Transfer books from a PC to a Kindle

[Oakboy]

I've just acquired a Kindle for Christmas. I have lots of books on my PC which does not have a wireless port, (I currently connect to my wireless router by a LAN cable). How can I access these books from my Kindle? I thought the Kindle would have a USB access but surprisingly it doesn't.

[Ann in Arlington]

First question is: which Kindle do you have?  The Touch and the Basic Kindle both come with a micro USB cord.  Or you can use any micro USB cord to physically connect the Kindle.

The FIRE does NOT come with the USB cord, but it can be connected the same way with any compatible cord.

I am understanding that you have a wireless router, but that your computer is connected via a Cable.  That's fine.  If the router is broadcasting you have a WiFi network. . . you just need to know the network name and password to connect the Kindle's WiFi to it.

As to the books you currently have on your PC, the critical thing is the format.  Kindle will read MOBI, PRC, or PDF.  The quality of PDF's on the small screen is not acceptable for many.  The proprietary Kindle format, AZW, is essentially MOBI with their own brand of copy protection (DRM) applied.

If your books are one of these file types -- and don't have any other vendor's copy protection scheme encoded, you can connect the kindle via USB, and just copy them to the documents folder. 

If they're some other file type they'll have to be converted. 

They can be converted using a variety of free software solutions readily available. . .Calibre and MobiPocket Creator are both well reviewed.

They can also be converted by sending them to Amazon.  The product page lists the file types that they will convert for you.  When they do so, they will send it to your Kindle wirelessly and/or send it back to you at the email address they have on file for you.  Note that if they deliver it via 3G (you may or may not have a kindle with 3G) you may incur a charge.

For me. . .when I have something on my computer I want to get onto my Kindle, I send it wirelessly via Amazon.  That way it is also archived there and can later be sent to any of the kindles on my account.

[Betsy the Quilter]

Welcome!

All Kindlles have a USB connection.  Most modern Kindles require a micro USB cable.  I believe all Kindles except the Fire come with a USB cable.  The Fire comes with a charger but no separate USB cable but you can pick one up separately.

Which Kindle did you get?

There is a way to make a folder on your PC accessible to the network.  Someone who's done it will probably chime in.

or....what Ann said.

Betsy

[Oakboy]

Thanks for both your replys. I have the standard Kindle WiFi model. When I first tried to connect via the USB I didn't have the kindle loaded so the PC couldn't recognise it, silly me! I have now connected successfully. I've downloaded a package call Calibre to convert my existing books, bought for my IPad. Once these are converted can I just copy and paste on to the Kindle? If so which folder do I copy them into? Many thanks, Geoff

[Oakboy]

Thanks for both your replys. I have the standard Kindle WiFi model. When I first tried to connect via the USB I didn't have the kindle loaded so the PC couldn't recognise it, silly me! I have now connected successfully. I've downloaded a package call Calibre to convert my existing books, bought for my IPad. Once these are converted can I just copy and paste on to the Kindle? If so which folder do I copy them into? Many thanks, Geoff

[Linjeakel]

Hi Geoff, welcome to Kindleboards!

If you're going to transfer books by USB they need to go into the folder called 'documents'. Any compatible file in that folder will show up as a book on your Kindle's home screen. But, be aware that they need to be DRM free or the Kindle can't open them.

[Ann in Arlington]

Geoff. . . .books purchased via iBooks may have DRM and will not be convertable with Calibre, to my knowledge.  But I admit I don't use the program myself so there could be something I'm not aware of.  Perhaps they are DRM free, though, frankly, that would surprise me.  Removing DRM for any reason is against the Terms of Service, no matter where the book was purchased, and we don't permit discussions of how to do so on Kindle Boards.

Assuming they are legitimately convertible, you want to put them into the Documents folder that you'll see when you have the Kindle connected as a drive.  Then properly eject the Kindle and they should appear on your home page.


eta:  like Linda said. . . . gee. . .we're just falling over ourselves to be helpful here!

[dmcounts]

Thanks for both your replys. I have the standard Kindle WiFi model. When I first tried to connect via the USB I didn't have the kindle loaded so the PC couldn't recognise it, silly me! I have now connected successfully. I've downloaded a package call Calibre to convert my existing books, bought for my IPad. Once these are converted can I just copy and paste on to the Kindle? If so which folder do I copy them into? Many thanks, Geoff

You can use Calibre to transfer the books to your device. It will place them in the correct location.

Simply click the "Send to Device" button while your Kindle is connected and the book is selected.