What shelves are
Shelves are the way you organize your collection beyond the basic Owned / Wishlist / read-status filters. Think of them as playlists for your manga — flexible, personal, and as broad or narrow as you want.
Why shelves?
Different collectors organize differently. Shelves give you the structure to:
- Separate genres (Shonen, Shojo, Romance).
- Track formats (Hardcover, Box Sets, Standard).
- Mark moods or recommendations (“Comfort Reads”, “To Re-read”, “Gift to a Friend”).
- Group by author, artist, or publisher.
- Mark physical-shelf locations (“Bedroom Bookshelf”, “Storage”).
There’s no one right way. Pick whatever schemas helps you find things later.
Shelves vs filters
| Filters | Shelves |
|---|---|
| Built-in (Status, Read Status, etc.) | You create them |
| Single-value (a volume is one status) | Multi-value (a volume can be on many shelves) |
| Apply to your whole Library | Apply to whatever volumes you choose |
You can use both together — e.g., filter to Status: Owned, then apply a shelf filter for “Shonen” to see only owned shonen.
Multi-shelf membership
A single volume can belong to multiple shelves at once. They behave more like tags than folders. Adding Berserk Vol. 1 to “Favorites” doesn’t move it; it adds the shelf to its tag list. You can have it on Favorites, Dark Fantasy, and “Re-reading” simultaneously.
Default vs custom shelves
When you sign up for Manga Vault, you get Favorites as a default shelf — a quick way to mark your most-loved volumes. You can’t delete the default Favorites shelf, but you can ignore it entirely.
You can also create your own custom shelves with names, icons, and colors of your choice. See Creating a custom shelf.
Shelf limit on FREE
FREE accounts can have up to 3 custom shelves plus the default Favorites. PRO accounts have unlimited shelves.
If you hit the limit, you’ll see an upgrade prompt. See Shelf limit on FREE.
Shelves and friends
Shelves are private to you by default. Your friends can’t see your shelf names or which volumes are on which shelves. They’re for your personal organization.
Where to manage shelves
- Settings → Manage Shelves — Full shelf management screen.
- FAB (in Library) → Manage Shelves — Same destination, faster access.
- Manga detail page → Add to Shelf / Manage Shelves — Assign individual volumes to shelves.
Browsing by shelf
In your Library, the filter pill includes a row of shelf chips (when expanded). Tap a chip to filter to volumes on that shelf. See Filtering your library by shelf.
How many shelves should I have?
It’s up to you. Some collectors maintain 2-3 broad shelves; others have 20+ very specific ones (PRO only). Start small — you can always add more.