Troubleshooting Cannot Access Word File on Kindle Paperwhite

expos4ever · 04-28-2021, 10:17 AM

Greetings. I copied a word file from PC to the "documents" folder of my Kindle via a USB cable (I want to do it this way since the material is work proprietary and I do not want it to be in the cloud). When I examine that folder (with my Kindle connected to my computer), the file is indeed listed. But it does not appear in my library when I try to access it from the Kindle itself. In other words, I cannot find it on my Kindle, even through my computer seems to indicate it is there. Any suggestions welcomed.

Note that I have previously emailed a word document to my kindle and was able to successfully access it from the "library" (i.e. where all my e-books live). So it appears that my kindle can indeed "handle" a word file.

jhowell · 04-28-2021, 10:59 AM

Kindles do not handle Microsoft Word format. Emailing a Word document causes it to be converted by Amazon’s servers to a proprietary Kindle format for reading.

shamanNS · 04-28-2021, 11:19 AM

Nope, wrong conclusion. When you email (or use Send to Kindle app) Word document to Amazon's servers it gets converted and the book / the document is delivered to your Kindle in one of the "native" Kindle formats (mobi, azw3), but when you've users PC and USB cable to directly copy .doc /.docx file naturally there is no format conversion.

Kindle itself doesn't support opening Word files, Amazon's conversion & delivery server does accept that format.

You can easily verify my claim if you connect your Kindle to your PC and examine contents of "documents" folder and search for file with the (file) name / title of that book /document you've emailed. Check the file extension and it will probably be ".prc" (or .mobi, .azw)not ".doc", ".docx", ".rtf".

Quoth · 04-28-2021, 03:26 PM

Install Calibre, free (Windows, Mac, Linux).
Save as Docx
Import to Calibre.
Convert with a click to epub2
Convert the epub2 to azw3 and send to Kindle from Calibre using USB

Far better than Amazon's conversion.

04-28-2021, 10:17 AM	#1
expos4ever Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2021 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Cannot Access Word File on Kindle Paperwhite Greetings. I copied a word file from PC to the "documents" folder of my Kindle via a USB cable (I want to do it this way since the material is work proprietary and I do not want it to be in the cloud). When I examine that folder (with my Kindle connected to my computer), the file is indeed listed. But it does not appear in my library when I try to access it from the Kindle itself. In other words, I cannot find it on my Kindle, even through my computer seems to indicate it is there. Any suggestions welcomed. Note that I have previously emailed a word document to my kindle and was able to successfully access it from the "library" (i.e. where all my e-books live). So it appears that my kindle can indeed "handle" a word file.

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04-28-2021, 10:59 AM	#2
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,070 Karma: 91577715 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Charlottesville, VA Device: Kindles	Kindles do not handle Microsoft Word format. Emailing a Word document causes it to be converted by Amazon’s servers to a proprietary Kindle format for reading.

04-28-2021, 11:19 AM	#3
shamanNS Wizard Posts: 1,115 Karma: 12345678 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Serbia Device: Kindle PW5, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle PW1	Nope, wrong conclusion. When you email (or use Send to Kindle app) Word document to Amazon's servers it gets converted and the book / the document is delivered to your Kindle in one of the "native" Kindle formats (mobi, azw3), but when you've users PC and USB cable to directly copy .doc /.docx file naturally there is no format conversion. Kindle itself doesn't support opening Word files, Amazon's conversion & delivery server does accept that format. You can easily verify my claim if you connect your Kindle to your PC and examine contents of "documents" folder and search for file with the (file) name / title of that book /document you've emailed. Check the file extension and it will probably be ".prc" (or .mobi, .azw)not ".doc", ".docx", ".rtf".

04-28-2021, 03:26 PM	#4
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,022 Karma: 105092227 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	Install Calibre, free (Windows, Mac, Linux). Save as Docx Import to Calibre. Convert with a click to epub2 Convert the epub2 to azw3 and send to Kindle from Calibre using USB Far better than Amazon's conversion.

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