How to send e-books, documents and web pages to your Amazon Kindle

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The Kindle eBook readers are the best devices for reading. Their anti-glare E Ink displays are easy on the eyes and read like paper, and because they’re separated from the world of social media, they offer a distraction-free, focused reading experience. If you’re a serious reader, a Kindle is a no-brainer, and some of us at XDA would agree.

If you’ve just bought a Kindle e-reader, you might be wondering if you can transfer your books and documents stored on your PC or phone to your e-reader. Although the Kindle is tightly integrated into the Amazon ecosystem, Amazon allows you to add your own e-books and documents to the device. However, the process is not as simple as transferring files between your PC and your smartphone.

Navigate this article:

First step: Find out your Kindle email address

Amazon offers a service called Send to Kindle that allows you to email supported files to your Kindle e-reader. To use it, you’ll need to find out your Kindle email address – it’s different from the email address associated with your Amazon account.

  • Go to Amazon on your smartphone or PC browser.
  • Navigate to Your Account > Content and Devices > Devices.
  • Under “Amazon Devices” you should see your Kindle e-reader (as shown below). If you don’t see it, make sure you’re signed into your Kindle with the same Amazon account.

Amazon's Manage Your Device section.

  • Click on the device to view the device summary, which lists your Kindle email address.

Amazon's device summary page for Kindle Paperwhite

  • This is your default Kindle email address, which is automatically generated. If you want, you can change it by clicking the “Edit” button.

This is the email address to which you send books and documents. Note, however, that you cannot just use any private email address to send files. To view the approved email addresses that can send documents to your Kindle, click the Settings tab and scroll down to Personal Document Settings. Below is the “Personal Document Approved Email List” which should list the email attached to your Amazon account. If you want to authorize a new email account, click Add New Approved Email Address and enter the new address.

Amazon approved email list


How do I send books and documents to your Kindle?

Go wireless

Now that you have the Kindle email address, you can send files to your e-reader. The process is very simple. All you have to do is email the file you want to send to Kindle as a file attachment.

  • Open Gmail or any email client you use.
  • Compose a new email and enter the Send-to-Kindle email address in the From address.
  • Don’t include anything in the subject or body.

An email generated by the Send to Kindle app

  • Attach the document and click Send. That’s it.
  • The document will be available on your Kindle shortly. It may take a while depending on the size of the document.

Tip: When you send a PDF file, you have two options. You can send the file as is, which preserves the original formatting and graphics, but you cannot use variable fonts or Whispersync. The second is to convert the PDF to Kindle format. To do this, simply add “convert” to the subject line when emailing the file, and Amazon will do the rest.

Kindle supports a variety of file types, including:

  • EPUB
  • pdf
  • HTML
  • Microsoft Word (.DOC, DOCX)
  • JPEG
  • PNG
  • gif
  • BMP
  • RTF

Amazon has dropped support for MOBI and AZW formats because they don’t support new Kindle features like custom fonts and the ability to change boldface. The existing MOBI and AZW files on your Kindle will remain accessible and working properly, but you can no longer Send-To-Kindle books in those formats.

Good old USB transmission

You can also transfer files via USB if you don’t have Wi-Fi connectivity. Connect your Kindle to your PC, open the Kindle’s file directory, and drag and drop files into the Documents folder. You can use caliber or other online tools to convert files or books to supported Kindle formats.

Kindle file directory


How to send articles and webpages to your Kindle for later reading

In addition to books and documents, you can also use your Kindle to read web content, such as news articles and blog posts. Whenever I come across an interesting long read on the web, I immediately send it to my Kindle to read over the weekend. You can send web pages or articles from your PC or smartphone to your e-reader.

From a PC

Sending a web page from a PC is easy. Here’s how to do it.

  • If you’re using a Chromium-based browser like Chrome or Microsoft Edge, download the “Send to Kindle for Google Chrome” Renewal.
  • After installation, configure the delivery settings.
  • Go to the webpage you want to send, then click the Kindle Extension shortcut on the toolbar.

Send to Kindle extension in Google Chrome

  • Choose Send to Kindle or Preview and Send.
  • If you choose the second option, you will be given the option to customize the font.
  • Your webpage/article will be automatically downloaded and added to your Kindle library.

From your smartphone

  • Download the Send To Kindle app from the Play Store – it is a 3rd party app.


  • Open the app and select “Email Configuration” from the hamburger menu.

Send email settings page to Kindle

  • Enter your Kindle email address here and save it.
  • Visit the webpage you want to save to Kindle and click the Share button.

Send to Kindle app highlighted in Share Sheet menu

  • From the share sheet, select the “Send to Kindle” link and wait for the app to convert the page to HTML.

Email configuration in the Send to Kindle app.

  • After conversion, select the post and click the email button on the left.
  • This will take you to your default email app. Make sure you send the file from the approved email address
  • Click Submit and wait for the webpage to appear on your Kindle.

Conclusion

    The new 11th generation Kindle Paperwhite features a large 6.8-inch E Ink display, up to ten weeks of battery life and a USB-C charging port.

Amazon’s Send to Kindle service is a great way to wirelessly send books and documents to your Kindle e-reader. Finding out your Kindle email and adding new approved email addresses is a bit tricky. But once everything is set up, sending a book or document is as easy as sending an email. You can also send web pages and articles to your Kindle from your PC and smartphone.


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