Ever since Amazon put a note on their website about removing the ability to download and transfer ebooks via USB, people have started freaking out and some misguided souls are turning the issue into something that it’s not, so I wanted to clear up some of the misinformation that’s currently permeating online and especially on social media.
I can’t read the Kindle Subreddit anymore because the amount of misinformation and entitlement and flat out stupidity infusing that sub is just too much to tolerate. People who have never even used the D&T option are losing their minds, and are acting like Amazon is actively conspiring to steal their books.
In reality (outside of social media), Amazon is simply phasing out the ability to download purchased ebooks from their website using a web browser, a feature that dates back to the early days of Kindles before WiFi access was so widespread. You’ll still be able to download purchased ebooks to Kindles and Kindle apps without any problems—the USB transfer option is a completely separate thing.
eBook Owning vs Licensing
First off, you don’t actually own ebooks that you purchase. This isn’t a new concept and it isn’t exclusive to Amazon or even ebooks. When you purchase digital media you’re buying a license to view said media. It doesn’t matter where you get your ebooks from. You’re buying a license to read the ebook, not the rights to own the ebook.
If you don’t like those terms there’s a really easy workaround—buy paper books instead.
Nothing is Changing for Kindle App Users
For some reason a lot of Kindle app users think the removal of D&T somehow affects them. It doesn’t. Nothing is changing if you use a Kindle app on a phone or tablet. D&T has never been a feature that was available for app users.
D&T has nothing to do with Kindle apps. It’s an old feature for Kindle ereaders that let users without WiFi sideload purchased ebooks.
USB Transfer is Not Going Away
Amazon is removing the ability to sideload purchased ebooks via USB onto Kindles, but you’ll still be able to sideload non-Amazon ebooks via USB—the ability to sideload isn’t going away. And you’ll still be able to sideload Kindle ebooks if you remove the DRM from them, but it wouldn’t make sense to do it that way since you can just download them directly.
Using Other eBook Stores
A lot of people are swearing off buying ebooks from Amazon after this, but there are some things you should know first since the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
First off, Amazon sells a lot of exclusive titles that aren’t available to purchase anywhere else (most of their Kindle Unlimited catalog, for instance). Secondly, not all ebook stores offer downloads outside of their devices/apps. Apple and B&N fall into that category.
If you want to be able to download your purchased ebooks to a computer to make proper backups, you’ll need to find a store that uses Adobe Digital Editions and offers books in Adobe EPUB format. A few examples include Kobo, Google, and eBooks.com.
In order to read ebooks purchased from those stores on Kindles, you’ll have to remove the DRM first and then convert them to a Kindle format using Calibre. Then you can sideload them or use Send-To-Kindle.
Backing Up Kindle eBooks/DRM Removal
Even after Amazon removes the option to download ebooks from their website on February 26th, it’ll still be possible to pull your purchased ebooks off of Kindle ereaders to make backups and remove the DRM.
Most people didn’t know this, myself included, when the news first hit, but it turns out the DRM removal tools can be used to remove DRM from KFX-formatted ebooks that are downloaded to Kindle ereaders. There’s no guarantee that Amazon won’t find a way to close that option off in the future, but that’s always the case with these kinds of things. It’s always best to make backups after purchasing an ebook instead of putting it off if you’re worried about losing access to it.
Why Should You Backup Kindle eBooks?
A surprising number of people are worried that Amazon is going suddenly decide to remove purchased ebooks from their account for some reason or another. The fact is Amazon doesn’t do that. Even when an ebook gets removed from Amazon’s website, it will still be available for download if you purchased it.
One time Amazon removed George Orwell’s 1984 ebook from people’s libraries like 15 years ago because they didn’t have the proper license to sell it. They later admitted they were wrong to remove it from people’s accounts and offered customers another copy of the ebook or a $30 credit.
There are some legitimate reasons to be concerned about losing your Kindle library. For instance, if you ever decide to delete your Amazon account, you’ll also permanently lose access to all of your purchased Kindle ebooks. Amazon has also been known to close accounts if they detect some form of fraud, but people usually regain access to their account/ebooks after contacting Amazon support and working through the problem.
Backing up ebooks became a thing of emphasis after several ebook stores closed down for good, making past purchases inaccessible if you didn’t make backups. That’s not really an issue when it comes to Amazon, at least not in the foreseeable future.
DRM is the Real Enemy
Everybody wants to blame Amazon for the current state of ebooks, but the real problem is DRM, and it’s publishers and authors that insist on using DRM in a misguided effort to stop piracy.
The truth is DRM doesn’t deter piracy in the slightest because there are always workarounds and the pirates know about them. All it does is lock legitimate paying customers into platforms owned by multibillion-dollar companies like Amazon and Apple so they can continue to hold customers’ purchases hostage.
Authors and publishers could really stick it to Amazon if they did away with DRM and exclusivity rights, but instead they are inadvertently helping Amazon dominate the ebook industry by locking customers into the Kindle platform.
I read an article where there’s a bulk downloader program a person can use to download all of their Kindle books. https://hackaday.com/2025/02/18/auto-download-your-kindle-books-before-february-26th-deadline/
I didn’t try this because I just finished downloading some of my books that I’d hate to lose. I don’t care about most of my fiction books but any non-fiction books would be a pain to repurchase for a different platform if needed. I think I only downloaded 180.
I used that program yesterday, and it worked pretty flawlessly! I ended up downloading around 1550 books, and it took maybe 15 minutes.
That is amazing! I wish I knew about this tool & using the D&T method prior to trading in my old PW for a new one a few months ago. It seems this process is *way* easier than using the desktop app to download purchased ebooks. Oh well 🤷🏻♀️
Is there a guide to using it somewhere?
This move is more about Amazon keeping people in their walled garden. They are slowly but surely eliminating access to non-KFX format books. And Amazon always puts DRM on KFX format. Even from publishers and authors who request that their books be DRM-free.
I guess you did not read the article.
Did you read all the way? I’m saying it is not just publishers and authors who insist on DRM that’s the issue. Amazon eliminating D&T cuts off one of the few remaining avenues for obtaining truly DRM-free books in the older format. Amazon puts DRM on KFX format books even from publishers like Tor Books US who have otherwise been selling ebooks without DRM for years.
I know that you can still remove DRM from most KFX format books for the moment. I’m the person who pointed that out on a previous post here. But you should not have to worry about it on books that are suppose to be sold DRM-free. And that is Amazon’s doing.
You did not mention here that Amazon sometimes edit the books in your library. Like changing the covers, rephrasing words / sentences in a book for whatever reason. This is insane and unacceptable by itself. I wouldn’t support any bookstore which does this.
In fact, if I go to the Amazon store to buy a kindle book it still says “buy”. Not licensing. Yeah I know there is ToS, although saying on the main page that “Buy now” instead of licensing that means false advertising to me.
At the same time there is no insurance that the DRM removal tools will always work. And Amazon actively, deliberately continues to make things difficult to anyone who’s using their services. What is this if not evil? We are talking about books, come on.
Amazon allows you to have the auto-update feature enabled or disabled. Your choice. If disabled, you have to actively click “Update” in your Kindle Content Library to receive the update.
I applaud CHOICE. Updates are often about error correction and formatting issues, so it’s not entirely a bad thing to allow publishers to update their ebooks. Of course, such updating does carry a downside, since you aren’t given details.
As for changing author content, i.e. words, sentences, paragraph structure, etc… it’s NOT Amazon who does that. That is on the publisher! To my knowledge, Amazon CANNOT LEGALLY alter any other publisher’s titles, though of course, if Amazon IS the publisher of record, all bets are off. And if an author is self-publishing, that author can also make any changes they desire.
For what it’s worth, publishers have been changing covers, words, and sentences, etc… in print books for a long, long time. Should they do so without a statement to that effect? Not in MY opinion. But they do anyway and have done for ages.
One reason for changes is to correct errors found after the fact, but other reasons might be to “politically correct” something. Or make a children’s book shorter and more simplified.
You can, on a fair few old paperbacks, see statements like “complete and unabridged” which means the publisher has changed nothing from the original hardcover and it’s clearly considered a selling point.
Unfortunately, there is no law that states a publisher HAS to notify us when they make changes, and so you will rarely find a notice that says changes have been made to the original in older books, even when such changes HAVE been made.
The original Hardy Boys series, was edited quite heavily to modernize and politically correct them.
Some publishers are NOW announcing that they plan to edit or have edited books like Ian Fleming’s James Bond series, or Roald Dahl’s books, but in the past, the changes were just made, NO ANNOUNCEMENT or statement of any kind.
So, if you want to read, bear in mind that ANY publisher can make changes to the author’s content with permission. Author estates are often perfectly willing to go along with such changes, in order to have continued sales/income.
I know how this works and Amazon often isn’t the publisher. But they could release other editions like Kobo does, so you can decide which version of the book you want to buy. Just don’t change the existing one that I already paid for. And this isn’t just about recent books – it also applies to works by authors who are long gone and certainly never intended for their books to be altered.
Either way, there’s no excuse for what Amazon does. Changing the content of a book you bought is like someone entering your house, taking a paper book, erasing parts of it, and putting it back to the shelf.
Amazon owns the majority of the e-book market with absolutely unlimited resources and they just couldn’t figure out any peaceful way for this?
No, this is hostile and literally covers the concept of censorship. If they do this right now, imagine what will they do in the future… Yes, I know about the auto-update feature, but from what I see is that you have less and less control in the amazon kindle ecosystem – if you have any at all.
One of the primary reasons I remove DRM and sideload Kindle ebooks is to make formatting changes. Not all downloaded books are well formatted. And I routinely make adjustments to margins, line-heights, etc., because of the very limited formatting options built into Kindle firmware.
“First off, you don’t actually own ebooks that you purchase. This isn’t a new concept and it isn’t exclusive to Amazon or even ebooks. When you purchase digital media you’re buying a license to view said media.”
When you put it into the cart, it literally says BUY xyz BOOK. It doesn’t say BUY xyz license to read book. Sounds fraudulent to me, if this is their argument.
They recently changed the wording so it does say you’re buying a license now, at least in the US.
I don’t agree it’s publishers and authors, who push DRM. The same authors and publishers have zero problem selling those same books without DRM (or with social DRM, which is only your name inserted in the book, but otherwise you can do anything with the file) in other countries (for example here in Czechia and we are very small country, so it’s definitely not something we could have fought for, we don’t have enough power to enforce such change, so it must have been okay by the publishers). 90 % of our book sellers sell without DRM and let you download any file format you want or send it to any of your ereader. It’s the American market that is butchered like this by companies like Amazon enforcing DRM to lock people in their ecosystem.
I’m sure that this feature is used by few Kindle users, and so if we all decided we’d never buy another book from Amazon again it wouldn’t affect their bottom line much (although I’ve seen loads of people on the Reddit Kobo forum saying that they were deciding between a Kindle and a Kobo and this news from Amazon prompted their Kobo purchase instead), but now Amazon is basically forcing piracy for anyone who wants to keep a copy of their purchased books.
I’ve purchased hundreds of ebooks from Amazon over the years, as have others in my family that we can access via family sharing. I used to go through purchases once a month or so and download a copy “just in case.” I’m sure I’ll get used to a workflow that involves buying a copy from another bookstore that allows for downloads still, but now buying Kindle hardware is less attractive. If it’s easier to just sideload stuff onto my Kobo (or just purchase things from their store from now on), why ever buy a Kindle again?
This feels incredibly short-sighted. I suppose it remains to be seen whether other eBook stores will follow Amazon’s lead, at which point piracy will be the only option for those who want a self-hosted copy of their libraries but would greatly prefer to just BUY the books and ensure the authors get their cut.
Yes, that route is still paper books, but for those of us who prefer to read on eReaders, that’s not really an answer. I’m reminded of Steve Jobs’s “Thoughts on DRM” article that applied to music, but if the world’s largest music retailer can remove DRM, I’m sure Amazon could do it too. Piracy will continue either way, I just want to keep a copy of my purchased books more easily, and will happily buy books if I can keep a copy.