Enchanted books go into an anvil with a tool or weapon to transfer the enchantment

An enchanted book in Minecraft holds a single enchantment that you can move onto a tool, weapon, or piece of armor. You place the enchanted book and the item you want to enchant together in an anvil, and the anvil combines them. The enchantment leaves the book and attaches to your item. This is the only way to use an enchanted book — they don't work in your inventory or in a crafting table.

Enchanted books come from fishing, finding them in loot chests in dungeons and temples, or trading with librarian villagers. Some enchantments can only reach you through books, because the enchanting table at a crafting station cannot produce them. This makes books the gateway to rare enchantments like Mending, which lets your tools repair themselves when you gain experience.

Key Takeaways

  • Place an enchanted book and your tool or weapon in an anvil to transfer the enchantment from the book to the item.
  • The anvil costs experience levels to combine them — the cost depends on the enchantment and how many enchantments are already on your item.
  • You can combine multiple enchanted books onto a single item if you have enough experience, but each combination costs more levels than the last.
  • Some enchantments like Mending and Silk Touch only come from books, not from the enchanting table.
  • The book is consumed in the process and disappears once the enchantment transfers.

Setting up the anvil and placing your items

You need an anvil block, which you craft from iron ingots and iron blocks or find in villages and strongholds. Place the anvil on the ground and open it by right-clicking (or using your interact button on console). The anvil window shows three slots: the first slot on the left is where your tool or weapon goes, the middle slot is where the enchanted book goes, and the right slot shows the result.

Put your tool, weapon, or armor piece in the left slot. Put the enchanted book in the middle slot. The anvil immediately shows you the result in the right slot and tells you how many experience levels the combination will cost. If you have enough levels, the cost appears in green. If you don't have enough, it appears in red and you cannot complete the combination.

Understanding experience level costs

Every enchantment transfer costs experience levels. A single enchantment on a fresh tool might cost 1 to 3 levels. But if your tool already has enchantments on it, each new enchantment you add costs more. Adding a second enchantment might cost 5 levels, a third might cost 7, and so on. The anvil shows you the exact cost before you commit.

If you combine two enchanted books together first — putting one book in the left slot and another in the middle slot — you create a single book with both enchantments. This costs experience too, but it can be cheaper than adding them to a tool one at a time. Many players combine books first, then apply the multi-enchanted book to their final tool.

What happens when you combine items

Once you click the result slot, the anvil takes the experience levels from your experience bar and produces the combined item. The enchanted book disappears — it is consumed in the process. Your tool now carries the enchantment. If the tool already had other enchantments, it now has both the old ones and the new one.

The anvil itself does not break or wear out from use, no matter how many times you combine items in it. You can use the same anvil indefinitely. However, anvils do have durability in Survival mode — they slowly crack and eventually break if you use them many times, but this takes a very long time and is not a concern for normal play.

Enchantments that only come from books

The enchanting table at a crafting station cannot produce every enchantment. Mending is the most valuable one that only comes from books — it makes your tool repair itself whenever you gain experience points. Silk Touch lets you mine blocks like obsidian and ice without breaking them. Frost Walker freezes water under your feet so you can walk on it. These three are the ones you will want to hunt for in books.

You can find these books by fishing with a fishing rod, opening loot chests in structures like dungeons and end cities, or trading with librarian villagers. Librarians are the most reliable source — you can place a lectern next to a villager to make them a librarian, and they will trade books for emeralds. You can reset their trades by breaking and replacing the lectern until they offer the book you want.

Combining multiple enchanted books onto one item

You can layer enchantments by applying multiple books to the same tool. Put your tool in the left slot, an enchanted book in the middle slot, and combine them. Then take the result, put it back in the left slot, add a different enchanted book in the middle, and combine again. Each step costs more experience than the last, but you end up with a tool that has many enchantments at once.

A pickaxe with Efficiency V, Unbreaking III, Mending, and Silk Touch is possible but expensive — it might cost 30 to 40 experience levels total by the time you are done. Plan your enchantments before you start combining, because the cost grows quickly. If you run out of experience, you can always mine more ore or kill mobs to gain levels and come back to the anvil later.

Repairing items with the anvil

The anvil also repairs damaged tools. Put a damaged tool in the left slot and an identical tool in the middle slot, and the anvil combines their durability. This costs fewer experience levels than adding an enchantment — usually 1 to 2 levels depending on how damaged the tool is. You can also repair a tool by putting two copies of the same material in the anvil (two iron ingots, two diamonds, etc.) instead of a second tool.

If your tool has enchantments, repairing it keeps those enchantments intact. This is useful for keeping a valuable enchanted tool alive without losing the enchantment. However, if your tool has Mending, you should never need to repair it in an anvil — just use the tool and gain experience, and Mending will fix it for free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use an enchanted book without an anvil?

No. Enchanted books only work in an anvil. Putting them in a crafting table, furnace, or your inventory does nothing. You must have an anvil to transfer the enchantment to a tool or weapon.

What if I don't have enough experience levels?

You cannot complete the combination until you have enough levels. The cost appears in red if you are short. Mine ore, kill mobs, or fish to gain experience, then come back to the anvil and try again.

Does the enchanted book disappear after I use it?

Yes. The book is consumed when you combine it with your tool. If you want the same enchantment on multiple items, you need multiple books. Librarian villagers can trade you more books if you have emeralds.

Can I remove an enchantment from a tool?

No. Once an enchantment is on a tool, you cannot remove it with an anvil or any other method. Your only option is to craft a new tool or find a different one. Grindstones remove enchantments but also destroy the tool, so they are not useful for keeping the item.

What is the difference between combining books and applying them to a tool?

Combining two books first creates a single book with both enchantments, which you can then apply to a tool. This is often cheaper than applying each book separately. For example, combining two books might cost 5 levels, then applying the result to a tool costs 3 more — 8 total. Applying them separately might cost 3 levels for the first and 5 for the second — also 8 total, but the order matters and the cost can vary.