The estimated reading time for this post is 8 minutes
Whether you have a Kindle, a smartphone, an iPad or a computer, it’s important to know how to add and delete Kindle books. Amazon has an extensive inventory of Kindle books and you can be reading them within seconds. If you just got your first Kindle, you may be wondering how to get a book on it. If you have a mobile device such as a smartphone or an iPad, you may want to have Kindle books with you wherever you go. If you want to read Kindle books on your computer, you can do that easily.
If You Have a Kindle (But You Don’t Need One to Read a Kindle Book)
Congratulations, you have a Kindle! You’re about to take the plunge into ebooks, but aren’t quite sure how to do it. Relax, it’s easy and once you learn the basics, you’ll be reading your ebooks in no time.
Before you can read a book on your Kindle, you need to connect it to the Internet and register it. Check out Getting Started with Your New Kindle from Amazon which walks you through how to register and connect to the Internet for each model of Kindle.
[note] Also see, How to Read a Kindle Book on a Computer [/note]
Buying a Kindle Book
To get a book on your Kindle, you must do two things. First, you must buy it. Second, you must download it.
You buy Kindle books from Amazon, either from your device or from Amazon.com. I find it’s easier to browse using Amazon’s website, but if you already know the book you want, it’s simple to buy it using your Kindle or other device. Either way, it’s easy to get a book onto your Kindle or other device.
On your Kindle ereader, press Menu => Shop in Kindle Store.
On your Kindle Fire, go to the Home screen, press Books => Store.
From there you can search different categories of books, Newspapers, magazines, games, audiobooks and other content. You can type your search or scroll through the categories. When you find a book you want, hit the Buy button and it will automatically be downloaded to your Kindle within seconds. One of the most fun things about the Kindle is the first time you buy a book on your Kindle and seeing how quickly the book is downloaded to your device.
If you shop from your computer on Amazon’s website, you can easily have the book delivered instantly when you purchase it. You will see a drop-down menu listing the Kindles and other devices you have registered to your Amazon account. Choose which Kindle or device you want to get the book and Amazon will send it directly (so long as your Kindle or other device is connected to the Internet).
If your purchased book doesn’t appear on your Kindle, go to the Home screen, press Menu => Sync & Check for Items.
On your Android phone, download the free Kindle app from Google Play and open it. Search for the book you want and press Buy with One Click.
On your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, you must use the Safari browser to go Amazon’s website and shop from there as you would from your computer. You cannot buy a Kindle book directly from the Kindle app. You need the Kindle app to read your Kindle books however. You can download the free Kindle app from the iTunes App Store.
Reading a Kindle Book
To read a Kindle book, it must be downloaded to your device. If you’ve purchased a Kindle book from your device, it’s automatically downloaded, but you may have other Kindle books that aren’t on your device. If you’ve purchased a Kindle book that isn’t on your device, it can be found in your Archives.
On your Kindle ereader your Home screen will show you the books you have downloaded onto your device and available for you to read. To download a book onto your Kindle from your Archives, go to Home screen, Menu => View Archived Items.
There you will see all of your purchased Kindle books that aren’t on your device. When you find a book you want to read, click on it and it will be downloaded onto your Kindle.
On your Kindle Fire, go to your Home screen and click Books in the Navigation Bar. You have two choices, Device or Cloud. Books that have been downloaded are shown under Device. Books that are in your Archives are in Cloud. To get a book from your Archives onto your Fire, choose Cloud, then press and hold a book cover and it will be downloaded onto your Fire.
On your computer you can send archived books to your devices from amazon.com/myk.
On your Android phone, go into your Kindle app and press On Device to show the books you have downloaded. Press Archive to see your Kindle collection. To download a book onto your Android phone from your Archives, press the book cover, and choose Download to Home from the menu. Go to Home to open the book and read it.
On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, go into your Kindle app, and choose Cloud. You will see your Archived books there. Choose which one you want on your device and tap it to download it. Then click on Device to open the book and read it.
To read a Kindle book on your computer, you must download an app for your PC or Mac. Open the Kindle app, and click on the title you want to read. If the book isn’t on your computer yet, go to Library => Archived Items. Double-click on the title you want to download and it will be downloaded to your computer within a few seconds.
You can also send books from your Archives to your devices by using Manage Your Kindle (see below).
Important: You must be connected to the Internet to download a book to your device. After the book has been downloaded, you do not need to be connected to the Internet to read it.
[note] You don’t have to pay data charges to use a Kindle. [/note]
You only need to buy a book once. There is no charge for re-downloading a book to your device.
You can have multiple devices registered to your Amazon account and more than one person can have a book downloaded to their device at a time. Publishers often restrict the number of devices on an account that can have a book downloaded simultaneously. Usually you can download a book to five or six devices on your account at one time.
Deleting Kindle Books
After you have finished reading a Kindle book, you can delete it from your device. Don’t worry, the book will be stored in Archives so you can get it back on your device later.
On a Kindle Keyboard or $79 Kindle, go to Home and scroll down to the book you want to delete. Press the left toggle button and you will be asked to confirm. Press OK and the book will be gone from your Kindle.
On a Kindle Touch, press and hold the book title. You will be shown an option to send a book to the Archives. Pressing that option will get the book off of your device.
On the Kindle Fire, choose Books from the Navigation Bar at the top of the screen and scroll to find the book you want to delete from your Fire. Press and hold the cover of the book. You will be shown a choice of adding it to favorites or removing it from your device. Choose Remove from Device and the book will be sent to your Archives.
On your Android phone, press and hold the cover of the book you want to delete. A pop-up menu will appear. Choose “Remove from device” and the book will disappear from your phone.
On the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, go to the Kindle App, choose Device, find the title you want to delete, then slide your finger from the right to the left over the title. A red Archive button will appear. Press that and your book will be gone from your iDevice.
To delete a Kindle book from your computer, go to the Home screen, right click on the book you want to delete and a menu will appear. Choose Remove from Device and the book will be deleted from your computer.
If you want to delete a book from your Archives so it cannot be downloaded again, go to Manage Your Kindle (see below). Be careful, if you delete a book from your Archives, you will need to re-purchase it to read it again.
Managing Your Kindle
To manage your Kindle from your computer, check out amazon.com/myk. You will see all sorts of options to set your preferences, check out your library, send books from your Archives to your devices and delete books from your Archives. It’s worth spending a few minutes there to get acquainted with your Kindle options.
Free and Low Cost Kindle Books
Kindle books are often cheaper than printed books. To find free or inexpensive Kindle books, check out Load Your Kindle Lightly!
For a Kindle book about using your Kindle, check out Stephen Windwalker’s book The Complete 2012 User’s Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle.
Bottom Line
It’s easy to start reading Kindle books!
Do you have a Kindle? When you got one, did you know what to do with it? Do you have a Kindle app? Do you remember the first book you downloaded? Have you ever read a Kindle book? Let us know in the Comment section below!
* Kindle toggle button image by John Catral
*****
Related Articles:
Informative post Carolyn!
I don’t have a Kindle yet, though I have always wondered how one could read the ebooks without one, and you post just clarified the details. This is because a few people do offer free ebooks but they are on Kindle, though when they are free you can read them otherwise too, something which I wasn’t able to do – till now I think. 🙂
I loved all that you shared, which would help anyone, whether they own or don’t own a Kindle – it’s almost like a Kindle Guide. 🙂
I would be heading right over to check out how one can read the books on our computer after this, though I think when we download the application on our computer we wouldn’t have to buy the book to read it. Guess I need to check on all of this once again.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Harleena, I’m glad this post was helpful to you. I read that by late January 28% of the people who got Kindles for the holidays hadn’t used them because they didn’t know how to get an ebook on them. With graduations, anniversaries, and Father’s/Mother’s Day at this time of year, I wanted to help people understand how to get a book on their Kindles.
I also wanted people to know that they don’t need to have a Kindle to read a Kindle book. If you’re reading this blog, you can read a Kindle book.
It’s really handy to keep some reference books downloaded to the Kindle app on my smartphone. That way I can look up information even when I don’t have Internet connection.
I hope you enjoy your Kindle books, Harleena!
Thanks for the confirmation that what I’ve been doing is OK.
I also keep a “Kindle” file on my laptop with all the documents I’ve put on the Kindle over time. Probably I’m a bit too cautious but I just thought it would help if the Kindle blew out sometime.
Hi Lee, Great idea, it can be very handy to have some of your Kindle books on your computer for when your Kindle isn’t handy. But if your Kindle ever “blew out”, your books will be available in your Archives to download to a new Kindle or one of your other devices.
Thanks for stopping by, always great to see you here, Lee! 🙂
But not everything I read comes from Amazon, there are tons of sellers out there.
Excellent point, Lee. I was going to cover that topic too, but this post was long enough just covering books! 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
The fact that it takes such a long post to explain all this makes me think eBooks are still in their infancy. I started reading a Kindle book, I must get the reader again and the book. You might like my posts this week about photography, art and writing. I got a few good photos despite the bad light.
One of the business students I help has started a business and is using what she has learnt at university, so I’m pleased with that. She is giving up business studies to concentrate on English, but not giving up business.
I’m asking my readers for ideas for a novella, that would be good for the Kindle, Amazon wants novellas! I might just write one!
Hi Mike, Lol, you’re right, this is a long post, but only because you can read Kindle books on so many devices. I wanted to cover each one so readers would have a handy reference.
If you look at each device, you will see that the instructions are quite simple.
I hope you do write a novella, Mike. You could use some of your stunning images to set the mood. Each one seems to tell a story.
I will definitely be by soon. I very much enjoy both your photography and my weekly lesson!
I’m loving my Kindle Fire I won from Adam. I have a few books on it and will be checking some out from the library as well. Just getting used to reading on a screen instead of flipping pages.
Cool beans indeed.
Hi Bill, I’m so glad, though not surprised, you’re enjoying your Kindle Fire. You’re taking to tech like a duck to water, my friend! Soon you will be reading your books without thinking about the fact that you’re reading them on an ereader.
If your family is looking for a good birthday gift for you, perhaps an Amazon Prime subscription would be a good fit. You would get a free Kindle book monthly, plus free movies and TV shows for your Fire. Just a thought! 🙂
No, I do not yet own a kindle, maybe shortly. My wife is asking me for the Fire from a while now, I think it is time.
This is indeed an informative post and I will surely refer back to this ( i have bookmarked it) when I am stuck adding or deleting ebooks.
Thanks for sharing Carolyn.
Hi Praveen, I’m very glad you enjoyed this post. Adding and deleting Kindle books isn’t difficult when you know how to do it. But I’m getting so many people asking me how to do it, I thought I should write an article on the topic.
I hope your wife enjoys her new Kindle Fire, Praveen!
Carolyn,
I was smiling when I read the title of your post, and that’s because I remember all too well how much I struggled to remove my Kindle books in the beginning. I was so worried that I was actually deleting the books and that I would never see them again, and that I had to buy them again if I wanted to read them. It took me a long time to understand this, and I believe that Amazon should have done a better job with their navigation, because to me it was very hard to get the fact that I didn’t “trash” the books 🙂
Hi Jens, you’re right, deleting books from Kindles can be very confusing. I receive questions frequently about deleting Kindle books from different devices so I thought an article would be helpful.
I also get a lot of questions about adding books so I wanted to help with that issue as well.
Congratulations on your big news Jens. I am very, very excited for you and your family!
Hey!
I appreciate your tutorial.
As similarly again these tips are really great. Thank you for sharing this great post with us.
Hi Bharat, Thank you for your kind words. I am very glad this was helpful to you. Happy reading!