If you have a Kindle – whether it be Scribe, Paperwhite, Oasis or the basic entry-level model – you’ll know you can read books on it. But you might also be wondering if you can send any other documents to it for reading – or in the case of the Scribe – marking up. The answer is – absolutely you can – and sending documents to your Kindle library is actually really simple. And, there are a bunch of ways in which you can do it.
You can do it from your smartphone, tablet or desktop PC without a cable and you can even use email if you want. Let’s start with the most important question…
Which document formats are compatible with Kindle?
Thankfully, most popular document types are compatible with Kindle. There’s a slight difference in which you can send based on the service you use, but – for the most part – you can send any using any of the methods below. They include:
- Microsoft Word (.DOC, .DOCX)
- Rich Text Format (.RTF)
- Text (.TXT)
- Images (.JPEG, .JPG, .PNG, .GIF, .BMP)
- E-book (.EPUB)
- Web pages (.HTML, .HTM)
Amazon Kindle (2022)
The entry-level Kindle is a great option considering the price. It delivers a lot of great features like sharp text, warm light and a Type-C port.
Send documents to Kindle from the smartphone app
With everything being mobile-first these days – let’s start with the Kindle app for smartphone.
This works for both Android phones and iPhones so your first step – if you haven’t already – is to download the Kindle app from the Play Store or the App Store.
Once you’ve signed in to your Amazon account follow these steps on Android:
- Open the file you want to send and hit the ‘Share’ icon.
- Select ‘Kindle’ in the share sheet that appears.
- Now choose where you want to send it – the default is ‘Archive in your Kindle library’
- Hit ‘Send’.
The process is virtually identical on iPhone:
- Open the file you want to send and hit the ‘Share’ icon.
- Select ‘Kindle’ in the share options.
- If it’s not in the initial selection, tap ‘more’
- Once selected toggle on ‘Add to your library’ and then ‘Send’.
If you’ve chosen to send it to your library you will be able to access it from any Kindle device you have, and any smartphone or tablet with the Kindle app installed. It might not appear immediately, so give it a few minutes and when you go to your Kindle library on any device, it should appear.
Amazon/Pocket-lint
Use the Send to Kindle web page
If you’re on a desktop – be it Mac, Chrome or Windows – by far the easiest way to send documents to your Kindle is using the web page.
- Open your browser of choice and head to ‘Amazon.com/sendtokindle‘
- Now drag and drop the file you want to share, or hit ‘select files’ and choose the documents you want to share.
- Make sure ‘Add to your library’ is toggled on
- Hit ‘Send’.
Just like the smartphone method it can take a few minutes for the files to appear in your library so give it a little time before checking.
Send to Kindle using the Mac or Windows desktop app
Another easy way to send documents to your Kindle from a Mac or Windows PC is to download the Send to Kindle desktop app. It’s available for both platforms.
Go to ‘Amazon.com/sendtokindle‘ and you should see various options down the side. Choose either ‘Windows App’ or ‘Mac App’ in those tabs down the right of the screen.
- Download and install the app by clicking ‘Get Send to Kindle for Mac’ or ‘Get Send to Kindle for Windows’
- Go through the installation process
- Once installed open the app
- Sign in to the app using your Amazon account details
- Now drag and drop the files you want into the app
- Choose to archive to your library and hit ‘Send’
Like all the other cloud-based methods, wait a few minutes and it should appear in your library.
Drag and drop files directly onto your Kindle
This method is the longest serving and easiest if you just want to put documents directly onto your Kindle device.
Plug in the Kindle to your Mac or PC using a USB cable, and it should show a ‘USB Drive Mode’ screen. A ‘Kindle’ drive should appear on your desktop on Mac, and in Explorer on Windows.
- Open the ‘Kindle’ drive and find ‘Documents’
- Drag and drop your documents directly into the ‘Documents’ folder
Once that’s done, eject your Kindle drive and you should see your library update instantly with the new files.
How to send documents to Kindle via email
As if there weren’t enough methods already for sending to your Kindle, you can also do it via email. This process is a little less simple and needs a tiny bit of setting up.
- Log on to Amazon in your web browser.
- Click on the down arrow near ‘Accounts & Lists’ under your name.
- Choose ‘Manage your content and devices’ from the drop-down list.
- Click on ‘Preferences’.
- At the bottom of the page, click the arrow to expand ‘Personal Document Settings’.
- Under ‘Approved Personal Document Email List’ click ‘Add a new approved email address’.
- Now enter your address and choose ‘add an address’.
This step is necessary to ensure that only selected email addresses are allowed to send documents to your Kindle library.
Under ‘Personal Document Settings’ you should see a list of unique email addresses for each Kindle or device that you’re logged into. Make a note of one of them and save it to your contacts list as something obvious like ‘Send to Kindle’.
Now under ‘Personal Document Archiving’ at the bottom of the list make sure the archiving is enabled, so that all your documents go to your library and are available across devices and not just the one device you’ve sent it to.
All you need to do now is send an email with your chosen document as an attachment to that Kindle email address.