were introduced in the 1970s, books published before then will not have an ISBN number. If they are reprinted today, the new edition will be assigned an ISBN.

Note that some ebooks do not have an ISBN number. In theory, each edition of an ebook for each reading platform should have its own ISBN, but some publishers decide not to assign ISBN numbers to their ebooks. In particular, Amazon does not assign ISBN numbers to Kindle books, and uses ASIN instead.

How many ISBN numbers are there?

There are currently 1,015,265,960 possible ISBN numbers, if we take into account all ranges currently assigned by the International ISBN Agency, with only a fraction of these actually in use. As there is no centralized database for ISBN numbers, it is hard to estimate the number of ISBNs that were actually assigned to a book.

Nicebooks currently has 100,830,000 ISBN numbers on file.

Structure of an ISBN

An ISBN-13 is composed of five parts:

978

123

45678

An ISBN-10 has a similar structure, without the prefix:

123

45678

Prefix: Currently 978 or 979. Combined with the registration group, it identifies the geographic or language area.

Registration group: Combined with the prefix, identifies the country, region, or language area where the book was published.

Registrant: Identifies the publisher or imprint that published the book.

Publication: Identifies the specific edition and format (hardcover, paperback, ebook, etc.).

Check digit: Validates the ISBN number to detect transcription errors. Can be 0-9, or the letter X in an ISBN-10.

An ISBN-10 can be converted to an ISBN-13 by prefixing it with 978 and recomputing the check digit. Conversely, an ISBN-13 starting with 978 can be converted to an ISBN-10.

Registration groups

Each ISBN number starts with a prefix that indicates which group it belongs to. A group is typically associated with a specific country or language.

In the United Kingdom, the most common groups in use are:

Prefix	Group	Group name
978	0	English language
978	1	English language

There are a total of 283 groups worldwide:

978-0: English language
978-1: English language
978-2: French language
978-3: German language
978-4: Japan
978-5: Former USSR
978-600: Iran
978-601: Kazakhstan
978-602: Indonesia
978-603: Saudi Arabia
978-604: Vietnam
978-605: Turkey
978-606: Romania
978-607: Mexico
978-608: North Macedonia
978-609: Lithuania
978-611: Thailand
978-612: Peru
978-613: Mauritius
978-614: Lebanon
978-615: Hungary
978-616: Thailand
978-617: Ukraine
978-618: Greece
978-619: Bulgaria
978-620: Mauritius
978-621: Philippines
978-622: Iran
978-623: Indonesia
978-624: Sri Lanka
978-625: Turkey
978-626: Taiwan
978-627: Pakistan
978-628: Colombia
978-629: Malaysia
978-630: Romania
978-631: Argentina
978-632: Vietnam
978-633: Egypt
978-634: Indonesia
978-65: Brazil
978-7: China
978-80: Former Czechoslovakia
978-81: India
978-82: Norway
978-83: Poland
978-84: Spain
978-85: Brazil
978-86: Former Yugoslavia
978-87: Denmark
978-88: Italy
978-89: South Korea
978-90: Netherlands
978-91: Sweden
978-92: International NGO Publishers and EU Organizations
978-93: India
978-94: Netherlands
978-950: Argentina
978-951: Finland
978-952: Finland
978-953: Croatia
978-954: Bulgaria
978-955: Sri Lanka
978-956: Chile
978-957: Taiwan
978-958: Colombia
978-959: Cuba
978-960: Greece
978-961: Slovenia
978-962: Hong Kong
978-963: Hungary
978-964: Iran
978-965: Israel
978-966: Ukraine
978-967: Malaysia
978-968: Mexico
978-969: Pakistan
978-970: Mexico
978-971: Philippines
978-972: Portugal
978-973: Romania
978-974: Thailand
978-975: Turkey
978-976: Caribbean Community
978-977: Egypt
978-978: Nigeria
978-979: Indonesia
978-980: Venezuela
978-981: Singapore
978-982: South Pacific
978-983: Malaysia
978-984: Bangladesh
978-985: Belarus
978-986: Taiwan
978-987: Argentina
978-988: Hong Kong
978-989: Portugal
978-9906: Tajikistan
978-9907: Ecuador
978-9908: Estonia
978-9909: Tunisia
978-9910: Uzbekistan
978-9911: Montenegro
978-9912: Tanzania
978-9913: Uganda
978-9914: Kenya
978-9915: Uruguay
978-9916: Estonia
978-9917: Bolivia
978-9918: Malta
978-9919: Mongolia
978-9920: Morocco
978-9921: Kuwait
978-9922: Iraq
978-9923: Jordan
978-9924: Cambodia
978-9925: Cyprus
978-9926: Bosnia and Herzegovina
978-9927: Qatar
978-9928: Albania
978-9929: Guatemala
978-9930: Costa Rica
978-9931: Algeria
978-9932: Laos
978-9933: Syria
978-9934: Latvia
978-9935: Iceland
978-9936: Afghanistan
978-9937: Nepal
978-9938: Tunisia
978-9939: Armenia
978-9940: Montenegro
978-9941: Georgia
978-9942: Ecuador
978-9943: Uzbekistan
978-9944: Turkey
978-9945: Dominican Republic
978-9946: North Korea
978-9947: Algeria
978-9948: United Arab Emirates
978-9949: Estonia
978-9950: Palestine
978-9951: Kosovo
978-9952: Azerbaijan
978-9953: Lebanon
978-9954: Morocco
978-9955: Lithuania
978-9956: Cameroon
978-9957: Jordan
978-9958: Bosnia and Herzegovina
978-9959: Libya
978-9960: Saudi Arabia
978-9961: Algeria
978-9962: Panama
978-9963: Cyprus
978-9964: Ghana
978-9965: Kazakhstan
978-9966: Kenya
978-9967: Kyrgyzstan
978-9968: Costa Rica
978-9969: Algeria
978-9970: Uganda
978-9971: Singapore
978-9972: Peru
978-9973: Tunisia
978-9974: Uruguay
978-9975: Moldova
978-9976: Tanzania
978-9977: Costa Rica
978-9978: Ecuador
978-9979: Iceland
978-9980: Papua New Guinea
978-9981: Morocco
978-9982: Zambia
978-9983: Gambia
978-9984: Latvia
978-9985: Estonia
978-9986: Lithuania
978-9987: Tanzania
978-9988: Ghana
978-9989: North Macedonia
978-99901: Bahrain
978-99902: Reserved Agency
978-99903: Mauritius
978-99904: Curaçao
978-99905: Bolivia
978-99906: Kuwait
978-99908: Malawi
978-99909: Malta
978-99910: Sierra Leone
978-99911: Lesotho
978-99912: Botswana
978-99913: Andorra
978-99914: International NGO Publishers
978-99915: Maldives
978-99916: Namibia
978-99917: Brunei
978-99918: Faroe Islands
978-99919: Benin
978-99920: Andorra
978-99921: Qatar
978-99922: Guatemala
978-99923: El Salvador
978-99924: Nicaragua
978-99925: Paraguay
978-99926: Honduras
978-99927: Albania
978-99928: Georgia
978-99929: Mongolia
978-99930: Armenia
978-99931: Seychelles
978-99932: Malta
978-99933: Nepal
978-99934: Dominican Republic
978-99935: Haiti
978-99936: Bhutan
978-99937: Macau
978-99938: Republic of Srpska
978-99939: Guatemala
978-99940: Georgia
978-99941: Armenia
978-99942: Sudan
978-99943: Albania
978-99944: Ethiopia
978-99945: Namibia
978-99946: Nepal
978-99947: Tajikistan
978-99948: Eritrea
978-99949: Mauritius
978-99950: Cambodia
978-99951: Reserved Agency
978-99952: Mali
978-99953: Paraguay
978-99954: Bolivia
978-99955: Republic of Srpska
978-99956: Albania
978-99957: Malta
978-99958: Bahrain
978-99959: Luxembourg
978-99960: Malawi
978-99961: El Salvador
978-99962: Mongolia
978-99963: Cambodia
978-99964: Nicaragua
978-99965: Macau
978-99966: Kuwait
978-99967: Paraguay
978-99968: Botswana
978-99969: Oman
978-99970: Haiti
978-99971: Myanmar
978-99972: Faroe Islands
978-99973: Mongolia
978-99974: Bolivia
978-99975: Tajikistan
978-99976: Republic of Srpska
978-99977: Rwanda
978-99978: Mongolia
978-99979: Honduras
978-99980: Bhutan
978-99981: Macau
978-99982: Benin
978-99983: El Salvador
978-99984: Brunei
978-99985: Tajikistan
978-99986: Myanmar
978-99987: Luxembourg
978-99988: Sudan
978-99989: Paraguay
978-99990: Ethiopia
978-99991: Burkina Faso
978-99992: Oman
978-99993: Mauritius
978-99994: Haiti
978-99995: Seychelles
978-99996: Macau
978-99997: Republic of Srpska
978-99998: Namibia
979-10: France
979-11: South Korea
979-12: Italy
979-13: Spain
979-8: United States