Page numbers are missing or wrong

You may see different page counts than you expected or duplicate page numbers in books you bought on Google Play Books.

Different page count than listing (computer & mobile)

When you open a book you bought or rented on Google Play, it may have a different page count than you saw on the book’s details page.

Page counts listed in details pages are usually based on the number of pages in a physical copy of the book. Most books will adjust to the size of the screen you’re using to read them. For example, page counts may differ when you read a book on your tablet or on your phone.

Seeing the same page number on more than one page (computer)

When you adjust a book in “flowing text” mode on your computer, you may notice the same page number appears on more than one page. Changing text size, font, or line spacing can cause this to happen.

What is flowing text mode?

Books in “flowing text” mode change to fit your screen when you make changes to page features like font size or line spacing. Many books on Google Play automatically use this mode.

If you don’t like reading in flowing text mode, you can view the original scanned pages of a book. In “original pages” mode, you can’t adjust font size, line spacing, or other page formatting.

To switch between flowing text and original pages:

Open the book.
Touch the center of the page > Menu > Original pages. To change back, touch Flowing text.

To make page numbers appear once per page again

Close the Google Play Books web reader app on your computer.
Reopen the app and choose the book you want to read. Any format changes you made will return to the way they were when you first opened the book.

Pages missing because book downloaded incorrectly (mobile)

If you’re using a mobile device, the book may not have downloaded correctly. Try the following.

Open the Google Play Books app.
On the cover of the book that isn’t working right, touch Menu > Remove download > OK.
Make sure you’re connected to a WiFi or cellular network.
Touch the cover of the book you want to re-download.

Need more help?

Dan is a Google Play expert and author of this help page. Leave him feedback below about the page.

Was this article helpful?

How can we improve it?