[DTB-Talk] PSA: Download Your Kindle eBooks Now Before Amazon Removes the Option!

[David Andrews]

>
>The eBook Reader Blog - Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 10:39 AM
>
>
>PSA: Download Your Kindle eBooks Now Before Amazon Removes the Option!
>
>
>
><https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Kindle.jpg>
>[]
>
>
>Yesterday was a big day in the ebook world, and 
>not in a good way. In case you missed the news, 
><https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2025/02/12/download-transfer-for-kindle-ebooks-going-away-on-february-26/>Amazon 
>is planning to remove the ability to download 
>purchased ebooks from their website starting February 26th, 2025.
>
>Most Kindle users don’t really understand what 
>that means since most people don’t use the 
>Download & Transfer option, but you should use 
>it right now to get backups of your purchased 
>ebooks before the option is gone for good!
>
><https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Amazon-Removing-Download-and-Transfer.jpg>
>Amazon Removing Download and Transfer
>
>
>Once February 26th hits you’ll no longer be 
>able to download your purchased ebooks from 
>Amazon’s website for backup and potential DRM 
>removal, so moving forward your purchased ebooks 
>will forever be locked into Amazon’s ecosystem 
>and you’ll only ever be able to read them 
>using Kindle ereaders and Kindle apps. If 
>that’s not a problem for you, then don’t 
>worry about it, but you might regret it in the future.
>
>After February 26th it will be a lot harder to 
>get your purchased ebooks away from Amazon. It 
>probably won’t be impossible but it will 
>certainly be a lot harder than downloading them 
>from their website. Presently there’s a 
>complicated 
><https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=352278>Android 
>emulator workaround that still works, and if you 
>have a really old Kindle you’ll be able to get 
>AZW3 books off of it, (the Kindle 3 through the 
>Paperwhite 1 
><https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4289735#post4289735>reportedly 
>work for that).
>
>Newer Kindles get ebooks delivered in KFX 
>format, and you usually can’t remove the DRM 
>from KFX books (occasionally it has been 
>possible but Amazon is always closing the door 
>on that), so you need access to the AZW3 format 
>to make backups. That’s where the Download and 
>Transfer option at Amazon comes in.
>
>
>How to Backup Your Kindle eBooks
>
>
>
>To download your purchased Kindle ebooks in AZW3 
>format, just head over to 
><https://www.amazon.com/hz/mycd/digital-console/contentlist/booksAll/dateDsc?&linkCode=ll2&tag=ter000-20&linkId=c45f1f1b587b038c29de967d86dded53&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl>Amazon’s 
>Digital Content page before February 26th. Click 
>where it says “More actions”, then select 
>“Download and transfer via USB”, select your 
>Kindle model, and then download.
>
>Unfortunately there isn’t a bulk download 
>option so you have to go through and select one book at a time.
>
>Note that this option is only available if you 
>own a Kindle device that was released before 
>2024. If you don’t own a Kindle it’s going 
>to be a lot more complicated. See this 
><https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361503>Dealing 
>with Kindle ebooks in Calibre post at MobileRead for possible workarounds.
>
>
>Why Download Your Kindle eBooks?
>
>
>
>If you ever decide to get an ereader that’s 
>not a Kindle you won’t be able to read your 
>Kindle ebooks on it if you didn’t download 
>backups. Or if you decide you don’t want to do 
>business with Amazon any longer at some point in 
>the future your ebooks will be stuck with them 
>and you won’t be able to do anything about it.
>
>Even if you don’t plan on removing the DRM 
>from your purchased Kindle ebooks in order to 
>read them on non-Kindle devices, it would be 
>wise to download your purchased Kindle ebooks 
>now while you still can. If you decide you want 
>to liberate them in the future you can do so 
>then, but either way it’s a good idea to download backups now just in case.
>
>Amazon has been known to 
><https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2024/12/28/amazon-erroneously-locking-accounts-making-kindle-ebooks-inaccessible/>erroneously 
>close accounts for basically no reason, and when 
>that happens you immediately lose access to all 
>of your purchased Kindle ebooks, even if you had 
>them downloaded to your Kindle (if it’s 
>connected to the internet it will lock you out 
>if it detects an invalid account). Even if 
>it’s just a temporary problem that gets worked 
>out, it illustrates how much control Amazon has over your purchased ebooks.
>
>
>Reading Kindle eBooks on Other Devices
>
>
>
>Once you have your Kindle ebooks downloaded and 
>backed up in AZW3 format, you can easily remove 
>the DRM from them at anytime if you want to read 
>them on non-Amazon devices and apps.
>
>The topic of DRM-removal is a slippery slope 
>because of piracy concerns, and it’s 
>considered illegal in some places, but 
>ultimately it’s your own personal choice.
>
>I’m not going to go into specifics with this 
>post, but you can learn everything you need to 
>know by reading the directions that come with 
>the 
><https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools/releases/tag/v10.0.9>DeDRM 
>tools at Github. You will also need to 
><https://calibre-ebook.com/download>download 
>Calibre, a program for managing your ebook 
>library. Do not pay for programs that claim to 
>remove DRM from Kindle ebooks because they’re 
>just stealing the code from the free tools at Github.
>
><https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2025/02/13/psa-download-your-kindle-ebooks-now-before-amazon-removes-the-option/>https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2025/02/13/psa-download-your-kindle-ebooks-now-before-amazon-removes-the-option/