You use an enchanted book in Minecraft by putting it in an anvil: place the item you want to enchant in the first slot, the book in the second, and take the result for the experience levels shown. Enchanted books can’t be read, equipped or used in an enchanting table; the anvil is the only way to move their enchantments onto gear in Survival. Below we cover the exact steps, what the anvil charges and why it climbs, how to combine books into stronger ones, and which items and enchantments only books can give you.
This guide is current for Minecraft Java Edition 26.3 and Bedrock Edition 26.50 (Wilderness Bound, released September 15, 2026). The process is the same on both editions; the level costs differ, as covered below.
How to Apply an Enchanted Book With an Anvil
Craft an anvil from 3 blocks of iron and 4 iron ingots (31 ingots in total), per Mojang’s help article. Then:
- Open the anvil. Right-click it on PC, or press LT on Xbox, L2 on PlayStation or ZL on Switch. On mobile, tap it.
- Put the item in the first slot, the one on the left. This is the item that keeps the enchantments.
- Put the enchanted book in the second slot.
- Check the cost. The anvil shows the enchanted result and the level cost. If you don’t have enough levels, you can’t take it.
- Take the result. The levels are charged, the book is used up, and the item now carries the book’s enchantments. You can type a new name in the text box at the top during the same operation.
If no result appears, the book holds nothing that item can take, or it conflicts with what the item already has, such as Silk Touch on a Fortune pickaxe. When a book carries several enchantments and only some fit, the anvil applies the ones that fit and the rest are lost, per the community wiki.
This is also the key difference from Minecraft Dungeons II, where books go into a reusable library at the Enchantsmith (see how enchanting works in Dungeons II). In the main game, an enchanted book is single-use.
Anvils wear out. Per the community wiki, each use has a 12% chance to degrade one stage, from anvil to chipped to damaged to gone, so keep spare iron.
Why the Cost Climbs, and the Too Expensive Wall
Every anvil operation on an item except a plain rename adds a prior work penalty, and the penalty roughly doubles each time: per the community wiki, it adds 0, then 1, 3, 7, 15 and 31 levels as the item’s anvil uses stack up. On top of that you pay for the enchantments themselves.
In Survival, if an operation would cost 40 levels or more, the anvil refuses with “Too Expensive!” no matter how many levels you have. Creative mode ignores the limit.
The two editions price the enchantments differently. Per the community wiki, Java charges for every enchantment on the book, while Bedrock mostly charges for the levels actually added to the item, so the same job is often much cheaper on Bedrock. Books are also cheaper to apply than sacrificing an enchanted item with the same enchantments, because the anvil uses a lower multiplier for books.
Ways to keep costs down:
- Merge books first. Combine books with each other, then apply one finished book to the item. The item picks up one anvil use instead of four or five.
- Pair up equal penalties. Combining two items or books that have been through the anvil the same number of times keeps the penalty from snowballing.
- Rename at the same time as an enchant, not as a separate trip.
- Put the priciest enchantments on first, while the item’s penalty is still zero.
How to Combine Enchanted Books
Books combine with each other exactly like items. Put one book in each slot and the result holds both books’ enchantments. Two books with the same enchantment at the same level merge into the next level, as long as a higher level exists. Two Sharpness IV books make one Sharpness V, for example, but two Mending books stay Mending, since it only has one level. Mojang’s list of all enchantments gives each one’s maximum level.
Books that conflict, such as Sharpness and Smite, can’t be merged onto the same book.
What Only Books Can Give You
Some items can’t go in an enchanting table at all, so books are the only Survival route: shields, elytra, shears, flint and steel, brushes, and carrots and warped fungus on a stick.
Some enchantments never come from the table either. Per the community wiki, treasure enchantments such as Mending and Frost Walker, plus Soul Speed, Swift Sneak and Wind Burst, only arrive on books or loot. Anything the table can roll is usually cheaper to get there, as our enchanting table and bookshelf guide explains, while books let you pick the exact enchantment.
Where to Get Enchanted Books
- The enchanting table. Put a plain book in the table. Per the community wiki, books are less likely to roll multiple enchantments than tools.
- Librarian villagers. They sell enchanted books for emeralds plus a book, and per the community wiki can offer almost any enchantment except Soul Speed, Swift Sneak and Wind Burst.
- Fishing. Books come up as treasure catches, and they can carry treasure enchantments.
- Chests and vaults. The community wiki lists random enchanted books in ancient cities, desert pyramids, dungeons, mineshafts, woodland mansions, pillager outposts, ocean ruins and trial chambers.
A Fortune III book is the classic first buy, since it multiplies ore drops before you go hunting for diamonds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use an enchanted book without an anvil? Not in Survival. With cheats on, the /enchant command applies an enchantment directly to the item in your hand, but a book itself only works through an anvil.
Can you put an enchanted book in an enchanting table? No. The table only takes items with no enchantments, so an enchanted book has nothing to gain there.
Why does the anvil say Too Expensive? The operation would cost 40 levels or more, usually because the item has been through the anvil too many times. Merge your books first so the item needs fewer trips.
Can you combine two enchanted books? Yes. Matching books at the same level upgrade to the next level, and different enchantments stack onto one book.
Can you get an enchantment back off a book? No. A grindstone turns an enchanted book back into a plain book and gives back a little experience, but the enchantment itself is destroyed. More guides are on our Minecraft hub.