How to Read EPUB on Kindle: Convert Format to Amazon Books

We can’t read EPUB on Kindle. It does not depend on us but on what the manufacturer decides: Amazon readers are not compatible with the EPUB format of most books, but we can solve it by changing the file to later send it to the reader. We explain how we can read an EPUB on the Kindle if you have pending books, manuals or any other document.

What formats are supported

The Amazon Kindle is not compatible with all e-book formats. In fact, Epub is not compatible, this being the most common among eBook users, as we have said before. AZW is the format developed by Amazon and that is in the electronic books that we can find in the online store itself when we buy them directly here. But it’s not exclusive to the reader; it’s also compatible with operating systems such as Windows, Android or iOS if we install the application and want to read online, for example.

But it is not the only one that supports or the only compatible one. All Amazon book readers support AZW3, AZW, TXT, PDF, MOBI, HTML, DOC and DOCX, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, or PRC formats. We insist: EPUB is not on the list, although most specialized websites, including the page of libraries throughout Spain, offer their electronic books in this format. Therefore, we will explain how to convert it.

Turn into

The only way to read EPUB books on Kindle is to convert them. For example, if you have a book that you have downloaded from a legal website… A manual for a subject in the master’s degree you are studying or a friend’s book that has just been self-published. In that case, what we have to do is convert the ebook format so that your Amazon Kindle book can read it without any problem. Caliber is used for this, a free software that we can download for free on our computer and that allows us to convert books.

The first thing we must do is go to the Caliber website and download the program for the device that interests us. It is free and is compatible with Windows, macOS or Linux, although there is also a portable version that does not require installation.

Install and configure Caliber

When configuring Calibre, we must also fill in the data to send books by email, which will allow us to send the EPUB files directly by email to the Kindle regardless of whether or not we have it connected by cable to the PC. We will do this during the installation…

Download the application from the Caliber website
Choose the location for library books
Tap Next to continue with the installation
Choose the type of device you have
- Check the Amazon option to choose between Kindle models
- Choose the Kindle model you have

Tap on “Next”
You will see a window where you can write your emails
Write your Kindle email and the email to send them from
Confirm
Complete the installation and configuration with “Finish”

convert format

Once we have it installed and configured, the screen is very simple, as you can see in the image below. We see a top bar with options and the first one is “add books”. From here we can search for any file on our computer. Choose “Add files from a single folder” and choose the one you are interested in converting to another format. The EPUB you want to read on Kindle.

Once selected, you will see it appear on the main Caliber screen. You will see the title, author, date, size, tags, publication… Go back to the menu on the top page and tap on “ Convert ” having the book previously selected.

Now a new window will open with all the details of the file. You will see the metadata, the appearance, etc. But what we are interested in is at the top of the program: you will see “input format” on the left and “output format” on the right. The program will automatically detect the EPUB and we must make sure that the output format is ” MOBI “. When you have it, confirm “OK” at the bottom of the caliber window.

In the bottom bar of the program you will see that there is a pending task. When a “0” appears in the image, the format has already been converted correctly.

The only thing left for us now is to save the file or send it. We have three options: connect the Kindle by cable, send it directly by mail from Calibre, or save the file on the computer to transfer it to the Kindle. In case you want to save it, simply tap on “Save to disk”. Tap on the dropdown icon and choose “ Save only MOBI format in a folder ”. Choose the destination and go to the next section to learn how to share it.

Send to Kindle

We have the option of sending the book through Caliber itself and it is the most comfortable option, although we can also do it by email if we have previously converted the eBook to the format we are interested in and we have the file.

Send from email

If you’ve saved to disk using the steps above, we can email the book to your Kindle. You will no longer have an EPUB but a MOBI file but with the same content as the previous one, which will technically allow us to read EPUB on Kindle. Of course, the first thing we must do is configure the Amazon ereader from our profile on the website. And there are conditions: we can only have a maximum of 15 associated email addresses and the file sent cannot be more than 50 MB in size.

The first thing you must do is authorize your email address from which we will later send the email with the attached file.

Open your Amazon account with email and password
Go to “Account and lists” and “Manage content and devices”
Tap on “Preferences”
Look for the section “ Configuration of personal documents ”
Go to “ List of authorized email addresses for sending personal documents ”
Click on “ Add a new authorized email address ”
Write the email addresses you want (maximum 15)

Enter the addresses you use regularly and we will have our Kindle ready to send files by email. When we have it, we will only have to open our usual email and send the book by email to the address of our Kindle. If we are not sure what this address is, we can see it from “Email settings for shipments to the Kindle” from the personal documents section that we reached with the previous steps.