How to transfer your Kindle eBooks to a Kobo (2024)

[@Msalove08]

Does ANYONE know why the first 4 letters of each word in my book is bolded? Idk how to change or fix it.

[@subhareadsbooks]

This is so strange! Can you manually update the first letters at least? I've pinned this question to the top of the comments section so hopefully someone will have an answer!

[@papelesdeelib]

Thank you so much for making such a clear and concise video! I was worried that this process would take too long or be super complicated, but with your video I was able to transfer all my books in under an hour. I came across 2 issues but was able to fix them. Thanks again!

[@subhareadsbooks]

I'm so glad this was helpful and easy to follow. That was my goal! :) Enjoy reading!!

[@JackDenvir]

Thank you very much for this guide. There is a book series I have got into but it was proving expensive to get the physical books and the 2nd hand market in the UK is practically nil. Once I found this video, it allowed me to get the books on Kindle and get it on my Kobo Clara 2E. Definitely worth a like and a sub 👍

[@subhareadsbooks]

This is SO Nice!!!! Thank you of much Jack! I'm so glad the steps were easy for you and now you got your Kobo Clara rockin' and rolling!!! :)

[@francais2902]

Bravo Subha. You have made my evening. I was beginning to regret my kobo purchase for lack of content; but your explanation made removing the DRM a breeze, thank you so so much

[@subhareadsbooks]

Omg this makes me so happy!!! I’m so glad!!!!! 🙂

[@sergdguzman]

This was a great tutorial, super clear and easy. Thank you!

[@subhareadsbooks]

I'm so glad this was easy and helpful!!! Happy holidays and happy reading!!

[@Abercadabera]

Thank you so much for this tutorial! It was very clear and straightforward.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yes no problem at all! Happy to help! :)

[@beatretbar]

So helpful! Been waffling on getting the Kobo because of all the books on my Kindle - you may have just convinced me to make the purchase!

[@subhareadsbooks]

So glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!!

[@itsmimiduong]

Loooove this video! 🥹 I feel like people don't know about this! I find that a lot of people feel the need to stay in the Amazon ecosystem because they don't realize that it's not necessary! Unfortunately, I made the poor decision of purchasing the Kindle but I know that your video will help others in the future 🥰 If I were to go back, I think I would've picked Kobo (regardless of the color or not). Especially since I try to buy most of my ebook reads from publisher's preferred site (almost completely off of Amazon now for personal reasons). LOL I had no idea how to pronounce Calibre, I've always called it Cal-Li-Breh HAHAHA 😭😭 I have no idea why I thought it was Cal-Li-Breh. I blame the fact that I'm from California. I learned something new on your video. Great video, Subha!!!!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Mimi, thank you! This was actually such a hard video for me to make because I did a voice-over after screen recording. 😅 Yes, I completely agree! There are other options other than Amazon, you might just have take one ore two different steps as a work-around but there are ways! Omg I kept pronouncing it incorrectly as well, so don't you worry! Thank you for watching!

[@itsmimiduong]

@@subhareadsbooks You did an awesome job with the video! Super easy to understand 💕 I just laughed really hard when I realized that I haven't been pronouncing it right 💀 Been using Calibre since I was in high school (10+ years ago...) because I stole my brother's ereader A LOT

[@spiderdan14]

Thank you so much for this! Just ordered the Kobo Libra Colour and was stressed that I would lose all my amazon books. Life saver 🥰

[@subhareadsbooks]

This makes me so happy! I hope this video is helpful when you start transferring files over and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! :)

[@lamingtonbrioche]

Yay! You're a star! That was so easy to follow and absolutely worked!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Glad it helped! Happy Reading!!!

[@JntnR]

as of oct 2024 it is not working anymore :( maybe there was a patch or something. Thanks for sharing! ill continue looking for other options

[@subhareadsbooks]

Oh no?! Really?! I’ll try sometime this week and see if I can get it to work.

[@Tiffs-bookshelf]

OMG! I have been trying to do this since JUNE. this was so easy to follow and actually, the process is very simple once you get there. I have used Calibre for many many years so I understood that aspect, but the rest I didn't know. IT IS WORKING FOR ME! I get my Kobo Color Libra tomorrow so I am getting some books ready now and I will still use Kindle because I have over 1000 books on there plus I LOVE my KU/Audiobook plan. But now I can swap books after I have purchased and use the Kobo. I didn't want to buy one because I have been in the Amazon ecosystem since 2011, so I have is all. But the Kobo color is with stylus is AMAZING

[@subhareadsbooks]

Tiffs, this makes me so happy! I'm so excited for you to get your Kobo and I'm glad that the transfer worked for you!!!! Enjoy reading in Colour!!!!

[@SunnyDD2]

Oh my god. This is also what's happening to me!!! I'm such an Amazon girl but the Kobo Libra Colour wins 100%!!!!

[@patioz4069]

Amazing! Worked, thank you so much. I've moved my books from kindle to Pocketbook 🎉

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yay! I'm so glad this was helpful for you!!! Happy reading!

[@tracylroyer]

Thank you so much, I was lost. I have it now, thanks to you!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yay! I’m so glad I could help! Enjoy reading!!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi everyone! I had a lot of questions about how to do this if you have a Windows PC, so I went ahead and created this same video but for PC users. I hope this helps! kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4mUY6eJfcl-fsk Good luck and happy reading!

[@alenk4682]

Nice video. I subscribed. Looking forward to more Kobo videos!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yay! Thank you for subscribing! :)

[@Marissa_tm]

I was following along until transfer USB.. I got some nonsense message "You don't own a compatible kindle." Umm.. Wrong.. I'm looking at right now.. Sigh. Someone know what to do?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hmm, weird! Do you think maybe the kindle got disconnected on accident? Sometimes chords can be finicky! Have you had a chance to try again? I haven't seen that message myself so I'm not sure!! I'm sorry I'm not much help.

[@Riu-bw4bl]

I think they changed it very recently so you cannot download for a usb. People were complaining about it. They don’t want you to own your books

[@subhareadsbooks]

@ hmm it works for me but maybe it only works for older models like the Kindle Oasis? It works for the kindle Oasis but not for Colorsoft!

[@Ashleighsbooklist]

@@Riu-bw4bl I'm having the same issue 😢, did you find a solution?

[@mkrstn]

straight forward and it works! thank you so much!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yay! This makes me so happy. So glad I could be of help. Enjoy reading!!!!

[@theteachingaddict]

This was a fantastic tutorial. Thank you so much!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Glad it was helpful!!!

[@chanboulanger]

What if I don't have a kindle and only use the apps? Can this still be done

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi! Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to connect your kindle if you don't use the physical device! You could try one of the other options and try to find some sort of serial number!

[@sirpaddlesworthiii5933]

When does the video start?

[@subhareadsbooks]

I have chapters in the description but the steps start at 2:17!

[@sanjithechef]

Thank you. Also isn’t Jade city and the rest of its series amazing?

[@subhareadsbooks]

So glad i could help! Oh my gosh, don’t hate me - i haven’t actually read that series yet. Do i need to pick it up ASAP?!

[@naylamp_gaming]

Thanks! You are the best!

[@donnafisher4421]

Hi any help would be appreciated. I added the serial number then selected the book I want to download, select the kindle and download i get the message success but then HTTP Status 400 - Bad Request? They don't seem to download for some reason.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi Donna, are you saying that when you download your book from Amazon's Content page (where you have all of your ebooks listed), you get an error?

[@donnafisher4421]

@subhareadsbooks thank you for the reply. Yes everything up until that point is ok and the downloads starts off like it's going to work, then the error message happens x

[@pbutler890]

My DRM is not coming off. Anyone have any updates or tips? I've repeated this process a few times just to double check

[@winfriedkudlek5803]

Buongiorno, Mi piaciuto il tuo video molto.. era molto utile.. Vai avanti cosi...Saluti da Verbania ; Italia!

[@gaelanubis]

Can't convert anything with Calibre, all my books from Kindle are in KFX files and when I want to convert them in EPUB it's saying it's protected by a copyright....

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hmm, I'm sorry! I've never come across this error for KFX files and I'm not sure how to transfer kindle books If they're in that file format. I hope that someone from our community can help you out!

[@ActuallyAbdullah]

Literally the best tutorial on this process on YT. I have a question though-does one have to actually own a kindle device in order to do this? My kobo is actually my first e reader but i have found a few books i want to read that are only on the kindle store. Is there a way to effectively do this process without a kindle device/serial number of one? Should I buy an old used kindle?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yay! I'm so glad I could be helpful to you! Okay, so I actually am not sure how to do this if you don't have a physical kindle with a serial number. I'm sorry!

[@Ashleighsbooklist]

Subha thank you for this clear step by step tutorial! Sadly when I go to 'download & transfer via USB' I get the message - 'You do not have any compatible devices registered for this content. Buy a Kindle or get the free Kindle reading app'. - Does anyone know a solution to this issue pleeease (I have a Kindle basic latest gen if that helps lol)

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi Ashleigh! Oh no, so I just tried this myself since I have the newer Kindle (ColorSoft) and I'm getting the same error. I fear that this is because we have the newer kindles connected to Amazon. I'm not 100% positive but I wonder if Amazon made it so if you have the new kindles, you can't download and transfer books over? Sorry I'm not much help!!!

[@Ashleighsbooklist]

@@subhareadsbooks @ this is the discourse I’m reading online 😩, no you’ve been so helpful thank you for checking! It’s just Amazon being Amazon 💔

[@ASHLEY.397]

I cant seem to download from the amazon website it says You do not have any compatible devices registered for this content even though i have a kindle and its content and i dont know what to do

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi Ashley! Do you have your kindle connected to your Amazon account? You can double check under devices of the Amazon account but if needs to be connected before you can download your ebooks

[@ASHLEY.397]

@ yeah it’s connected to my Amazon account but I don’t know why it’s happening

[@ASHLEY.397]

@ how can you double check

[@Chiabelss]

I don't have kindle ebook reader but read in my phone and was thinking of having kobo and transfer my kindle books in kobo

[@subhareadsbooks]

I'm not sure if there's a way to transfer ebooks from your phone to Kobo. You'll have to connect a kindle serial number to Calibre and I'm not sure if you can do that from a phone. If you find a way, please share it here for everyone!

[@DaoudMclovin]

Any updates? I read on my laptop and have never had a Kindle...

[@Sullisreading]

Saving this for later!! 😍

[@subhareadsbooks]

😍😍😍

[@TimothyWheaton]

This definitely makes the process seem pretty easy. Monotonous? Maybe. But I'm not entirely secure about my 300+ books thru Amazon/My Kindle and want to maybe make the big move to Kobo this month! Fingers crossed

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yes! It’s simple but can be monotonous but worth it!!!!

[@davidealbieni7614]

thank you very much

[@subhareadsbooks]

No problem! so glad I could help!!

[@timmark4190]

Getting an error saying, cannot convert This book is locked by DRM

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi Tim! Would you be able to tell me when you get this error? I believe I go this error once. You'll want to make sure you drop the converted file into your Kobo drive. Do not create a new folder. Make sure it's placed in the root or main drive. I hope this helps!

[@bookmarcreads]

@@subhareadsbooksI’m getting the same error message. It happens when trying to convert the kindle book to ePub.

[@kgutierrez576]

Same thing. Cannot convert any of them 😢

[@EstebanAguilarSax]

Getting the same error when converting to ePUB. Not sure what to do.

[@sbiswas0227]

@@kgutierrez576 It is worth going through all the steps again, it helped me. I do have I could not convert, inspite of trying everything, but worked for others.

[@midgetmachete1889]

When I try to install the plug it tells me that the plug-in file is invalid. No matter what I do, I just can't install the plugin.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hmm I’m not sure what this means, unfortunately! I’m sorry! Maybe someone can pop in the comments and help if they’ve seen this issue.

[@karenbird6727]

I had to click on DeDRM tools_10.0,3 folder to find the DeDRM plugin folder, and move it up to my downloads folder. I tried it again, and it said it was successful. I have not tried converting anything yet though, so I don't know if it will work.

[@callinic999]

Doesn't work for me as instructed at all either

[@Barbara-ot1ki]

I have a new Kobo Libra. I downloaded the DRM zip file to my PC but when I try to add the plug-in to calibre, I get a message "the download is invalid. It does not contain a top-level _init_.py file". Is there a newer version of the DRM plug-in? Help is needed, please!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi! So I would try downloading it again. V10.0.3 is the latest version. You want to make sure you’re installing the PARENT folder into calibre when you add the plug in!

[@Barbara-ot1ki]

@@subhareadsbooks what is the PARENT folder?

[@subhareadsbooks]

@ it’s the main folder everything is located in. In the video you should see what the folder is called!

[@shannonlonergan4765]

I tried this and it said the DeDRM isn’t valid 🙃

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hmm was this before or after you added it to Calibre? You might not have the parent DeDRM folder added as a plugin!

[@jymotwani]

Thank you! When I migrate my books from my Kindle to my Kobo would my highlights/annotations come through to the Kobo? If not is there any alternatives

[@subhareadsbooks]

Ah this is such a good question, and I’m not sure! I never liked annotating on my kindle books so I never did. I doubt it though because annotation is a kindle-specific functionality! You’d have to manually go through and annotate. When you swap the books over you’re only transferring the ebook!

[@jessica9541]

After you transfer your ebooks to Kobo can you highlight and annotate?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yes! Once you transfer your kindle ebooks over to kobo, you'll be able to annotate on Kobo!

[@kk_flowergarden]

So do I have to have a kindle device currently? I used to have a kindle but had to sell it a while back. I recently got a kobo device and want to download all the kindle books I bought previously, is that possible?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi there, I’m not sure how to do this transfer without the physical kindle yet. I’m still looking into this! Sorry I’m no help right now!

[@zelrey7631]

What if my Mac is an older version my Mac stopes updating so it’s older than update 13

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi there! I'm honestly not sure if it's possible with an older version of Mac. You might be able to try downloading an older version of Calibre to match your Mac's version. I'm sorry I'm of no help with this!

[@sbiswas0227]

That was very helpful, thank you! Is there a way to sync the books I downloaded from kindle to my kobo libra color to my kobo app on my ipad?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi! I'm so glad this was helpful! I'm not entirely sure how do get the books to your iPad. I think your kobo app should automatically sync between devices!

[@rachelgoldenberg3552]

Can I convert books without a Kindle serial number? Just using the Kindle for PC app on my computer?

[@subhareadsbooks]

I’m not sure if that will work! You could try it though!

[@Madde2]

I have never owned a kindle. I just use the kindle app on my phone. How do i do the step with the serial number?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi there! Unfortunately I'm not sure if these steps are possible without a serial number. You might have to do some digging around or ask google. I'm so sorry I'm not much of help answering this question!

[@sbiswas0227]

Hi Subha, this is not working for me today. I was able to do it last week. Two things have changed, I upgraded my mac OS to Sequoia and also upgraded the Calibre to 7.18. Not sure which one is the cause, of course cannot go back on the mac OS. Any thoughts. Thanks.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi there! I'm going to look into this today and I'll get back to you! I'm currently upgrading my MacSO to Sequoia and I'll see if that's the issue or if it's upgrading Calibre. Stay tuned!

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi there, I upgraded my Mac OS to Sequoia and upgraded Calibre to 7.18 and I'm not having any issues moving my kindle book over to kobo. The process is the same!

[@sbiswas0227]

@@subhareadsbooks Yes it is indeed working for me today, thanks There is this one book Calibre could not convert - 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories . Strange, it kept saying this book is DRM protected. Another issue I found, when I was trying to download a book from my contents, it kept saying you do not have a device to read this book, buy a kindle or use kindle app, very strange - ISCCM Critical Care Update 2023. Thanks again.

[@maggletooth]

It would have saved ages of frustration to have known this only works if you have the actual device rather than the app. And as i rewatch yet again, yes you said that but it just didn't register. Oh fork. I want to move my books from the app to my kobo :(

[@subhareadsbooks]

ah, yes you have to have a physical kindle because you need to be able to connect the serial number of the kindle. I'm so sorry!!

[@Regularkatie]

@@subhareadsbooksI just sold my kindle, but I own more kindle books! Darn I guess they’re lost… I think my next ereader will be a boox and I can download any app I want without having to convert.

[@yanda2710]

Should I have a kindle? Can't I use the PC or Iphone kindle version?

[@subhareadsbooks]

I'm not entirely sure how to transfer the books if you don't have a kindle!

[@josephinerobertson2946]

I'm sorry you lost me. You never added the books to your calibre library they were just there. My books aren't there and adding the serial number of my Kindle doesn't go fetch them. How do you get your Kindle books into the calibre software in the first place?

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hi Josephine! So once you add in your serial number you’ll need to download the books from Amazon’s Content Library to your desktop/downloads and then drag them into calibre. Once you do that you’ll convert the books to EPUB and then send them to your Kobo Drive. try going through the video again! And let me know if you have any questions! 😊

[@Rkuuyam]

Thank you. 👻

[@subhareadsbooks]

You are so welcome!

[@triffith]

Great video and instructions, but this process is kind of insane

[@subhareadsbooks]

Yay! I'm so glad this was helpful for you!! Unfortunately the process is a bit tedious.

[@barbmassabrook1535]

I see it in my calibre library but not on my KOBO? I know I am doing something wrong…lol

[@subhareadsbooks]

If you see it in your Calibre Library and not in your Kobo, you might just need to try dragging the book file into your Kobo drive again! Do you see the book on your Kobo Drive? If it's not there then it didn't copy over!

[@Riu-bw4bl]

**update** kindle has removed the download to usb option Terrible company

[@subhareadsbooks]

Hey there! I just took a look at my Amazon account and I'm still seeing "DOWNLOAD AND TRANSFER TO USB"! but I wonder if maybe they removed the option for the new Kindle devices? I'm seeing that download option for my Kindle Oasis but not my Kindle Colorsoft!

[@emmaschratt9346]

For some reason the DRM won't download correctly. I'm not sure why it won't work.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Oh no! Maybe someone can help you on here. I'd need more information.

[@ptannous27]

You have to do this for every book? Ouch

[@subhareadsbooks]

Good question! I should have clarified but you have to download each ebook from your Amazon account (one at a time) and "download" them to your computer. BUT after that you can upload those files in bulk to Calibre with multiple books at a time and convert them all together and drop them into your kobo! I hope that makes sense!

[@Arianna0070]

@@subhareadsbooks If i don't have a kindle, can I still download the books?

[@terencedavis8434]

The add on will automatically remove the DRM when you add the book to Calibre, there is another add on that also works really well, which is Kindle Unpack, it just unpacks the Kindle file and extracts the underlying epub file in the Kindle File, no conversion required

[@josephinerobertson2946]

@@subhareadsbooks yeah that makes this an utterly unworkable solution. I have over 1,000 books in my Kindle library. Without a way to do this in a batch process it makes no sense to move systems. So much for Kobo for me, I prefer the Oasis shape of the new Kobo but I cannot lose my library and no one has tiem to do thousands of books one at a time.

[@Sidhe10]

This is unfortunate. Im also on MacOS, get as far as loading the dedrm plugin from file, restart calibre and go into preferences - plugins and customize the dedrm. Instant crash. Wont allow me to add mh kindle cereal number 😭

[@subhareadsbooks]

Weird! Have you tried re-installing calibre? Sometimes apps can be finicky!

[@HH-os7zh]

didn't work for me, probably a PC thing. Mac has it's advantages.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Oh no! I’m sorry I’m not sure how to convert on a PC. I’m only familiar with Mac but I’m sure someone might be able to help you out!

[@over-caffeinatednerd]

have you managed it now? I'm also on PC and am now worried I won't be able to transfer it either. I can't seem to find any KZbin videos of anyone using a PC for the transfer. My Kobo is being delivered next week so I've not tried it yet.

[@subhareadsbooks]

@@over-caffeinatednerd Hi there! I just tried it on a pc and it's the same exact process, but instead of downloading for Mac you'll download Calibre for PC. If it would be helpful for me to create another step-by-step video, let me know and I'd be happy to!

[@KenzieBenzieee]

@@subhareadsbooks Could you please make a video? I'm also using Windows and nothing happens when I try to open the plugin in Calibre :(

[@subhareadsbooks]

@@KenzieBenzieee sure! I’ll work on getting a video up this week. 😀

[@CJMacRury]

Please talk a bit slower 😊

[@subhareadsbooks]

Haha that’s my talking speed! But I’m pretty sure you can change the audio playback speed under settings!

[@Divine5555-n7t]

Dang it I realized at 4:48 that I was following the wrong tutorial. I have kindle books but an iPad I read on.

[@subhareadsbooks]

Oh no!! yes, I'm not sure how to transfer books if you don't use a physical kindle, unfortunately!

[@bluekryztal]

Calibre isn't accepting the plugin for some reason

[@subhareadsbooks]

Weird! Have you tried reinstalling calibre! Sometimes it can be finicky