How to Remove DRM From Kindle eBooks in 4 Easy Steps
January 25, 2013 
23 Comments
If you’ve ever bought an ebook from Amazon, you’ve likely heard that it comes with Amazon’s proprietary DRM that locks it into the Kindle platform (for more info about DRM see The eBook DRM Guide). The only way to read Amazon’s ebooks on a non-Kindle device or app is to remove the DRM. This may sound difficult at first, but it’s actually a surprisingly simple process.
Basically all that you have to do to remove DRM from Kindle ebooks is install the Kindle for PC program on your computer, along with a free program called Calibre that is an extraordinarily useful tool for managing your ebook library, and a DRM-stripping plugin for Calibre that takes all of about 10 seconds to install.
Once that’s all setup all you have to do is import your Kindle ebooks into Calibre and the plugin will remove the DRM automatically. You can then use Calibre to convert the ebooks into other formats, such to ePub, to read on any non-Kindle ebook reader or reading app.
Note that this guide is for Kindle ebooks only. Refer to this second tutorial for directions on how to remove Adobe DRM from ePub and PDF ebooks.
Disclaimer: Removing DRM is a highly-controversial subject, and is considered illegal in some countries, including the US and Canada. I’ve been hesitant to post how to guides for removing DRM because I do not condone piracy in any shape of form. This guide is intended solely for those that choose to take responsibility for removing DRM from their purchased ebooks in order to have greater control over their purchased content.
Removing Kindle DRM Guide
Please note that these directions are based on using a Windows 7 PC. These same tools will work with other versions of Windows as well as Mac, but the directions may differ slightly from the ones below.
#1. First you need to install Kindle for PC and Calibre onto your computer if you don’t already have them installed.
Note that you don’t have to use the Kindle for PC or Mac programs if you don’t want; you can simply choose the download ebook option from your Amazon account to get the ebooks onto your computer.
#2. Next you need to download the DRM Removal Tools package from over on Apprentice Alf’s Blog. The link is halfway down the page. Make sure to read the note about downloading. And thank Apprentice Alf and friends for making all of this so easy 
.
Extract the zip file once it is downloaded. It should be called something like "tools_v5.6.zip". You can check the included ReadMe_First document for additional instructions.
#3. Install the Kindle DRM-Removal plugin into Calibre by opening Calibre and then selecting "Preferences" from the top menu (if the window isn’t all the way open you may have to hit a small arrow on the top right to expand the selection to show Preferences).
From the Preferences window you need to select "Plugins" and then choose "Load plugin from file". Navigate to where you unzipped the DRM removal tools and select the "Calibre_Plugins" folder and then choose the K4MobiDeDRM_plugin.zip file. Like with all plugins, there’s a security risk dialogue that pops up where you have to click Yes to proceed. After installing the plugin you have to close Calibre and then restart it.
#4. Now all you have to do anytime you want to remove DRM from Kindle ebooks is import them into Calibre using the "Add books" feature. DRM stripping happens automatically upon import.
But first you are going to need to download the ebooks you want to strip the DRM from using the Kindle for PC program. It depends on the operating system of your computer where the files get stored. On my Windows 7 computer they are located in Documents > My Kindle Content. There are various file types located in this folder; you just need to import the ebook files, which have AZW in the file extension, sometimes TPZ.
That’s all there is to removing DRM from Kindle ebooks! Check out this Calibre Getting Started Guide if you’d like to know more about how Calibre works and how to use it to convert ebooks into other formats and customize layout and formatting.
About the Author
Thanks so much Nathan!
After getting a Sony Reader last year, I’ve only been able to read my kindle books through the kindle app after rooting, which isn’t as convenient as the built in one. I’ve had plug-in DRM strippers for calibre for awhile, but only for the Barnes & Nobles store and kobo store. This brings my whole kindle library onto my Sony again.
I have struggled all afternoon but can’t get this plugin to work. I followed all the steps for a Mac. It isn’t possible in Calibre to go to Preferences>Get plugins to enhance Calibre. This is only for official plugins. Instead its necessary to select Preferences>Change Calibre Behaviour>Plugins and then select Load plugin from file and choose the downloaded zip file. In my case this had been saved in Downloads>Calibre>Plugins. I received a message that the plug in had been installed correctly. By selecting File Type Plugins I could confirm it had been installed. However when I went to customise the plugin (to tell Calibre what plugin to use) I got a message: ERROR unhandled exception Import error: no module named config.
It seems from this that it’s looking for a Windows file, not a Mac file. Can anyone suggest what’s wrong? An earlier version of de-DRM K4Pc,K4Mac, Kindle and Topaz DeDRM (0.3.8) didn’t work either.
Did you read the ReadMe_First file? Is sounds like the process is quite a bit different for Mac OS X 10.4 and above.
Please check the following: in the directory
~/Library/Preferences/calibre/plugins/
should be a plugin ending on ZIP
Kindle and Mobipocket DeDRM.zip (and also others, if you chose so).
It is important, that this is there. If it is not, the installation went wrong, when you manually add the Plugin, chose the Kindle-Zip-File.
What may went wrong is, that the final ZIP-File was also unZIPed, that is a common mistake, which is explained in the readme.
Probably a re-download and installing from scratch might help.
You should in Calibre select “K4MobiDeDRM_v04.18_plugin.zip”
to add.
I’ve been using Calibre and Apprentice Alf’s plugins in this very way ever since I got my Sony 2 yrs ago. It works great and as you’ve pointed out, these are only for books I own personally. I would never strip DRM on library books or acquire them from someone else. Amazon definitely has the largest number of ebooks, so if I can’t find something I want already in epub format this is a perfect solution.
I don’t use the Kindle for PC to download the books. I download the books from Amazon using the Transfer via USB link. (I was thinking that the Kindle for PC book formats are different than the .mobi and .azw formats, but I could be wrong as I never really looked into it.)
Thanks for the replies:
Nathan: Yes I read the Read Me although it didn’t give specific advice for Mac. I followed the steps from an earlier version.
Ingo: I selected KAMobiDeDRM_v04.18_plugin.zip (233kb) and tried three times. Each time Calibre reported “no module named config” despite the fact that the file contains “config.py”. Here is the contents of the zip file:
K4MobiDeDRM_v04.18_plugin
__init__.py
convert2xml.py
genbook.py
k4mobidedrm.py
flatxml2html.py
stylexml2css.py
topazextract.py
kgenpids.py
getk4pcpids.py
mobidedrm.py
config.py
alfcrypto.py
kindlepid.py
k4mutils.py
k4pcutils.py
alfcrypto_src.zip
alfcrypto64.dll
libalfcrypto32.so
libalfcrypto64.so
flatxml2svg.py
alfcrypto.dll
libalfcrypto.dylib
subasyncio.py
scrolltextwidget.py
aescbc.py
plugin-import-name-k4mobidedrm.txt
For some reason Calibre doesn’t seem to find or unzip the config.py file . I tried importing the unzipped ‘K4MobiDeDRM_v04.18_plugin’ but this wouldn’t work. I can’t think what’s missing.
BTW I upgraded Calibre to the latest 0.9.16 version. Could that be the explanation?
Since writing my post a few minutes ago, I have moved the .zip file into the Library>Preferences>calibre>plugins folder and re-started the procedure. Again it seemed to load the plugin correctly into Calibre’s plugin folder, but it won’t open an Amazon book. This time the error message is:”No key found. Most likely the correct PID has not been given.”
I have also installed the Macintosh DeDRM 5.6 app which claims that it can open an Amazon book either by entering the code or dragging it onto the icon. In each case I get an error message that Amazon books begin with B and have 16 characters. Mine begin with B and have 17, e.g. B008673QAK_EBOK.azw. It seems the Amazon codes in a Mac download are not recognised by this DeDRM app.
Are you sure that Calibre is safe? I read somewhere online that it has a virus. I just want to make sure that I’m not putting something bad onto my computer.
I’ve never heard that and highly doubt it’s true. I guess anything is possible but I don’t see how if you download it from their website.
Thanks for the reply. My brother apparently has been using Calibre for a while and he hasn’t experienced anything either, so I guess it’s safe.
“Kindle for PC” (or for Mac) is not necessary. You can download your ebooks directly from the Amazon site to your computer.
Thanks a lot for the detailed instruction which worked perfectly for me. I installed Calibre on a WINXP system and added the plugin.
Calibre is a great tool which I use a lot. I use a Sony Reader and the software delivered with the reader was a mess.
I have tried this (on PC) 12 times today and still does not work ! After further online reading I discover many people having the same problem..possibly because amazon have changed the format from azw to azw3 which appears immune to the calibre plugin ? I want to read ‘my’ books on other devices so this is very frustrating and I refuse to buy a kindle just to read (when my other tablets are quite capable) Still, I will wait for a new way of stripping the DRM, as I know many people are becoming infuriated at this rip-off ! No more of my money to ‘amazon rentals’ either!
Well, this worked great for me for months until I just downloaded the newest version of Calibre this morning. I’m getting a message that I can’t convert my purchased kindle ebooks because it is drm’d. I was halfway through all the ebooks I owned, and now someone is saying on one of the forums that I need to delete all the books and start over? I’ve put too much time into the 300 I’ve already done in order to do that.
One little thing to get it worked: you need to add a serial number of your kindle device in DRM-removal plagin options. After I did it – plugin works like a charm.
I cannot get this plug-in to work in Calibre either(PC). I have read the text files and tried 3x now. The same pop up result of the ePub file being DRM protected shows, even though the plug-in install was a success and program was restarted before use. Is this plug-in no longer valid with the current version of Calibre?
Hi, I just recently got a eReader, so am brand new to it. I had found a book that I really wanted on my eReader (Kobo) but when I searched for it, it was showing only available in Kindle and Nook. I then found all this information about Calibre and the plug-ins. I downloaded the Kindle PC program, and Calibre, as well as the plug-in, and purchased the book. I have the book and can view it on my computer. I went through all of the steps for installing the plug-in I believe. However when I went to go load the book onto my eReader after it showed only symbols on my eReader when I tried to view the book. After I added the book to Calibre’s library I clicked ‘convert’. Is this all correct? Or did I not install the plug-in correctly?
Never mind, I finally figured it out. I had a total dumb moment.
Fortunately for me and unfortunately for you I’ve ever only experienced success with the above method so I’m afraid I can’t help much with troubleshooting. Did you make sure to choose ePub format as the output when converting? I don’t understand what the symbols thing would be about because if the book still had DRM it shouldn’t open at all. Maybe it was converted to Mobi format; those don’t display properly on the Kobo from my experience.
Thanks so much!!!! It works so well!!! Terrific stuff.
Worked perfectly. Thanx so much.
I have Tools V5.5.3 and I know it is not the latest version. Lately I have a couple of ebooks with format AZW3 only, and I cannot deDrm them. Is it possible to read this format please?.