MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Troubleshooting How can I transfer my backup of highlights and bookmarks to reseted Kindle ?

Dalva88 · 06-25-2023, 08:16 PM

I Think I almost fixed It !!

I found a way to transfer my .mbp1 and .mbs files, which completely restored my highlights and bookmarks

However this only worked for the books with the .azw extension, as they’re corresponding .sdr folders had .mbs and .mbs files with I could switch with my backups. However this wasn’t the case for the books with the .azw3 extension, as they’re corresponding .sdr folders had .az3f and .az3r files which couldn’t be replaced with my .mbs and .mbp1 backups… so I don’t really know what to do about that.

But if this helps someone else in the same position I was, here is how I half fixed it, for some of my books :

- First I backed up everything that was on my Kindle : I plugged it into my Mac, went into the Kindle Folder, and copied everything in there onto a folder on my desktop that I named Kindle Backup.

- Then I made a factory reset of my device.

- Once I did that, I started sending books to my device using either https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle, or by using my “send to Kindle” email address.

- When I had the book I wanted on my device, I opened it, and leafed through it a little (which I think you have to do so your Kindle will create a file for you reading progress, highlights, notes and bookmarks on you system.)

- I then plugged in my device to my Mac, and opened up the Kindle folder. In there I went to the folder where my book was named (Kindle/ documents/downloads/items01/ name of the book I want to update)

- There I saw that there were multiple files with the same name, a .azw file of my book and a .sdr folder with the same name.

- In the .sdr folder of the same name were two .mbs and .mbp1 files.

- I opened up my Kindle Backup folder that I made in step 1, and found the .sdr folder corresponding to that book. In there were also 2 .mbs and .mbp1 files.

- I figured those were the files containing my original highlights and bookmarks. So what I did is I took those files, and gave them the same names as the .mbs and .mbp1 files in the .sdr folder we just opened, the one located on my Kindle’s system. The names are similar ( they’re both named after the book for which I want the highlights & bookmarks, but with a random sequence of letters and numbers). I copy the name of the .mbs file from my Kindle’s system, and give it to the .mbs file in my Kindle backup folder. I copy the name of the .mbp1 file on my Kindle’s system, and give it to the .mbp1 file in my Kindle backup folder. I then take those two files and put them in the folder on my Kindle’s system, replacing the other.

- And tadaa, now those files carry my highlights & bookmarks, but have the proper names to be linked to their corresponding ebook when I open it on my device.

- I eject my device, start it, open my book, and boum : all my highlights and bookmarks are back !

Now as I said, this worked perfectly for the books that were in the .azw format, but for some reason I can’t do it for the ones in the .azw3 format, as there highlight and bookmarks files are not in .mbs and .mbp1 format….
I don’t really know what to do about that, and I I have to idea why those books have different formats as they were just .epub books that I send via my “send to kindle” email address or via https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle.

I will keep looking for a solution and will update this post if I do !

06-25-2023, 08:16 PM	#7
Dalva88 Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2023 Device: Kindle	I Think I almost fixed It !! I found a way to transfer my .mbp1 and .mbs files, which completely restored my highlights and bookmarks However this only worked for the books with the .azw extension, as they’re corresponding .sdr folders had .mbs and .mbs files with I could switch with my backups. However this wasn’t the case for the books with the .azw3 extension, as they’re corresponding .sdr folders had .az3f and .az3r files which couldn’t be replaced with my .mbs and .mbp1 backups… so I don’t really know what to do about that. But if this helps someone else in the same position I was, here is how I half fixed it, for some of my books : - First I backed up everything that was on my Kindle : I plugged it into my Mac, went into the Kindle Folder, and copied everything in there onto a folder on my desktop that I named Kindle Backup. - Then I made a factory reset of my device. - Once I did that, I started sending books to my device using either https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle, or by using my “send to Kindle” email address. - When I had the book I wanted on my device, I opened it, and leafed through it a little (which I think you have to do so your Kindle will create a file for you reading progress, highlights, notes and bookmarks on you system.) - I then plugged in my device to my Mac, and opened up the Kindle folder. In there I went to the folder where my book was named (Kindle/ documents/downloads/items01/ name of the book I want to update) - There I saw that there were multiple files with the same name, a .azw file of my book and a .sdr folder with the same name. - In the .sdr folder of the same name were two .mbs and .mbp1 files. - I opened up my Kindle Backup folder that I made in step 1, and found the .sdr folder corresponding to that book. In there were also 2 .mbs and .mbp1 files. - I figured those were the files containing my original highlights and bookmarks. So what I did is I took those files, and gave them the same names as the .mbs and .mbp1 files in the .sdr folder we just opened, the one located on my Kindle’s system. The names are similar ( they’re both named after the book for which I want the highlights & bookmarks, but with a random sequence of letters and numbers). I copy the name of the .mbs file from my Kindle’s system, and give it to the .mbs file in my Kindle backup folder. I copy the name of the .mbp1 file on my Kindle’s system, and give it to the .mbp1 file in my Kindle backup folder. I then take those two files and put them in the folder on my Kindle’s system, replacing the other. - And tadaa, now those files carry my highlights & bookmarks, but have the proper names to be linked to their corresponding ebook when I open it on my device. - I eject my device, start it, open my book, and boum : all my highlights and bookmarks are back ! Now as I said, this worked perfectly for the books that were in the .azw format, but for some reason I can’t do it for the ones in the .azw3 format, as there highlight and bookmarks files are not in .mbs and .mbp1 format…. I don’t really know what to do about that, and I I have to idea why those books have different formats as they were just .epub books that I send via my “send to kindle” email address or via https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle. I will keep looking for a solution and will update this post if I do !