Full import guide for Kindle For PC

Edit: NOTE - This process no longer works for Kindle books that were released after February 2023. If the book was released before then (even if it was downloaded after), then it should still work. However, newer releases will not work.

This is probably retreading old trails for most people, but after a LOT of research, I wasn't able to find a single place that just listed all of the steps for importing Kindle books into Calibre. I wrote up this step-by-step guide for my girlfriend, so I figured I would share it here. Hope it's useful!

1. Download and install Calibre and DeDRM tools

   1. You should be able to find them here: https://github.com/apprenticeharper/DeDRM_tools/releases

   2. NOTE: At time of writing, DeDRM does not work with the newest version of Calibre (5.0), so stick to the latest 4.x version until you hear otherwise. DeDRM now works fine with Caliber 5.0.

2. Download and install an old version of Kindle for PC

   1. This process does not work with the new versions of Kindle for PC. Version 1.24 is the latest that works

   2. Try looking for version 1.17. You can google "download Kindle for PC 1.17". You should be able to find it at a number of different places around the web. I don't want to link any, in case whichever link I post somehow becomes compromised. Just note the checksum and try to confirm it if you can (that will ensure that there isn't any malware).

   3. EDIT: A final step in installing Kindle is to disable automatic updates. You should be able to find a checkbox that lets you disable them in the settings.

      1. A new policy by Amazon may also be forcing old versions of Kindle to update to the latest version (which means we can't remove the DRM). If this happens, then you can just reinstall the old version (keep the installer stored somewhere and you won't have to download it again), go through this process, and then reinstall again the next time you would like to update you Calibre library.

3. In the Kindle program, download each book that you would like

   1. This must be done one-by-one, unfortunately, there is no way to download them in bulk.

4. In Calibre, select the downward arrow next to “Add books”, and select “Add books from directories and sub-directories”. Click “Yes”.

5. Navigate to “My Kindle Contents” in “My Documents”, ensuring that “My Kindle Contents” is the selected folder, and select the “Select Folder” button

   1. If you only want to add a few books instead of your entire library, then it will be a little more complicated because all of the names are obfuscated (they're nonsense).

   2. If you want to do this, you should open a new File Explorer window, navigate to "My Kindle Contents", and sort the contents by Date Added/Modified. Then, make a new folder somewhere (say, the Desktop), and copy all of the recent folders (the ones you just downloaded) to the new folder.

   3. Then, complete this step by selecting your new folder instead of "My Kindle Contents".

6. After all books are imported (the names may be messed up, which is ok for now), select all new books (or just all books in library) and click “Convert Books” in the top menu. Ensure that “EPUB” is selected in the top-right drop-down menu (this can be set to be selected automatically if you go to Preferences > Behavior > Preferred output format and select “EPUB” from the list). Click “Ok”. Wait until after all books are converted (the “Jobs” indicator in the bottom right will show 0, and will no longer be spinning).

   1. If a book has “KFX-ZIP” listed in its formats and not “KFX”, then its DeDRM conversion has failed for some reason (possibly because you don't have the correct version of Kindle For PC).

7. If the names of your books look right (not a mess of random letters and numbers), then you're done! If not, continue on to the next step.

8. Select all books. Right click and select Remove Books > Remove Books of a specific format from selected book. Select the “MD” format, and click “Ok”.

9. Once this is one, select all books, select the downward arrow next to “Edit metadata” and select “Edit metadata in bulk”. Check “Set metadata (except cover) from the e-book files” in the bottom left, and click “Ok”. All books should now have legible titles, and should be readable.