Kindle PW3 highlights backup

domukas00 · 06-06-2017, 06:05 AM

Hello,

Recently I bought kindle PW3 and realized that highlights and notes are synced on the cloud only for the books purchased from the amazon. Since mainly all my books are various side loaded documents I really need to be able to back up all books and documents with highlights and notes in case my kindle stops working, so I could transfer them to new device.

After searching the internet I have found that with older kindles it was possible just to save .mbp files to have backups of highlights and notes but I can't find any .mbp file on my device.
I see that for every individual book there is a folder named accordingly (ex. Book_TSAJ7HUBKCSZG5WYEOETHIMCL6H3EMZY.sdr) with different file types inside: for some books there are two files .azf3f and .azf3r, for others .pds and .pdt or just one file .apnx.

So, would it be possible to backup all highlights and notes by saving these folders to my PC?

Also, is there a plugin for Calibre that could backup highlights automatically (not just myclippings.txt)?

If it's not possible, maybe anyone could recommend me any other e book reader for that matter?

tomsem · 06-06-2017, 02:37 PM

You probably know this, but if you use 'send to kindle' to store your personal documents in the cloud, your notes and highlights are backed up there as well. Then you can export these using a Fire, Kindle for iOS, or Kindle for Android (on Kindle itself, you can only Export from books from Amazon). It is very convenient.

domukas00 · 06-06-2017, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

You probably know this, but if you use 'send to kindle' to store your personal documents in the cloud, your notes and highlights are backed up there as well. Then you can export these using a Fire, Kindle for iOS, or Kindle for Android (on Kindle itself, you can only Export from books from Amazon). It is very convenient.

Yes, but the highlights and notes are synced to the cloud only for books purchased from amazon. Personal documents are not supported for this cloud feature...

shalym · 06-07-2017, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by domukas00

Yes, but the highlights and notes are synced to the cloud only for books purchased from amazon. Personal documents are not supported for this cloud feature...

While personal documents that were transferred via USB are not supported, personal documents that were emailed to Amazon's cloud *are* supported.

Shari

HarryT · 06-07-2017, 12:34 PM

If all your documents are sideloaded, you can simply make a backup of the entire "documents" folder on your Kindle. Yes, all your bookmarks, annotations, etc, are stored in the various files in the sidecar folder (the folder with the .sdr extension).

domukas00 · 06-07-2017, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shalym

While personal documents that were transferred via USB are not supported, personal documents that were emailed to Amazon's cloud *are* supported.

Shari

Shari, does it work for you?

I have just tested it myself and it didn't work. Sent .mobi file to kindle email, downloaded it to my kindle paperwhite, made some highlights, pressed sync button to make sure it gets synced, connected kindle to pc, deleted .azw file (kindle converted .mobi to .azw automatically) and associated .sdr folder, then downloaded same file again from kindle cloud account to my kindle and all highlights were gone....

shalym · 06-09-2017, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by domukas00

Shari, does it work for you?

I have just tested it myself and it didn't work. Sent .mobi file to kindle email, downloaded it to my kindle paperwhite, made some highlights, pressed sync button to make sure it gets synced, connected kindle to pc, deleted .azw file (kindle converted .mobi to .azw automatically) and associated .sdr folder, then downloaded same file again from kindle cloud account to my kindle and all highlights were gone....

Hmmm...that's not what I did. I made highlights in a book that had been emailed to my Kindle cloud, synced my kindle, then went to my phone, synced the Kindle app, opened the same book, and the highlights were there. I was then able to email the highlights from my phone.

Shari

domukas00 · 06-09-2017, 08:13 PM

OMG, I just tested it again for a few hours and it worked.
Now I sent 2 .mobi files (let's say A and B) to the cloud through the e-mail. And after some testing noticed that highlights get synced only on book A which really surprised me.
There was only one difference between them on my kindle: when I went to book A options, there was an option "Remove from Device", whether for book B it was "Delete this Document" instead (can't understand why).
After a few hours I opened Calibre, added book B and just simply converted it from .mobi to .mobi (the file size changed from 194 to 159kb), uploaded it to the cloud and the highlights started syncing!!! Also the delete option changed from "Delete this Document" to "Remove from Device" (like on book A).
I can't understand why it started syncing highlights only after converting it from .mobi to .mobi using calibre (the file type is still the same). What was wrong with the original file?

Maybe someone could explain it?

jhowell · 06-09-2017, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by domukas00

Also the delete option changed from "Delete this Document" to "Remove from Device" (like on book A).
I can't understand why it started syncing highlights only after converting it from .mobi to .mobi using calibre (the file type is still the same). What was wrong with the original file?

Maybe someone could explain it?

"Delete this Document" appears for documents that were downloaded from Amazon. "Remove from Device" appears for documents that were sideloaded via USB.

Perhaps that was a left-over sideloaded document.

(Edit: Opps above is backwards! Stil the idea applies, perhaps book B was a leftover sideloaded document originally.)

knc1 · 06-09-2017, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

"Delete this Document" appears for documents that were downloaded from Amazon. "Remove from Device" appears for documents that were sideloaded via USB.

Perhaps that was a left-over sideloaded document.

Interesting.
That is just the opposite of what my Kindle does.

Documents sideloaded do not have a place in the device's cloud account.
Those get: "Delete this Document" - because the on-Kindle copy is the only copy.
Remove it from the Kindle, and by golly, it is indeed deleted (as much as anything can be deleted from FAT-32).

Documents that have a copy in the device's cloud account get: "Remove from Device" - because that is what it does, it ONLY removes from the device, leaving behind its title in the listing as a reminder that it still exists in the device's cloud account.

but en_Amazon is under constant change -
so your version may not say the same thing my version does.

knc1 · 06-09-2017, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by domukas00

= = = =

Maybe someone could explain it?

Did the asin change?

jhowell · 06-10-2017, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knc1

Interesting.
That is just the opposite of what my Kindle does.

You are right, of course. I got it backwards!

knc1 · 06-10-2017, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

You are right, of course. I got it backwards!

not 'of course' - just lucky.

Your conclusion I think was correct.

One of the two books had been sideloaded or at one time sideloaded and then deleted but having left its sidecar directory and files on the Kindle.

When it was converted *.mobi to *.mobi the asin (or something) was changed, which means the sidecar directory and files on the Kindle no longer where for that *.mobi, they where for the old *.mobi
Then things started working as expected for both books.

06-06-2017, 06:05 AM	#1
domukas00 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2017 Device: Kindle Paper White 3	Kindle PW3 highlights backup Hello, Recently I bought kindle PW3 and realized that highlights and notes are synced on the cloud only for the books purchased from the amazon. Since mainly all my books are various side loaded documents I really need to be able to back up all books and documents with highlights and notes in case my kindle stops working, so I could transfer them to new device. After searching the internet I have found that with older kindles it was possible just to save .mbp files to have backups of highlights and notes but I can't find any .mbp file on my device. I see that for every individual book there is a folder named accordingly (ex. Book_TSAJ7HUBKCSZG5WYEOETHIMCL6H3EMZY.sdr) with different file types inside: for some books there are two files .azf3f and .azf3r, for others .pds and .pdt or just one file .apnx. So, would it be possible to backup all highlights and notes by saving these folders to my PC? Also, is there a plugin for Calibre that could backup highlights automatically (not just myclippings.txt)? If it's not possible, maybe anyone could recommend me any other e book reader for that matter?

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06-06-2017, 02:37 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,939 Karma: 27060151 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	You probably know this, but if you use 'send to kindle' to store your personal documents in the cloud, your notes and highlights are backed up there as well. Then you can export these using a Fire, Kindle for iOS, or Kindle for Android (on Kindle itself, you can only Export from books from Amazon). It is very convenient.

06-07-2017, 12:34 PM	#5
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If all your documents are sideloaded, you can simply make a backup of the entire "documents" folder on your Kindle. Yes, all your bookmarks, annotations, etc, are stored in the various files in the sidecar folder (the folder with the .sdr extension).

06-09-2017, 08:13 PM	#8
domukas00 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2017 Device: Kindle Paper White 3	OMG, I just tested it again for a few hours and it worked. Now I sent 2 .mobi files (let's say A and B) to the cloud through the e-mail. And after some testing noticed that highlights get synced only on book A which really surprised me. There was only one difference between them on my kindle: when I went to book A options, there was an option "Remove from Device", whether for book B it was "Delete this Document" instead (can't understand why). After a few hours I opened Calibre, added book B and just simply converted it from .mobi to .mobi (the file size changed from 194 to 159kb), uploaded it to the cloud and the highlights started syncing!!! Also the delete option changed from "Delete this Document" to "Remove from Device" (like on book A). I can't understand why it started syncing highlights only after converting it from .mobi to .mobi using calibre (the file type is still the same). What was wrong with the original file? Maybe someone could explain it?

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