Transfer Books From One Kindle to Another? [Step-by-Step]
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Two kindles, one problem: how do I transfer my books? That is the story of every avid reader who has upgraded a device before. Your Kindle has your Amazon purchases as well as PDFs you have downloaded over the years. Transfering different files, though, requires different methods.
To transfer books from one Kindle to another, you can access both devices using the same Amazon account and sync the device. For PDF or non-DRM books, you can connect your Kindle to a computer and transfer the books. You can also use the Calibre app to manually upload books to your Kindle.
In this article, you will learn more about each method of transferring books from one Kindle to another. You will also discover how to transfer books to and from Kindle paperwhite and how you can retrieve books from an old, broken Kindle.
But first, let’s look at the three key methods of transferring books between Kindles.
How to Transfer Kindle Books from One Device to Another?
There are actually several different ways in which you can transfer Kindle books. However, there are only three different ways in which you can transfer books from one Kindle device to another.
Method 1 – Using a USB Cable
Transferring books from one Kindle to another via USB is a reliable method that works in the absence of WiFi or in the presence of a slower internet connection. It side-steps the cloud and works great for PDF and EPUBs that were acquired outside the Amazon Kindle Store.
To transfer books from one Kindle to another using a USB cable, you need to connect the device to your computer via USB, open the Kindle Disk via file explorer or Kindle Manager program on your PC, and copy the files to your computer. Finally, you should use the USB to copy the books onto the new Kindle.
You can also download Kindle books that you have purchased using a USB option. Simply head over to your “Manage Your Content and Devices” section. Then, click on the “Content” tab on the top. Next, click on “Action” (3 dots “…”), and from the dropdown, click on “Download & Transfer via USB“.

You will then be asked to navigate to the location where you want to save the file. Once the file is saved, connect your other Kindle device via a USB cable and transfer the books that you just downloaded to the other device inside the “Documents” folder.
Transferring books from a Kindle works just the same way as transferring documents from your smartphone to your computer. Do remember that Kindle connects using a micro-USB port and not the USB-C port that your phone might be using (for at least some of you).
It is often difficult to manage the Kindle downloaded files when transferring. That brings us to the question of the optimal way to handle Kindle book transfers. Using a Kindle Cloud account is best for such transfers.
Method 2 – Transfer Books Using Kindle Cloud Account
If you already have books on your Kindle and they’re books you didn’t download from a web browser but got directly from Amazon; then they are probably in .azw format and in a folder that’s hard to navigate to via computer.
But the good news is that as long as you access the same amazon account on the new Kindle, you can get the previous books from your Kindle cloud.
To transfer books from one Kindle to another using the cloud, you must log the new Kindle reader into the same Amazon account as the previous one. Then, navigate to the library and open the “all” tab. The books available on the account’s kindle cloud will be available for download there.
If the books are not visible in your library, make sure that your Kindle device is connected to the internet and the sync is enabled. To do that, open the “Settings” option from the notification section on your Kindle. Then, click on “Advanced Options“. Make sure that the “Whispersync for Books” is enabled. If it isn’t, click on it and select “Enabled“.
You can also register your Kindle to your Amazon account and transfer the books by logging into your Amazon account. Here’s how to do that –
Step 1 – Register Your Kindle Device
First, make sure that you have registered your Kindle device to the same Amazon account that was used on the previous Kindle device.
Step 2 – Open the “Manage Your Content & Devices” Settings

Next, you would need to open the “Manage Your Content and Devices” settings. You can either do that by clicking on this link. Alternatively, you can also open the Amazon home page, hover over your account name, and from the dropdown, click on “Content & Devices” option.
Doing so will also lead you directly to the same page that shows all the eBooks that you have purchased from Amazon.
Step 3 – Choose the “Deliver to Device” Option

First, select the books that you wish to send to your new Kindle device. Then, from the options on the top, click on “Deliver to Device”.
If you wish to send just one book, you may want to click on “More Actions”, and from the dropdown choose “Deliver to Device”. Alternatively, you can also choose to simply select just one book and click on the “Deliver to Device” option from the top (as shown in the image above).
Step 4 – Choose the Correct Kindle Device

A pop-up window will appear that asks you to choose the device to which you wish to send the books to. Simply choose the Kindle device that you registered in step 1.
If you haven’t registered your Kindle device, you will not be able to see it here.
Once you have selected the correct Kindle device here, the books will automatically be sent to the second Kindle device. You will now be able to access and read your books on multiple Kindle devices.
Remember – two different amazon accounts cannot access the same cloud, which is why transferring books from one Kindle to another is hard if both devices have separate Amazon accounts.
Given that ebooks are so cheap, it isn’t even about piracy.
Most people want to transfer books from one Kindle to another because they are logged into different accounts on their computers and phones, which leads to some books being added to one library and others to a different one. Calibre app is the best way to consolidate your ebooks.
Method 3 – Using the Calibre App
For this method, you will need to download the Calibre app on your computer. Even if you don’t have the ebooks on your computer yet, this step is a prerequisite. However, if you don’t have a computer, this process becomes a little complicated.

Given you have a PC, Mac, or a Linux-powered computer, you can follow the steps below.
- Download the Calibre program from its publisher’s website and open the installation wizard.
- After the installation process, the setup/welcome wizard will prompt you to pick your device model. Select your Kindle version.
- Add your new Kindle/Amazon email and click ‘finish’ to launch the program.
- Connect your old Kindle to the computer and let the Calibre program recognize the device.
- Click on the “On Device” button to view the books present on your Kindle device.
- Right-click book titles with “On Device” status and click on “Move it to Library”. This will move the book to your Calibre Library where you can manage all the books better.
- You can also choose to send a copy to your desktop from your library.
- Connect the new Kindle device and right-click the same books, which will now be missing the “On Device” status.
- Click “send to device” to send the ebooks to your new Kindle.
I intend to write a detailed article on how to use the calibre e-book management software to transfer and manage your eBooks. I will drop a link to that article here once it is published.
How to Transfer Books From Kindle Paperwhite?
Kindle Paperwhite is an ebook reader without the restrictions of a piracy-paranoid conglomerate. Connecting it to the computer is as straightforward as plugging in a USB.
The device’s drive opens at a button’s click, and files dragged in the documents folder can be opened on Kindle Paperwhite, provided the format of the book is supported.
To transfer books from Kindle paperwhite, you should connect the device to a PC using a USB cable. Then, open the documents folder and copy the files you want from there onto your computer. These files can be converted to be read on PC or transferred to another Kindle device using a USB cable.
Once the files are on your PC, you can also run the Calibre program and enter your Kindle email in the device setup.
The books will be detected as “off-device,” and you’ll be able to send them to the new Kindle by right-clicking and opting for the “send to kindle” option after connecting the device to the computer using a USB.
You can also simply download the Kindle books from your Kindle Paperwhite using the method 1 described above. Simply open the “Documents” folder of your Kindle device and copy the books from that folder to a folder on your computer.
Likewise, to transfer the books to another Kindle Paperwhite, simply copy the books from your computer and dump it in the documents folder of your other Kindle.
Remember – you will only be able to access the books that you transfer from one Kindle to another as long as both the devices are registered to the same Amazon account even if you transfer the books via a USB cable.
How to Transfer Books from Old Kindle to New Device?
You can transfer books from an old Kindle to a new device by using your cloud account. You can also use a USB cable to transfer books to your computer by connecting your old Kindle first. Then, transfer books from your computer to your new device. This is especially handy for non-DRM books.
When you buy a new device, one of the most eagerly awaited things to do is transfer books to your new Kindle device! Thankfully, there are multiple ways to do so.
Transferring non-kindle books (PDFs) or books that are non-DRM from an old Kindle to a newer device requires simple extraction and offloading process.
Getting books out of an old Kindle is as easy as plugging a USB in and copying the files. You can use any of the methods described earlier in the article.
However, if the USB port of your device can not be accessed or if it is damaged or if the device simply fails to turn on, chances are you won’t be able to recover any of your non-DRM books, and other books that you may have downloaded from other sources apart from Amazon.
How to Transfer Books from an Old Kindle Device that is Broken?
To transfer books from an Old Kindle Device that is broken, you need to log into the same Amazon account on your new Kindle that was used for your old Kindle device. After that, simply sync the device, open the library folder, and download the books to your new device.
You can then download the books to your new Kindle device. No matter how old or new your Kindle is, or how many devices you have, as long as your books are bought from the same Amazon account, you’ll be able to access them on any device you log into using the same Amazon account.
How to Transfer Books From One Kindle To Another with a Different Account?
The method above works well for books belonging to the same account. If you have bought different books on different Amazon accounts and want to consolidate your library, this can be difficult.
There is currently no legal method to transfer books from one Amazon account to another. However, you can loan the book, share it as a family member or use other unauthorized methods to convert the Kindle books to other formats, and transfer the books to a different account.
However, there are ways you can circumvent this issue. Check out my other article on how to transfer Kindle books from one account to another where I have provided possible solutions to overcome this issue!
Can You Transfer a Book Collection from One Kindle to Another?
You can transfer a book collection from one Kindle to another if both the devices are logged into the same Amazon account. In fact, collections need to be downloaded because they don’t get automatically transferred when you log into your Amazon account.
To transfer a book collection, you’ll need to follow these steps
- Log into your Amazon account on your new Kindle. Make sure this is the same account as the old device.
- Click “all” in your Kindle library to see all your content.
- Then opt for the “collections” filter to view different book collections
- Click the ellipses/menu button on the collection you want to transfer to the new device.
- From the drop-down menu, click “download” to download the collection.
The above method is handy if you do not want to spend an entire day downloading hundreds of books. It is also great if you have two Kindle devices in two different places.
With a collection download, you can do some of your reading at home and do the rest in the office…unless the books that are transferred from one device get erased from another. So the question is, does that happen?
What Happens to the Kindle Books that are Transferred? Do They Get Deleted?
The books that are transferred do not get deleted unless DRM protection prevents a book from being opened on more than one device. The officially supported method of transfer requires a single sign-on, which doesn’t impact the books’ presence on any device.
However, if you try to cut and paste a kindle file while using a USB cable to transfer from one reader to another, you risk losing the file as the ebook may not appear on the new Kindle. That’s why it is advisable to use a single sign-on and transfer books in an Amazon-compliant way.

About the Author
Akansha is a former business journalist and a seasoned communications professional. She is the founder of TheBookBuff, an avid storyteller, and a lifelong biblophile! Check out her profile page to know more about Akansha.