Creating catalog without downloading books from amazon?

deb27 · 07-08-2026, 06:01 PM

I love the catalog feature of calibre. One place I can go to see the entire catalog of my books.
Unfortunately, the majority of my books are from Amazon and have DRM. And since I can no longer download and transfer by USB, I don't know how to get my books (or at least the title of the books) into Calibre.

So I'm not asking how to get the actual readable book into Calibre. I'm asking if there's a way to get the title/author into a blank book in Calibre such that I can download the associated metadata for the book and then generate a catalog.

At the moment, I have to manually create a blank book and fill in the title and author for every single book I want in the catalog which is painful. Is there any way I can get the info from the kindle into calibre via the windows PC interface?

Thanks in advance.

Sirtel · 07-09-2026, 12:48 AM

I don't think you can get the metadata alone from the Windows app. You can get the books, though (that is, deDRM them) and then you'll get the metadata with them.

Katja_hbg · 07-09-2026, 03:28 AM

did you try "add book" and use isbn or the amazon number?

sgmoore · 07-09-2026, 12:40 PM

If you have a Windows 11 computer, it is probably easier to DRM them.

Depending on how many books you buy you could take a note of the ASIN when you buy them and then do the following

Using a free book as an example, the url could be

https://www.amazon.co.uk/If-She-Wakes-Harlow-Book-ebook/dp/B09J44N4WY/260-2952281-5792549?psc=1
or even just https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09J44N4WY , but in either case it is the bit after /dp/ and before the next / (if any)

Then, in Calibre's select Add Books/Add From IBSN and type in amazon: followed by the ASIN, in this case.

amazon:B09J44N4WY

Calibre will create a blank book and then tries to download the metadata for the book, which should fill in the missing info (assuming your metadata stories are setup correctly)

deb27 · Today, 12:43 PM

@sgmoore Thank you. That's easier than what I was doing.

07-08-2026, 06:01 PM	#1
deb27 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle 2	Creating catalog without downloading books from amazon? I love the catalog feature of calibre. One place I can go to see the entire catalog of my books. Unfortunately, the majority of my books are from Amazon and have DRM. And since I can no longer download and transfer by USB, I don't know how to get my books (or at least the title of the books) into Calibre. So I'm not asking how to get the actual readable book into Calibre. I'm asking if there's a way to get the title/author into a blank book in Calibre such that I can download the associated metadata for the book and then generate a catalog. At the moment, I have to manually create a blank book and fill in the title and author for every single book I want in the catalog which is painful. Is there any way I can get the info from the kindle into calibre via the windows PC interface? Thanks in advance.

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07-09-2026, 12:48 AM	#2
Sirtel Grand Sorcerer Posts: 15,424 Karma: 248000019 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Estonia Device: Kobo Sage & Libra 2	I don't think you can get the metadata alone from the Windows app. You can get the books, though (that is, deDRM them) and then you'll get the metadata with them.

07-09-2026, 03:28 AM	#3
Katja_hbg Addict Posts: 210 Karma: 197760 Join Date: Oct 2015 Device: Kobo Glo HD (landscape), Kobo Aura One	did you try "add book" and use isbn or the amazon number?

07-09-2026, 12:40 PM	#4
sgmoore Groupie Posts: 164 Karma: 653254 Join Date: Mar 2021 Device: Kindle Voyage	If you have a Windows 11 computer, it is probably easier to DRM them. Depending on how many books you buy you could take a note of the ASIN when you buy them and then do the following Using a free book as an example, the url could be https://www.amazon.co.uk/If-She-Wakes-Harlow-Book-ebook/dp/B09J44N4WY/260-2952281-5792549?psc=1 or even just https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09J44N4WY , but in either case it is the bit after /dp/ and before the next / (if any) Then, in Calibre's select Add Books/Add From IBSN and type in amazon: followed by the ASIN, in this case. amazon:B09J44N4WY Calibre will create a blank book and then tries to download the metadata for the book, which should fill in the missing info (assuming your metadata stories are setup correctly)

Today, 12:43 PM	#5
deb27 Connoisseur Posts: 52 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle 2	@sgmoore Thank you. That's easier than what I was doing.