One among Kindle's most helpful options was simply discontinued for no actual motive

Abstract

Amazon is eradicating the ‘Obtain & Switch by way of USB’ choice for Kindle books beginning Feb 26.
It is unclear if this variation impacts all Kindle fashions and all international locations.
Kindle customers can nonetheless learn books on a number of units, however cannot obtain their Kindle books to a PC by way of USB, making it tougher to backup Kindle books they’ve bought.

When you’ve got a Kindle e-reader and download the books you purchase onto your PC, that course of is about to change into extra complicated.

Based on Kindle customers on Reddit, Amazon is eradicating the flexibility to obtain and switch Kindle books by way of USB. This implies the one approach to ship Kindle books sooner or later shall be over a Wi-Fi connection. It is at present unclear whether or not this impacts just a few Kindle fashions or all of them. The change will reportedly take impact on February 26.

Amazon is sending out the next warning message to some customers after they obtain a ebook: “Beginning February 26, 2025, the ‘Obtain & Switch by way of USB’ choice will now not be out there. You may nonetheless ship Kindle books to your Wi-Fi enabled units by choosing the ‘Ship or Take away from System’ choice.” You may take a look at the unique Reddit thread beneath.

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What this implies for Kindle units

It is attainable the change is not worldwide

Two fingers pressing on the corner of a Kindle Paperwhite to take a screenshot.

It is necessary to notice that this replace doesn’t have an effect on your means to learn your Kindle books on a number of units. It simply means you’ll be able to’t obtain a bought Kindle ebook and switch it to your PC by way of USB, making it tougher for Kindle customers to again up books they personal onto their PC for safekeeping. Nonetheless, this variation could not occur in all places but.

Kindle customers within the UK and Canada report on Reddit not seeing this message pop up when downloading a ebook, simply US Kindle homeowners. It is attainable this replace might have a gradual rollout, however that’s not sure. One Reddit user within the US who owns a number of Kindle units says the message pops up earlier than they choose a tool, main them to imagine the replace is not device-specific.

It is unclear why Amazon is doing this precisely. One chance is that the corporate could also be making an attempt to lock down its Kindle ecosystem much more than it already is. Nonetheless, there’s a fix for that. Curiously, the day the ‘Obtain & Switch by way of USB’ choice is reportedly now not out there on Kindles is similar day Amazon is holding a devices and services event in New York Metropolis, which might simply be a coincidence.