How to Delete Kindle Books from the Cloud vs. Your Device

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Q. I want to delete Kindle books from my iPad to free up space but I’m not sure about deleting books on the device versus the Cloud. When I open my Kindle app I see my library of Kindle books on “Device and Cloud”.

I read your article about deleting Kindle books but I want to be sure that I’m deleting the books the right way. Should I be deleting Kindle books from my device or from the Cloud? Can you help me make sure I’m doing it right? Thanks.

A. Great question. You’re right, there is a big difference in deleting a Kindle book from your device versus deleting it from the Cloud. When you delete a Kindle book from your device, the book is still available for you to re-download at any time on any device. You still own the book, you never have to buy it again.

When you delete a Kindle book from the Cloud, you are deleting the book permanently from your Amazon account so it is no longer available for downloading to your device. If you change your mind and want to read the book later you will have to re-purchase the Kindle book from Amazon.

⇒ See, How to Add and Delete Kindle Books Easily (With or Without a Kindle)! to learn how to delete a book from your devices.

Your Kindle Library — Cloud vs. Device

Your Kindle books are stored for you by Amazon in the Cloud and Amazon gives you unlimited space to store those Kindle books. You could buy every Kindle book Amazon sells and they would (happily) store them for you in the Cloud in your virtual Kindle library, without any charge for that storage.

When you download a Kindle book to your device, whether it’s a Kindle ereader, an app on a mobile device or your computer, then that book file takes up space on that device. You may want to only keep a limited number of books downloaded to be available to read or for reference purposes.

[note] Also see, How to Read a Kindle Book Without a Kindle [/note]

When you open the Kindle app on your iPad, you’ll see tabs for Cloud and Device.

Cloud — your entire library of Kindle books you own.

Device — your library of Kindle books you’ve downloaded to your device and are available to read.

[tip] You need an Internet connection to download a Kindle book to your device. Once the book is on your device you don’t need an Internet connection to read it. [/tip]

Don’t miss => Kindle Collections – How to Organize Your Kindle Books Easily

Deleting Kindle Books from Your Device vs. the Cloud

When you delete a Kindle book from your device, you will still be able to find it in your Amazon Kindle library. You can re-download it any time, anywhere you have an Internet connection.

But there may be times you want to delete a book from your Amazon Kindle library permanently. You may have just finished reading The Worst Book Ever and want to purge it from your Amazon account as well as your memory. Or maybe you bought a book on How to Meet Mr. Right and you’ve already met him so you’ll have no need for the book ever again! Or maybe, ahem, there’s a book you’ve already finished reading and you don’t want another living soul to know you ever owned it.

Anyway, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to delete a Kindle book from your account forever (or until you’re willing to buy it again).

How to Delete a Kindle Book from the Cloud

[note] To delete a Kindle book from your Amazon account permanently you cannot use the Kindle app, you must go to Amazon’s website. [/note]

To delete a Kindle book permanently from your account:

• Go to amazon.com and log into your account.
• Click on Your Account under your name to reveal a drop-down menu.
• Choose Manage Your Content and Devices

• Find the Kindle book you want to delete (you can use the search box in the upper right corner)
• Click the box to the left of the title. An orange box will appear around the title.

• Click the Delete button at the top of the page.
• You’ll be asked to confirm your selection.

• Click Yes, delete permanently

The Kindle book will be removed from your account.

Note that if you change your mind later you will have to repurchase the book.
[note] Also see, How to Read a Kindle Book on a Computer [/note]

Your Thoughts

Have you ever wanted to delete a Kindle book permanently from your Amazon account? Have you ever been unclear about the difference between deleting a Kindle book from the Cloud vs. your device? Have you ever worried that by deleting a Kindle book from your device you were deleting it from your Amazon account? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments section below!