Amazon is removing your ability to download and keep your ebooks

According to Amazon, they will be removing the Download & Transfer via USB option from readers' Kindle Content Libraries on the 26 th of February, disabling readers' ability to directly download purchased ebooks from their Amazon accounts. According to some Kindle owners, the change seems to be effective immediately ! Readers won’t be able to: copy Kindle ebooks to Kindle e-readers using an USB cable, store ebooks separately from their Kindle device or app, back up their ebooks, or read them anywhere other than Amazon’s own Kindle environment. When readers select the Download & Transfer via USB option from their account, Amazon currently displays the following notice: Starting February 26, 2025, the "Download & Transfer via USB" option will no longer be available. You can still send Kindle books to your Wi-Fi enabled devices by selecting the "Deliver or Remove from Device" option. Learn more about managing downloads Will it affect you? If you only ever read your Amazon ebooks on a Kindle e-reader or app and are not concerned with backing up your ebooks or reading them anywhere else, this change likely won’t impact you. You’ll continue to sync your Kindle over wi-fi, the ebooks you’ve bought will appear, and you’ll be able to read them as usual. But owners of early Kindle e-readers, such as the Kindle Keyboard, may not even have this option. Since the shutdown of 3G networks a few years ago, owners of Kindle 3Gs (without wi-fi) have had to manually move ebook files to their device using an USB cable. This won’t be an option after the 26th. Owners of non-wi-fi Kindles will have no supported way to download ebooks they’ve bought and paid for. If you buy ebooks from Amazon to read on a non-Kindle devices (or even to backup!), you’ll have two options. Either install the outdated Kindle app on a computer (if you have access to one) and attempt to download your ebooks that way, or buy a Kindle device to read your ebooks. Remember, this issue doesn't impact ebooks through Kindle Unlimited, since they're on loan to you, not purchases you own. Amazon's respondse to a Verge article on this topic was unhelpful at best, stating that: “Customers can continue reading books previously downloaded on their Kindle device, and access new content through the Kindle app, Kindle for web, as well as directly through Kindle devices with WiFi capability,” Reading between the lines, this confirms that Amazon customers can no longer read their Kindle ebooks on a different device or app. As a commenter on a Verge article covering this noted : “I don't want to be forced to continually buy new Kindles for the rest of my life just because I made the mistake years ago of buying content locked into their proprietary format.” What you can do Ebook files downloaded through the Amazon website are available in the older AZW3 format - which has its benefits. Download your ebooks now! Log in to your Amazon account Navigate to...

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