Kindles read EPUB, but not if you simply copy the file over a cable: it has to go through Send to Kindle, Amazon's free service that converts it to the Kindle's format and adds it to your library. Here are the three ways to do it, from easiest to most technical.
One condition first: the EPUB can't have DRM. Amazon rejects protected or encrypted files, which is how ebooks bought from other stores usually come. Public-domain books, files an author gives you and ones you convert yourself all work fine.
1. From the Send to Kindle website (the easiest)
- Go to amazon.com/sendtokindle (or your country's Amazon, such as amazon.es/sendtokindle) and sign in with the account your Kindle uses.
- Drag the EPUB onto the page. Files of up to 200 MB are accepted.
- Leave Add to library ticked, so the book stays in your account and can be downloaded on any Kindle or in the app.
- Press Send. It shows up on your Kindle within minutes, the next time it connects to wifi.
2. By email
Every Kindle has its own email address, ending in @kindle.com. Whatever you send there lands on the device.
- On Amazon, go to Manage Your Content and Devices → Preferences → Personal Document Settings. Each device's @kindle.com address is listed there.
- In the same section, add the address you'll send from to the Approved Personal Document E-mail List. If it isn't approved, Amazon discards the message.
- Email your @kindle.com address with the EPUB attached. The subject and body don't matter.
Email has a lower limit: up to 25 files and 50 MB per message. For a heavily illustrated book, use the website.
3. By cable, converting it first
Over USB, a Kindle reads AZW3, unprotected MOBI, PDF and TXT, but not EPUB. If you'd rather not go through Amazon, convert it first:
- Install Calibre, free and open source, for Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Add the EPUB and use Convert books, with AZW3 as the output format.
- Connect the Kindle by cable and copy the AZW3 into the documents folder.
On a Mac with a 2024 or later Kindle, or a Kindle Scribe, the Kindle doesn't show up as a drive: you need Amazon's Send to Kindle for Mac app, which includes a USB file manager.
The upside of the cable is that the book never touches your Amazon account. The downside is that it doesn't sync either: it stays on that one Kindle.
If Amazon rejects it
Amazon replies with an email and a code. The most common ones:
| Code | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| E001 | Unsupported, protected or encrypted file | Check it's an EPUB without DRM |
| E007 | Over 50 MB by email | Send it from the website, which takes 200 MB |
| E013 / E016 | Something that can't be converted: very large tables, SVG images, audio, video or formulas | Simplify the file or convert it with Calibre |
| E014 | The sender isn't on the approved list | Add your address to the list (step 2 of email) |
The full list is in Amazon's help.
If the error isn't about size or the sender, the EPUB is often malformed: a missing file, a broken tag or a table of contents that doesn't add up. You can check it with our EPUB validator, which runs EPUBCheck, the official tool, in your browser without uploading the file.
What if you have a PDF?
Send to Kindle takes PDFs too, but a PDF keeps the size of the printed page: on a Kindle screen the text ends up tiny. You can zoom in, but the text doesn't reflow, so you end up scrolling sideways along every line. Converted to EPUB, the text adapts to the screen and you pick the font size.