There are so many different ebook formats these days that it can be confusing to know which ones will work for your device. If you’re buying from the Amazon Kindle store, there’s no worry. If you’re getting books from anywhere else, take a look at the chart below for help.

Remember, if the file is protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM) and it’s not from Amazon’s store, it won’t work on the Kindle no matter what format it’s in.

Legend

You can transfer the file directly to your Kindle over USB cable or SD card.

You must email the file to Amazon and have them convert it and send it to your Kindle.

Currently not compatible with the Kindle.
 
 

Last updated: January 2010

.azw

Amazon’s default file format. You’ll almost never see it in the wild.

.doc,.docx

Amazon says some docx conversions may be problematic.

.epub

This format has the best chance of becoming the industry standard, but Amazon doesn’t recognize it. Use a software program like Calibre to convert .epub to .mobi.

.htm,.html

.mobi

Old format that Amazon based the .azw format on. Lots of ebook stores still sell this format.

.pdf

Kindle 1: You must send the file to Amazon for conversion.
Kindle 2 & DX: Can display PDF without conversion. If you want to convert the file in order to take advantage of Kindle’s text-to-speech, font sizing, annotation, etc., you must type the word Convert in the subject line of your email when you forward the PDF to Amazon. Also, image heavy files will automatically be converted regardless. See this page for details.

.prc

Another name for the Mobipocket (.mobi) format.

.rtf

.txt

.tpz

Amazon’s other default format, although it’s a lot less common than the .azw at the top of the list. As with .azw, you’ll almost never see this anywhere but on the Amazon store.

Images:
.jpg/.jpeg
.gif
.bmp
.png

Amazon can convert these image formats into .azw files that will display on your Kindle.