GoKawiilZDNET
This article was originally published in early 2025 in response to news that Amazon was restricting the ability to download Kindle files to your computer. Now, we're learning about an even more challenging restriction:
As of May 20, 2026, users of all Kindle devices released before 2013 will be completely cut off from the Kindle ecosystem. You will not be able to purchase, borrow, or download new content via the Kindle Store.
Also: Amazon is ending support for 8 Kindle models next month: Is yours on the list?
While you may not be able to access the Kindle ecosystem, you can use your pre-2013 Kindle devices with ebooks going into the future. This article will show you how.
For some users of older Kindles, the ability to download files was the only way to move Kindle files onto their Kindles. The first and second-generation Kindles and the Kindle DX could only wirelessly transfer data via the now-obsolete 3G telephony networks. The only other way to move Kindle books was via a USB connection to a computer.
Users of slightly newer Kindles might also have had difficulty wirelessly transferring files to their Kindles. My wife deregistered her old Kindle Fire 7, bought back in 2011, so that I could put it on my account. But try as I might, I could not get that Fire to register. I even tried working with Amazon tech support, but they gave up as well. So, if I want to put files on that device, transferring via USB is the only option.
Now that Kindle devices released prior to 2013 are blocked from the Kindle Store as of May 20, 2026, you may need this method to move files to those devices as well. Since Amazon previously removed the ability to download Kindle files to your computer, you will not be able to sideload Kindle files to them. However, you will be able to load other ebook files onto your old Kindles. At least there's that.
Also: Want free ebooks? These 10 sites offer thousands of options
In this article, we'll explore the process of transferring files (Kindle files, if you already have them on your computer, and popular ebook formats) to Kindle devices, both old and new. But before we do so, I want to share a very important warning.
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