Amazon discontinuing support for older Kindles in May - Page 36

julian67 · 05-20-2026, 07:26 PM

I just bought 4 kindle books. One on May 20 just before midnight, and three on May 21. All downloaded to my Kindle 5th gen (Paperwhite) as azw and are now in Calibre and converted to epub for use on my Kobo. All were £0.99 deals. I often find stuff I like in the £0.99 bargains, especially history and biography, so I'll keep checking it this way. Last week I went through my library and made sure I got every updated version onto my Kindle as I supposed this would be the last chance. So now I have original azw on PC and updated azw on Kindle and I'll just need to check before importing to Calibre that the changes are mundane corrections, not woke/political rewrites of language or history.

I'm in UK btw.

Tarana · 05-20-2026, 09:00 PM

Have a notice arrive on my kindle keyboard sometime this afternoon. "Kindle Notice ' Devices no longer supported. Basically the same letter received from email.

Josieb1 · 05-21-2026, 12:56 AM

One thing to bear in mind. I had two purchases loaded on my PW 5th gen. I don’t want any purchases because I’m going to sideload everything so I removed them after I got the notice on the kindle. Obviously I can’t re-download them but you can remove books back up to the cloud and the Kindles still show on your account. You just can’t download any purchase on it.

lkmiller · 05-21-2026, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianrh

So I can still (for now) download and read books from my Amazon account but I will no longer be able to remove the DRM and convert with Calibre ebooks from this device. Is there no way now of being able to read these books on a non Kindle device?

Thanks.

There is a method for Kindle for PC for the moment. There is also a method for a jailbroken Paperwhite 2 on firmware 5.12.2.2 which may also work on other jailbroken Kindles on that firmware. I don't know if it's been tested on any of the Kindles on 5.16.2.1.1 which are also no longer working with regular DeDRM methods.

lkmiller · 05-21-2026, 06:47 AM

As reported in another thread, Send to Kindle is still working with the Kindles which can no longer download Amazon purchased books. They are greyed out as devices to push personal docs to on your content page, but you can still see personal docs on the Kindle and download them.

julian67 · 05-21-2026, 06:54 AM

I just bought another £0.99 Kindle deal. It's not an old book but one published only last month. It came down to my Paperwhite 1 (Kindle 5th gen) right away and is now in Calibre and converted to epub for my Kobo.

edit: as my Kindle is ancient the file of course arrived as an .azw3

Brianrh · 05-21-2026, 06:58 AM

Thank you for all your help so far. My 7th gen Kindle has software version 5.12.2.2.

A couple of further questions for you guys. When you plug a Kindle into a PC and download the ebook KFX file, when is the DRM removed? During the download or when you convert it to an epub?

Secondly, can I send a DRMed KFX file to my wife's Kindle PW (fairly new version) using Send to Kindle or using the devices email address, then download it from the PW using Calibre and convert to epub?

Hope that makes sense it all gets more confusing for us in our older years.

Thanks again.

Josieb1 · 05-21-2026, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianrh

Thank you for all your help so far. My 7th gen Kindle has software version 5.12.2.2.

A couple of further questions for you guys. When you plug a Kindle into a PC and download the ebook KFX file, when is the DRM removed? During the download or when you convert it to an epub?

Secondly, can I send a DRMed KFX file to my wife's Kindle PW (fairly new version) using Send to Kindle or using the devices email address, then download it from the PW using Calibre and convert to epub?

Hope that makes sense it all gets more confusing for us in our older years.

Thanks again.

I don’t know about the first question but the second one is a no. All never kindles are MTP, a PC can’t even see what’s on the kindle, let alone download it.

Brianrh · 05-21-2026, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I don’t know about the first question but the second one is a no. All never kindles are MTP, a PC can’t even see what’s on the kindle, let alone download it.

On my Linux laptop and Calibre, I can download a KFX file but I can't remove the DRM.

JSWolf · 05-21-2026, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianrh

On my Linux laptop and Calibre, I can download a KFX file but I can't remove the DRM.

You need Windows with K4PC, the program to get the key, and the version of DeDRM that will read the key and remove the DRM. HPwever, that's only temporary until (I think) the end of June.

Frogm4n · 05-21-2026, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I don’t know about the first question but the second one is a no. All never kindles are MTP, a PC can’t even see what’s on the kindle, let alone download it.

MTP is just fine for file transfer on Windows. Macs need a 3rd party to access it directly, but Calibre has built-in support. Linux might need config to get the OS to not hog the MTP connection.

Sirtel · 05-21-2026, 09:00 AM

As a rule, the DRM is removed when importing. If that fails, then converting will also fail. So it's no use storing KFX files with intact DRM in Calibre and hoping there will be a method to deDRM them in future. Even if there will be a new method, you'd need to import your books again.

frostymug · 05-21-2026, 10:44 AM

OK, so I am trying to remove DRM using Kindle for PC version 2.80. If I use even somewhat older versions of K4PC, my latest books purchases won't download to it. It tells me I have to upgrade to latest version. This version 2.80 isn't the latest version but it did download a book that was released and purchased on May 19. I have Calibre with DeDRM plugin version 10.0.19 and KFX input plugin version 2.33. I go to the folder on my PC where the books are stored, My Kindle Content, and I find a folder there with the date I downloaded it, 05/20/26. I open that folder and I find 5 files. No file with KFX extension though. There is a azw file however. The largest file has an MD extension. I suppose that one holds most of the content. Anyway when I import the book into Calibre and click the conversion button, the input format shows it as being KFX-ZIP. Never seen that before but OK, the book did get imported into Calibre. Now as I understand Kindle for PC, I don't have to look up and enter any kind of serial number anywhere. The software somehow knows what to do. I used to do this method way back when (K4PC version 1.4). Never had a problem. But when I click the convert button, it churns and crunches a while but then the little white box pops up and tells me it can't remove the DRM. So I've read people on here who still are able to remove DRM from the newer formats (not azw3). I need to figure this out. However, the other shoe is about to drop and I am aware that near the end of June, Kindle for PC is either going to change or go away completely so I have a sinking feeling that by July everyone is going to be out of luck. But can anyone point out what I am missing or doing wrong either in Kindle for PC or Calibre or its plugins that explains why DRM removal is failing for me?

JSWolf · 05-21-2026, 11:22 AM

KFX-ZIP means it still has DRM and conversion will fail. So don't bother. With K4PC 2,80, you need the program to extract the key from your K4PC KFX downloads. You also need the fork of DeDRM that will allow you to import the key to remove the DRM. It's not difficult. It's just annoying.

toady42 · 05-21-2026, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostymug

OK, so I am trying to remove DRM using Kindle for PC version 2.80...

You may want to take a look at https://techy-notes.com/

05-20-2026, 07:26 PM	#526
julian67 Member Posts: 17 Karma: 210 Join Date: Dec 2020 Device: Kobo Clara HD & Kindle Paperwhite & Paperwhite 2	I just bought 4 kindle books. One on May 20 just before midnight, and three on May 21. All downloaded to my Kindle 5th gen (Paperwhite) as azw and are now in Calibre and converted to epub for use on my Kobo. All were £0.99 deals. I often find stuff I like in the £0.99 bargains, especially history and biography, so I'll keep checking it this way. Last week I went through my library and made sure I got every updated version onto my Kindle as I supposed this would be the last chance. So now I have original azw on PC and updated azw on Kindle and I'll just need to check before importing to Calibre that the changes are mundane corrections, not woke/political rewrites of language or history. I'm in UK btw. Last edited by julian67; 05-20-2026 at 07:27 PM. Reason: typo

05-20-2026, 09:00 PM	#527
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,108 Karma: 38843852 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	Have a notice arrive on my kindle keyboard sometime this afternoon. "Kindle Notice ' Devices no longer supported. Basically the same letter received from email. Last edited by Tarana; 05-20-2026 at 10:10 PM.

05-21-2026, 06:54 AM	#531
julian67 Member Posts: 17 Karma: 210 Join Date: Dec 2020 Device: Kobo Clara HD & Kindle Paperwhite & Paperwhite 2	I just bought another £0.99 Kindle deal. It's not an old book but one published only last month. It came down to my Paperwhite 1 (Kindle 5th gen) right away and is now in Calibre and converted to epub for my Kobo. edit: as my Kindle is ancient the file of course arrived as an .azw3 Last edited by julian67; 05-21-2026 at 08:11 AM.

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05-21-2026, 12:56 AM	#528
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,252 Karma: 20000000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Scribe, Colorsoft, PW, Kobo Elipsa2e, Libra Colour/2, Clara Colour/BW	One thing to bear in mind. I had two purchases loaded on my PW 5th gen. I don’t want any purchases because I’m going to sideload everything so I removed them after I got the notice on the kindle. Obviously I can’t re-download them but you can remove books back up to the cloud and the Kindles still show on your account. You just can’t download any purchase on it.

05-21-2026, 06:47 AM	#530
lkmiller Laura Posts: 1,747 Karma: 24003056 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Elipsa, Nook Glowlight 4 Plus, Kindle Oasis 2	As reported in another thread, Send to Kindle is still working with the Kindles which can no longer download Amazon purchased books. They are greyed out as devices to push personal docs to on your content page, but you can still see personal docs on the Kindle and download them.

05-21-2026, 06:58 AM	#532
Brianrh Zealot Posts: 126 Karma: 571204 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Purton, Wiltshire, UK Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Auro Edition 2	Thank you for all your help so far. My 7th gen Kindle has software version 5.12.2.2. A couple of further questions for you guys. When you plug a Kindle into a PC and download the ebook KFX file, when is the DRM removed? During the download or when you convert it to an epub? Secondly, can I send a DRMed KFX file to my wife's Kindle PW (fairly new version) using Send to Kindle or using the devices email address, then download it from the PW using Calibre and convert to epub? Hope that makes sense it all gets more confusing for us in our older years. Thanks again.

05-21-2026, 09:00 AM	#537
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 15,178 Karma: 247594217 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	As a rule, the DRM is removed when importing. If that fails, then converting will also fail. So it's no use storing KFX files with intact DRM in Calibre and hoping there will be a method to deDRM them in future. Even if there will be a new method, you'd need to import your books again.

05-21-2026, 10:44 AM	#538
frostymug Member Posts: 13 Karma: 100 Join Date: Jun 2023 Device: Kindle Oasis	OK, so I am trying to remove DRM using Kindle for PC version 2.80. If I use even somewhat older versions of K4PC, my latest books purchases won't download to it. It tells me I have to upgrade to latest version. This version 2.80 isn't the latest version but it did download a book that was released and purchased on May 19. I have Calibre with DeDRM plugin version 10.0.19 and KFX input plugin version 2.33. I go to the folder on my PC where the books are stored, My Kindle Content, and I find a folder there with the date I downloaded it, 05/20/26. I open that folder and I find 5 files. No file with KFX extension though. There is a azw file however. The largest file has an MD extension. I suppose that one holds most of the content. Anyway when I import the book into Calibre and click the conversion button, the input format shows it as being KFX-ZIP. Never seen that before but OK, the book did get imported into Calibre. Now as I understand Kindle for PC, I don't have to look up and enter any kind of serial number anywhere. The software somehow knows what to do. I used to do this method way back when (K4PC version 1.4). Never had a problem. But when I click the convert button, it churns and crunches a while but then the little white box pops up and tells me it can't remove the DRM. So I've read people on here who still are able to remove DRM from the newer formats (not azw3). I need to figure this out. However, the other shoe is about to drop and I am aware that near the end of June, Kindle for PC is either going to change or go away completely so I have a sinking feeling that by July everyone is going to be out of luck. But can anyone point out what I am missing or doing wrong either in Kindle for PC or Calibre or its plugins that explains why DRM removal is failing for me?

05-21-2026, 11:22 AM	#539
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,537 Karma: 153646249 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	KFX-ZIP means it still has DRM and conversion will fail. So don't bother. With K4PC 2,80, you need the program to extract the key from your K4PC KFX downloads. You also need the fork of DeDRM that will allow you to import the key to remove the DRM. It's not difficult. It's just annoying.