Help center

eTextbook & app support

Tips for using eTextbooks and the mobile app

eTextbooks and Pearson+

A Pearson eTextbook is an easy-to-use digital version of your book for class that includes upgraded study tools to help you learn how you learn best. Use enhanced search to find what you need within your eTextbook, highlight and make notes to mark important info, generate flashcards to test your knowledge, and use audio to listen to the text. Every feature is designed to help you learn more efficiently and get results. Plus, you can learn on the go with the Pearson+ app. Find this and more in your eTextbook, available in Pearson+.

When you purchase an eTextbook, you’ll access it in your library from the app or on the web. You can also find the eTextbook from a link in My learning on pearson.com.

When you buy an eTextbook subscription, you’ll have access to each eTextbook for as long as you subscribe.

Some eTextbooks are not available on Pearson+. You can go to pearson.com to buy other eTextbooks separately.

You can exchange your eTextbook for another title in the first 14 days of your subscription term. Sign in to Pearson+, go to My account and then select Exchange eTextbook. Your subscription term will not change.

Need to exchange your eTextbook but are near the end of your 6-month subscription term? If you purchased your eTextbook from Pearson directly, you can exchange it and continue for another 6 months with the new eTextbook. If you purchased your eTextbook from a bookstore, you’ll need to buy a new access code from the bookstore.

Devices and system requirements

You can use the Pearson+ app on up to 2 authorized devices at once. For example, if you are using the Pearson+ app on a phone and tablet, that’s 2 devices.

You can also access your eTextbook using the web browser on your computer. Only 1 web browser can access an eTextbook at a time.

You can use eTextbooks with our free app on your smartphone or tablet. Or, you can use the browser on your computer.

You can swap 1 of your 2 authorized devices for a new device each month. Once you’ve made a swap, you won’t be able to do so again until the next calendar month.

If you reach your device limit and have used your monthly device swap, you’ll need to chat with us through Pearson Virtual Assistant to re-access the app. Have your email address handy.

The Pearson+ mobile app runs on a wide variety of Apple and Android devices, including:

iPhone®, iPad®, or iPod touch®
iOS 15.0 or later
Download from the Apple App Store

Android smartphones or tablets
Android 6.0 or later
Download from Google Play

You can use your eTextbook with both Microsoft® Windows and MacOS (OS X) operating systems. Pearson+ is supported by Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari.

Microsoft® Windows 10
Recommended: Chrome (Current version)
Also supported: Firefox (current version) and Edge

macOS (OS X) 10.13, 10.14, 10.15
Recommended: Safari (current version)
Also supported: Google Chrome and Firefox (current versions)

Using the app

You’ll use the same credentials to access:

Pearson+
eTextbooks
Pearson+ app
Pearson.com
MyLab
Mastering
Revel
Channels

If you already have a Pearson username and password, you’re all set.

We’ll let you know when we’ve updated something. To see our new features, go to Help & support and then Quick walkthrough.

eTextbook features

Any highlights and notes you add when working offline in the app are synced to the browser view of the eTextbook after the app is back online.

To create a highlight

From the book content, select (or press and hold) a word and drag, releasing at the end of the passage you want to highlight. In select eTextbooks, you can also highlight an image (includes figures and tables) or video
Select a highlight color
[Optional] Select New Note (pencil icon) to add a note associated with the highlight. A marker appears in the right margin where a note has been saved

To edit a highlight

Select anywhere on the highlight
Select a new highlight color
Select Edit note (pencil in square icon) to change your associated note

To review a list of your book-based notes, select Notebook (notebook icon) from the navigation menu. You can also search for notes using the Search (magnifying glass icon) feature.

Use the Notebook to help you study and prepare for tests. The Notebook for your eTextbook may have some or all of the features described below.

Open the Notebook

Select Notebook (notebook icon) from the navigation menu.

Add notes without a book highlight

Select Create to write your note and give it a title (optional).
Optionally, add a hashtag in the note text to categorize your note, such as #skeletalsystem
- Categories you create are listed at the bottom of the note
- A note can be tagged with multiple hashtags

Review notes in the context of the book

You can narrow the list of notes that are in view by selecting Filter (filter icon). Then filter by chapter, highlight color, or tags to show only the notes you want. To show only your notes that are not associated with a book highlight, select Blank
Select any note to open it in the book

Edit your notes

To change the highlight color, update your note text, or add/remove tags, select Edit (pencil in square icon) in the toolbar
Select one or more cards
Select Edit (pencil in square icon) or Delete (trash can icon)

Export your notes

To export your notes, select Edit (pencil icon)
Select Export (export icon) and identify where you want to save the PDF

You can select any word in the eTextbook and search for it to find all the locations where it’s referenced. From an open page, select (or press and hold) a word and drag, releasing at the end of the word(s) you want to search. Then, select Search selection (magnifying class icon) from the menu.

From a book page, select Bookmark (Add bookmark icon) on the top right.

To see all of your bookmarks, from any book location, select Table of contents (table of contents icon) in the navigation menu and then go to the bookmarks tab. Your bookmarks are listed in chapter order. Select a bookmark to go to its location.

In the Study area of your eTextbook, you can create and edit flashcard decks to help you review and practice what you’ve learned.

Select Study tools (study tools icon) from the eTextbook navigation menu to view your study content and My decks. Choose a deck to open it.

To create a new deck and add flashcards

Select Create
On the Name your new deck screen, enter the deck name and select Next
On the Create flashcard screen, enter a term or question in the Front field and the definition or answer in the Back field
Select either Save and close or Add another to add more cards to your deck

To edit an existing flashcard deck

Select Edit (pencil icon) to the right of the deck name
On the Edit your deck screen, enter the deck name and select Save

To edit an individual flashcard within a deck

Select that deck to view the deck details page
Select the card you would like to edit in the card list
Make your edits to the front and back of the card and select Save

To create or edit flashcard decks from eTextbook content

From an open page, select text for the flashcard
Choose Create a flashcard from the menu that appears when you select the text
On the Create flashcard screen, the selected text will appear in the Back field
Enter a deck name in the Add to deck field and a term or question in the Front field. Select Save
To edit a flashcard from a page, select the same text and choose Edit flashcard from the menu

In an eTextbook, you can study with flashcards in two ways—in view mode or in practice mode.

From a deck, select either View all to see and browse all the cards in that deck or Practice to study a selection of 20 cards and track your progress.

In view mode

You can flip through all the cards in the deck. For multiple-choice questions, you'll see the correct answer on the front of the card. For other types of questions, select Flip to see the correct answer on the back
Correctness and progress are not tracked

In practice mode

An adaptive learning algorithm selects the 20 cards you should practice next based on your previous answers
Your responses are tracked and you’ll receive a score when you complete the study session. This score is then reflected in the overall progress bar for the deck

Select Search (magnifying glass icon) and enter your search term or phrase. Search results will include content and glossary terms. In some eTextbooks, results may also include images, videos, math and chemical equations, highlighted text, notes, and note tags.

Phrase searches — When searching on multiple words like atomic number, exact match results appear first followed by any matches to the individual terms, like atomic and number.

Filter your search by content type — After you enter a search term in some eTextbooks, you can filter the results to show matches of a particular content type only. You can filter by notes and highlights, chapters, media, figures, glossary, or content.

Select a search result to jump to that content in the eTextbook, whether a glossary definition, content snippet, or other result. In some eTextbooks, you can play a video from the results area.

You can also select any word in the eTextbook and search for it to find all the locations where it’s referenced. From an open page, select (or press and hold) a word and drag, releasing at the end of the word(s) you want to search. Then, select Search selection (magnifying class icon) from the menu.

It’s easy to track down videos and interactives in your eTextbook. Select Search (magnifying glass icon) from the navigation menu. Then:

Browse content in the Media key category. You’ll see all the media that are in your eTextbook including videos, interactives and images
Or, enter terms in the search bar. Some of the terms you can search for include figure (for images), video (for videos) and interactive (for flashcards)

Select a search result to jump to it in your eTextbook.

In most eTextbooks, you can adjust color, text size, fonts, and other display settings on the Display settings screen in the app.

Color mode – Select Light, Sepia, or Dark
Text size – Drag the slider to increase or decrease text size
Font options – Select from 5 screen-friendly fonts
Character case – Choose upper and lower case or all caps
Line spacing – Choose no spacing between lines, moderate spacing or more open spacing

Display settings cannot be adjusted in the app for some eTextbook titles, such as those in PDF.

When you’re reading an eTextbook on your browser, select Display setting (display settings icon) from the navigation menu to adjust font size, color contrast or show/hide highlights. The color contrast option is not available for PDF eTextbooks.

The table of contents is available from wherever you are in an eTextbook. Select Table of contents (list icon) to see the title Contents, your Bookmarks and your Recent locations. Select any of those to navigate to that location in your eTextbook.

You can also access your Notebook anytime by selecting Notebook (notebook icon). Select content within the eTextbook to create a note.

From an open page in your eTextbook, select Audio (headphone icon) in the navigation menu. The icon will turn red and the audio menu with play button and audio progress slider bar will become visible.

Select the play button to start or stop the audio
Drag the slider to advance or replay content

If you hide the audio menu while the audio is playing, the Audio headphone icon will be replaced by the Audio waves icon in the toolbar.

App troubleshooting

If you have an eTextbook subscription but the title you selected is not in your library, here are a few things to check.

Did you receive a confirmation email from us when you subscribed? If not, your subscription may not have been successfully processed.
Did you sign in with the same username you used when you subscribed? (You can find this in your Pearson+ welcome email.)
If your initial 4-month subscription term has ended and you didn't extend your subscription, you’ll no longer have access to the eTextbook and it will not appear in your library.

Need more help? Chat with us through the Virtual Assistant from anywhere in Pearson+.

Copy and paste functions are disabled in eTextbooks to protect the authors’ intellectual property. We’re investigating a solution that will allow students to copy small amounts of text, possibly along with citation information.

Not all eTextbooks have the audiobook feature yet. To see if yours does, go to an open page in your eTextbook and look for Audio (headphone icon) in the navigation menu. If the icon shows, audio is available. If you see the icon and still don’t have audio, ask our virtual assistant for help. We’re working to make audio available in all eTextbook titles.

Check your internet connection. The eTextbook app needs an internet connection to open links to media and websites.