How to Upload PDF Files to an Amazon Kindle
You can upload PDF files to your Amazon Kindle using two methods. A USB connector cable is provided with the Kindle, which connects to your computer for easy upload using the computer's file management program. Alternately, Amazon provides a document-conversion service that receives the PDF file via email, converts it to a Kindle .azw file, if requested, and then uploads the file to your Kindle. Kindle's version 2 and later are able to display PDF files, while the Kindle 1 requires that PDF files be converted for viewing on the Kindle.
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Instructions
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USB Upload
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Plug the USB connector cable into the port on the Kindle and then into one of your computer's USB ports.
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Select "Open folder to view files" from the pop-up window.
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Navigate to the folder containing the PDF files on your computer.
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Select the files you want to move, hold the cursor over the selected files and right-click, and then select "Copy" from the pop-up menu.
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Right-click again while holding the cursor over the "Documents" folder on your Kindle, and then select "Paste" from the pop-up window.
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Allow the files to transfer completely, and then click the icon to safely remove hardware and media on your computer's toolbar -- you may need to click "Show Hidden Icons first -- and select "Eject Amazon Kindle."
Email Upload
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Navigate to the "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon.com and log in to your account.
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Type the email address or addresses that you plan to use to email the PDF files to the Kindle email to upload to your Kindle. Only these email accounts are allowed to send emails containing files to upload to your Kindle. Amazon.com set it up this way to avoid spam because of charges associated with some file transfers.
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Open the email account you are using to send the files and enter the appropriate email address for your Kindle. This is the device's email address assigned when you registered your Kindle, for example, your_kindle_name@kindle.com. You can also use the alternate address that transfers the files free of charge, which is your_kindle_name@free.kindle.com. The @kindle.com address sends the PDF file to your Kindle with a small charge via the 3G network, as of April 2011. The @free.kindle.com sends them free of charge over the Wi-Fi network.
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Attach the PDF file you want uploaded to your Kindle to the email. If you want the file converted to the .azw Kindle format, type "Convert" in the subject line. Attached files of 50 megabytes or smaller are accepted; the files can be zipped. The limitations specified by Amazon.com are to attach 25 or fewer documents that can be sent to fewer than 15 different Kindles.
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Send the email to the specified Kindle email address, which converts it if requested and then uploads it to your Kindle. The Kindle's Wi-Fi switch must be turned on to receive the file.
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Tips & Warnings
The fee to upload PDF documents via email through the 3G network is 15 cents per megabyte within the United States, or 99 cents per megabyte for a Kindle user outside the U.S., as of April 2011.
PDF files with digital rights management (DRM) restrictions may not open on your Kindle. Check the file permissions if a file does not work on the Kindle.
References
- Photo Credit Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images
