In January this year, Amazon issued a new mandatory Kindle update for PC. Users have to install this upgrade to download newly published Kindle ebooks. Put simply, if you want to download and read Kindle ebooks published after January 3, 2023, you must upgrade to the Kindle for PC version 1.39 or later.
Making this update is easy. But if you want to strip the DRM (Digital Rights Management) from your Kindle e-books to read them on different apps or devices, making this change can be trickier.
When you download new ebooks using the latest Kindle for PC versions, the book will be downloaded in Amazon’s KFX file format. And you can’t break the DRM on those books. So, you can read them only using Amazon’s software or hardware.
However, you may still be able to strip DRM from Amazon Kindle e-books in the following ways:
- Use a third-party tool for the purpose.
- Use Amazon’s “Download & Transfer via USB” option on your E Ink Kindle device to download Kindle e-books from Amazon’s website. You need a Kindle device like Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Oasis to remove DRM from these books.
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow you to use the Download & Transfer option borrowed from Kindle Unlimited.
All this suggests that Amazon’s mandatory update intends to prevent piracy led by removing DRM. Note that Amazon pays authors to avail their books via Kindle Unlimited. And, if you download and transfer ebooks to your Kindle manually, Amazon cannot track information, causing authors to lose payments.
Also, stripping DRM from ebooks is illegal in the US, except for blind users. So, either consider not stripping DRM or buy DRM-free ebooks, which are available on Amazon. You can also buy DRM-free books from other sources. In this case, you must send them to your Kindle device, which has become easier because Amazon lets you convert EPUB files to the Kindle format by emailing them to your device.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.