The end of Kindle book backup
Posted in daily
Tags :…or maybe not quite yet.
TL;DR : I discovered quite by chance that Amazon is killing the “Download & transfer via USB” feature for its Kindle books. After February 26th, 2025 you will only be able to download books from the Kindle store to your e-reader over Wi-Fi.
Why does this matter?
This pretty much signs the end of Kindle book backup (*). I regularly download and backup my purchases to Calibre. This enables me to convert them to different formats, such EPUB or CBZ/CBR for graphic novels. Since Amazon killed the Comixology app, I have been using Panels on my iPad to read my comics.
This feature allowed to download books in the AZW3 format, which allowed the DRM to be easily removed. You will still be able to plug your Kindle directly into your computer and copy your books over, but Amazon’s new KFX format is used by most modern Kindles, and cannot, to the best of my knowledge, be removed.
Downloading your Kindle books ensured you had an unmolested copy, even if Amazon or a publisher attempted to revoke or tamper with your books.
This feels like a very anti-consumer move, but then you’ve got to wonder what proportion of Kindle users still used this feature, and then, when has Amazon ever been pro-customer?
More screws tightened on more fronts.
Read more
- “Download & Transfer for Kindle eBooks Going Away on February 26” by Nathan on The eBook Reader;
- “Amazon’s killing a feature that let you download and backup Kindle books” by Andrew Liszewski on The Verge;
- Kindle file formats on Wikipedia.
Feb 23rd: possible workaround
It occured to me last night, that if you own an old Kindle (pre-6th generation), it might still be possible to backup your Kindle books. Kindle readers support the KFX format appeared with the Kindle Paperwhite 3 (6th generation), older readers will download the AZW3 version (firmware lower than v5.10.2 (1)). So, connecting your pre-gen 6 Kindle to your computer, you should be able to import the book into Calibre.
I charged my old Kindle Touch, and sure enough the downloaded copy of the book was in AZW3 format (look in the Documents folder). I guess it’s only a matter of time that Amazon ends support for these devices all together… but until then, my backup workflow is sustained.
The same applies to Kindle for PC/MAC to version 1.17 or older, except that now it seems that download is prohibited for most recent books. Amazon now forces users to update their Kindle for Mac app to version 1.40.1 in order to download Kindle books.
- (1) Amazon maintains a page that lists Kindle e-reader software updates
- (2) Kindle e-reader device software security updates
