Read LIT files in your browser
The e-books of Microsoft Reader, sold and shared until Microsoft ended it in 2012. Read a LIT right here, on book-sized pages. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your book opens on pages the size of a paperback, its contents beside them.
- Book-sized pages • Its own fonts and pictures
- Contents • Jump to any chapter
- Reflow • The text fitted to your screen
- Export • Save as PDF or Markdown
About LIT
Microsoft Reader came out in 2000 for Windows and Pocket PCs, with ClearType text that read well on screen, and bookshops sold many books as .lit files. Microsoft stopped selling them in 2011 and ended Reader in 2012, so no app of Microsoft's opens them any longer.
A LIT file packs an Open eBook publication into Microsoft's ITOLITLS container: its pages in a compact binary HTML compressed with LZX, its stylesheets, pictures and package. Books sold in shops were sealed with DRM, while many free and personal books weren't.
Filepeek reads the container, unpacks the LZX and rebuilds each page, then lays the book out on pages the size of a paperback, with its pictures and contents. A book sealed with DRM says so instead of opening.
Microsoft Reader e-book
.lit
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-ms-reader
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Released
- 2000
Inside the file
- Pages
- Binary HTML, compressed with LZX
- Pictures
- Covers and illustrations
- Package
- Its title, authors and reading order
- DRM
- On books sold in shops
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens LIT books without DRM on pages in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, with nothing to install. On their own, browsers download them.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open LIT
- WindowsCalibre, for books without DRM • Microsoft Reader ended in 2012
- MacCalibre, for books without DRM
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I open a LIT file now that Microsoft Reader is gone?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a LIT. It opens as a book in your browser, on Windows, a Mac, Linux or a phone.
Why doesn't my LIT open?
Books bought from shops were sealed with Microsoft's DRM, and Filepeek says when a book is. Free and personal books open.
Can I save it as a PDF?
Yes. Choose Export, then Save as PDF, and the book's pages go into a PDF.