Use Your Kindle Without Amazon – It’s Easier Than You’d Think
Recently I announced that OCR is Not the Only Font had become available for free in Amazon’s Kindle store. If you own a Kindle and fancy stocking it with some of my flash fiction, that’s likely the easiest way to do it. However, it’s not the only way, despite what Amazon would have you think.
This guide focuses on books downloaded from Smashwords, but the information is equally relevant no matter where you’re getting them. Project Gutenberg, Unbound and the Humble Book Bundle are also excellent places to get Kindle books outside of Amazon, but these are not your only options. The important thing is that you seek out ebooks in the mobi format, which is what the Kindle uses. Virtually all other e-readers use the much more common epub format (but more on that at the end). Any mobi file can be transferred to your Kindle using one of the following methods:
For simplicity’s sake, here’s a direct link to the mobi files for Red Herring and Bionic Punchline, flash fiction anthologies that I’ve made available free on Smashwords. These are the Kindle versions of those particular books, so feel free to test the process out with them (and if you enjoy my stories, please consider leaving a review!).
Method One:
- Use your Kindle’s web browser to download the mobi (Kindle) book from Smashwords. This should be very easy if you’re using a Kindle Fire (which is really more of a tablet computer than a dedicated e-reader), but may still be possible even if you’re using one of the more book-focused devices. My decade-old Kindle Keyboard includes an “experimental” web browser which I’ve used to download books this way in the past. Simply search for the book on smashwords.com (or follow one of the links above if you’re reading this on your Kindle right now) and you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding the mobi file to download direct to your device.
Method Two:
- Use another device to download the mobi (Kindle) book from Smashwords. Whatever you’re using to read this should be quite capable of doing the job.
- Email the mobi file to your Kindle email address as an attachment. Instructions on how to do this are available on Amazon. Note that you’ll have to add the address you’re using to send the email list of approved ones before the Kindle will accept files from it. (Your Kindle will also need an internet connection in order to receive it.)
Method Three:
- Use another device to download the mobi (Kindle) book from Smashwords. Ideally a desktop or laptop.
- Plug your Kindle into that device using a USB cable. Using the other device, you should be able to see everything stored on your Kindle exactly as if it were an external hard drive. (If your Kindle is password-protected, you may need to enter the password on the Kindle before its contents will be revealed.)
- Transfer the mobi (Kindle) book to your Kindle over USB. Again, this is exactly like moving a file to a USB stick or external hard drive. You may need to make sure that you place the file in a folder on your Kindle labelled either “Documents” or “Books” (depending on the model). A more comprehensive guide is available on Humble Bundle, which is a great place to get DRM-free books while funding worthwhile charities.
I’ve arranged these methods from “very simple but may not work for everyone” to “more complicated but basically foolproof.” Personally I opt for Method Three because it’s very easy to transfer a whole bunch of books at once. But if you just want the one and your Kindle can cope, downloading it directly might be your fastest option (with email being fairly snappy if that doesn’t work).
One final note on ebook formats:
A lot of the ebooks you’ll find outside of Amazon will be epub rather than mobi. This is not a massive problem. There’s a fantastic piece of software called Calibre that’ll let you convert between the two (and many other formats) with ease. Alternatively, there are any number of places online that’ll convert epub to mobi without you having to install a thing: just upload the epub you want to convert and then download the mobi it produces.
Fundamentally, ebooks are text: there’s not much to them. Amazon doesn’t like to draw attention to the fact that it’s not the only game in town, but there’s no technological reason why you can’t use their (really rather good) reading device to enjoy books made available anywhere else.
Damon L. Wakes 
How well does this article hold up in 2024? has anything changed?
There’s been one big change for sure: Amazon’s dropped support for mobi files, so although all three basic options are still there I’m not sure how reliably any of these options will work for any given format on any given device.
The current situation, as I understand it, is:
Downloading books through a Kindle’s web browser: More likely to work with newer devices (since I’m not sure the oldest kindles will load modern websites at all at this point). Even if your Kindle no longer handles mobi files, the same basic process should work with the more current Kindle book formats (.azw, .azw3, .kfx, .kf8, etc.).
Emailing books using “Send to Kindle”: Potentially much easier! Mobi books can no longer be sent this way, but I gather that Amazon will now accept epubs (which I believe it’s converting to .azw3 or similar behind the scenes before moving them onto the Kindle). This is the next best thing to the Kindle being able to handle the standard ebook format for itself. It should be entirely possible to keep a library of epub files on your computer that will work on any other e-reader you care to pop them on, and never have to think about Amazon’s weird formats because you can just email those same epubs to your Kindle. (I believe you can still email over a book in a modern Kindle format the same way, even if the old mobi format isn’t accepted any more.)
Transferring books over USB: Probably about the same. If your Kindle still opens mobi files, you can still do this exactly as described in my 2018 post. If not, you’ll have to opt for .azw/.azw3/.kfx/.kf8/whatever, which should work just the same (and it should be trivial to convert mobi to one of those using Calibre). Although you can probably transfer an epub onto a Kindle this way, I don’t believe it’ll be able to open it.
Personally, I’ve been using the same e-ink Kindle Keyboard I’ve had for the past decade and a bit, and it hasn’t been connected to the internet in years so it works exactly the same as when I wrote the post originally: I only ever put books onto it by USB. If I were to connect it to the internet and Amazon updated it, I’m not sure what would happen. It’s possible (even likely) it would retain the ability to open mobi files, and I might gain the ability to email epub books to it. I suspect all Kindles that could open mobi books to begin with will still be able to now – the main reason I raise the possibility some might not is that any devices released after Amazon dropped support in 2022 are unlikely to, and I’d like the information here to remain current as long as possible!
That is great info. Long story about why I’m ever here, my Amazon account was compromised over a week ago. Repeated calls to account support failed to restore access to my account, so I told them to just close it. They said they would and not to open another account until I get confirmation that the other one is closed.
So, I’m in limbo where I can’t access my Amazon ebook library until the old account is closed.
Luckily , I used calibre and libation to “backup” audio books and ebooks. I have them , but I need to figure out how to access them without an Amazon account .
I was able to load books on my kindle using USB and Calibre, so I’ll probably stick with that method.
I wonder what will happen when I make a new Amazon account and register the device. will it wipe out my side loaded books?
I probably have a few weeks before I need to find that out, given how slow Amazon has been.
Glad to hear you’ve managed to keep hold of your books somehow! As long as you’ve got that backup it shouldn’t matter too much if the new account screws things up.
I’m not surprised that Amazon’s been a pain to deal with: my most recent paperback ended up listed under another author’s name and with their book’s subtitle attached, and now one of their books is being listed as part of my series. I’m not sure if they’ve been getting worse recently or if there was always the potential for this kind of screwup and I’d just been comparatively lucky until now, but I’m getting closer and closer to ditching them when it comes to selling books as well as buying them.