I’m quite the bookworm. I’m an active member of two monthly book clubs, and I fly through two or three books per week, depending on length and, well, how invested I am in the story. This means I’ve read thousands of titles over the years. And one of my favorite tools to assist with this hobby is my Kindle. I love that I can take it anywhere, especially when I’m traveling, and I have access to hundreds of stories without having to pack hundreds of heavy books.
If you’re a Kindle lover like me, then you need to be aware of some changes coming to the Amazon e-reader.
Tomorrow, Amazon will permanently remove a key Kindle feature: the ability to download and transfer copies of books to your computer. Amazon spokesperson Jackie Burke confirmed the removal of this feature in a statement to CNET.
“Starting Feb. 26, customers will no longer be able to download books onto their Kindle using the Download & Transfer via USB feature. Customers can continue reading books previously downloaded on their Kindle device, and access new content through the Kindle app, Kindle for web, as well as directly through Kindle devices with Wi-Fi capability,” Burke said.
For more than a decade, we’ve been able to download copies of books on Kindle devices, and then use a USB cable to transfer them to a computer to control ourselves and share from there. Starting tomorrow, this will no longer be possible. Below, we’ll break down how to save your books, while you still can.
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Who is affected by this change?
After Feb. 26, users will still be able to buy books on the Kindle Store and download them to a Kindle via Wi-Fi or a cellular network. If you mostly read Kindle ebooks on a reader or in the app, you won’t be impacted by the removal of this feature. This is simply Amazon’s way to eliminate user ability to download ebook files and convert those files to other formats compatible with e-readers other than Kindle.
Why would you want to do that? Well, if you bought a book on Kindle, but Amazon eventually loses the license to that title — or if it’s banned or removed — then you’ll no longer be able to read it. That is, unless you download it and keep it on your computer.
How to save your Kindle books
If you’d like to transfer your Kindle books to your computer before Feb. 26, visit Amazon.com, sign in to your account and go to Accounts & Lists > Content Library > Books. Find the title you wish to download, then click More actions > Download & transfer via USB.
A pop-up will appear asking you to select your Kindle. This doesn’t mean you need to connect a Kindle device. It’s a required step to activate the Download button, which you’ll need to click once you’ve selected a Kindle.
After you click Download, your book will be saved to your computer in Amazon’s AZW3 format, which is designed specifically for Amazon Kindles, so it won’t open on other devices without additional software.
From there, you’ll have the file permanently saved to your computer, and can convert it to other formats like PDF. Note that you can’t download multiple Kindle books at once, which means this process can take time if you have hundreds of titles you wish to save.
What comes next?
After this download and backup feature is discontinued, you’ll still be able to manually transfer ebook files and other documents to your Kindle via USB using Amazon’s apps or third-party tools, such as Calibre, an ebook management software. You just won’t be able to download copies of purchased books from your Kindle to your computer anymore.
Read more: How to Get Free E-Books From Your Local Library
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