GoKawiilAmazon / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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?
In response to this unprecedented and draconian restriction, we're updating this article. Because while you may not be able to access the Kindle ecosystem, you can use your pre-2013 Kindle devices with e-books going into the future. This article shows you how.
Other articles in this series
It all starts with a factory reset
As a tech professional, there are many things I know because I know them. But I also learn things because it's my job to fix the tech problems around the house. In this case, my wife had performed a factory reset on her cherished Kindle DX, which she purchased more than 10 years ago. After the reset, she couldn't download any of her books.
She wanted to clean the Kindle of all its cruft. Every book she ever bought, up until the last time she powered up the machine, had been on that device before the reset. She thought a factory reset would be the fastest way to start with a clean slate.
It was indeed a clean slate. All that was left was a dictionary and a user guide, both installed during the reset process. She couldn't download anything else she wanted on it.
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