To read an EPUB ebook on Kindle or in your Kindle app, there are just two steps involved.
- Convert the EPUB file into a Kindle file format.
- Email the new file to your device using the device’s Amazon email address.
The process differs depending on the device you use:
- Click here if you read on a PC
- Click here if you read on a Mac
- Click here if you read on an iPhone or iPad
For PC
To read an EPUB ebook on Kindle or in your Kindle app, you will need:
- the EPUB ebook file on your PC
- to install the Kindle Previewer program on your PC (this can be downloaded for free here)
- to install the Kindle for PC program (this can be downloaded for free here).
To create the Kindle file:
- open Kindle Previewer on your PC and convert the EPUB ebook into a MOBI ebook file format
- open the saved MOBI ebook file on your computer using the Kindle app (*see more info in comments below)
- the ebook is automatically added to your Kindle Library on your PC.
To add the ebook to your Kindle library on another device (e.g. your Kindle, phone, tablet or computer), email the ebook to the device, using the device’s Amazon email address (link to see detailed instructions below).
For Mac
To read an EPUB ebook on Kindle or in your Kindle app, you will need:
- the EPUB ebook file on your Mac
- to install the Kindle Previewer program on your Mac (this can be downloaded for free here)
- to install the Kindle for IOS program on your Mac (this can be downloaded for free here).
To create the Kindle file:
- open Kindle Previewer on your Mac and convert the EPUB ebook into a AZK ebook file format
- open Kindle for Mac on your computer and open the saved AZK ebook file inside the Kindle program
- the ebook is automatically added to your Kindle Library on our Mac.
To add the ebook to your Kindle library on another device (e.g. your Kindle, phone, tablet or computer), email the ebook to the device, using the device’s Amazon email address (link to see detailed instructions below).
For iPhone or iPad
To read an EPUB ebook on Kindle or in your Kindle app, you will first need to convert the EPUB ebook file on your computer. Click here if you have a Mac or Click here if you have a PC.
Send ebooks to your device using the Amazon email address
[Thanks Lily for alerting me that ebooks no longer automatically show up in Kindle libraries on other devices! I have now found a new method to get files onto your devices–see below.]
You may not know this, but any device on which you read your Kindle books (e.g. Kindle, phone, tablet or computer) will automatically register in your Amazon Account.
For each of these devices, Amazon allocates a special Amazon email address. Quite amazing! You can actually use this email address to email ebooks to your device!
This means that once you have converted your EPUB to a MOBI or AZK file, you can send the file to any of your other devices registered with Amazon.
To find the Amazon email address of your device:
- log in to your Amazon account (it’s easier to do this on a computer)
- in the top right corner of your Amazon account window, click on Account & Lists
- select Manage your Content and Devices (you may need to sign in again here)
- click Preferences in the menu at the top
- scroll down and click on Personal Document Settings
- in the Send-to-Kindle E-Mail Settings list, find the email address of the device where you want to send the ebook.
The rest is easy: use your normal email program and attach the MOBI or AZK file to an email. Send the email to your device’s Amazon email address you have just looked up.
Then, open the Kindle program on the device and the emailed file should appear in the Kindle library!
Happy reading! If you have found this information useful, please leave a comment below 🙂
[As an additional note: you can also use this email to send other file formats to your Kindle. These include: PDF, HTML and .docx for MS Word files.]
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Thanks for the help
The last step explained for Mac (& PC) is “add the ebook to your Kindle Library.” – but that’s exactly what I don’t understand – How do i “add” it – I can’t find any button to ‘add’ & drag & drop doesn’t seem to do anything.
I am talking about the Kindle Desktop Application for Mac. v1.3 & I already have a Kindle .mobi file I downloaded from Gutenberg.
Hello Riquez
You are correct! I just checked the new version of Kindle for PC. If you open a new book in Kindle for PC the program no longer ask if you would like to add the book to the library. However, it seems that the book is now automatically added to the library. You can see this when you select ‘Recent’ in the books list next time you open the program. The newly added book will be the last added.
Thanks for your question!
Riquez – that last step had me banging my head against the wall as well. There doesn’t seem to be any way to open a local file from within the Kindle app. However, I was able to find the .mobi file in File Explorer (I’m using Windows 10) and choose the Open With option and select the Kindle app to open it. Voilà! It’s in my library in the app and I can read it on my Kindle device as well. I’m assuming you can do something similar on a Mac with Finder. HTH!
Hi Kevin
Yes, you are correct! Amazon has also changed this option… It is no longer possible to open a book that is not in the Kindle library (i.e. from elsewhere on your computer) from the Kindle for PC program/app. You need to:
– open Windows Explorer (it may be best not to have the Kindle app open in the background)
– select the .mobi file
– do a right-click with the mouse to bring up the Open menu and select ‘Open with’
– in the ‘Open with’ option, you will see a list of programs/apps–the Kindle for PC app may be in this list, or you will have to find it on your PC (using the ‘Choose another app’ option)
This then opens the .mobi file in the Kindle app; the book will be added to the library.
Good luck! If anyone has worked out how this works on a Mac, leave a comment!
For Mac, after you already have the Kindle app installed and your .mobi downloaded, just right-click and select “Open with Kindle.” It is that simple 🙂
Great, thanks Casey!
So useful!!! You just have to export the file in .mobi, the .kpf is the default one.
Thanks Joaquín!
Here is how I was able to work around the issues for mac:
– download the epub and upload it to kindle preview like stated above
– in kindle previewer, export it as a .mobi file
– download send to kindle (https://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/mac) and upload the .mobi file
– select which devices you would like to send the document to
– make sure your devices are connected to the same network and they will upload (most likely) once you turn on your kindle or open your kindle app
You will probably have to sign in to send to Kindle, but it has been so long since I have done it I don’t really remember what you do when you first open the application. At least for all of the books I have tried, you will be able to change the font and reading settings this way (you can’t for a pdf and a few other file options send to kindle supports).
Thanks for those instructions Annie!
I managed to get it on my kindle for PC, but unfortunately it’s not showing up on my actual kindle or even my kindle app on my phone? It’s definitely in my library on the PC though. Thank you:)
Hi Lily
Thanks for commenting!
I did a new test and unfortunately had the same result as you. Books added on the Kindle for PC no longer appear on Kindle app or Kindle, even after making sure the app has been synced.
UPDATE (18 Jan 2021)
Luckily there is another way to add ebooks to your Kindle library on other devices! You can email the ebook to your other devices! To find out how to do this, see the new section in the post above: Send ebooks to your device using the Amazon email address.
You can no longer find your Kindle’s email address from Amazon. The page, at least on windows 10, looks very different now.
Hello Billie
I have just checked on Amazon (1 Oct 2021). The emails for your devices can still be found as I describe in this article. The display is not related to Windows 10 or any other operating system, as you access your Amazon account via a web browser.
Thank you for providing those instructions.
Thanks for this information. It took a few tries, but I finally got my book open in Kindle. I would never have been able to do this without your article.
That is great! Thanks for letting me know 🙂