How to Convert PDF to Kindle

Brad Stephenson is a freelance tech and geek culture writer with 12+ years' experience. He writes about Windows 10, Xbox One, and cryptocurrency.

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What to Know

• Look in the Settings section of the Kindle device or Settings in the Kindle app for your send-to-Kindle email address.
• At Amazon, go to Manage Your Content and Devices >Preferences. Under Personal Document Settings, click Add and add a new address.
• Open a new email and address it to your send-to-Kindle email address. Attach the PDF file as usual and select Send.

This article explains how to transfer PDFs to a Kindle device or Kindle app by email. It includes information for sending PDFs to the Kindle app on Windows 10 PCs and Macs, which don't support send-to-Kindle email addresses.

How to Transfer a PDF to Kindle

While Amazon’s Kindle e-readers and apps are widely known for displaying digital content purchased from the online Amazon Kindle Store, they also support PDF files from other sources.

Transfer a PDF file to a Kindle e-reader or app via email. Before you can make the transfer you need to:

• Locate your send-to-Kindle email address.
• Add an optional approved personal email address.
• Email the PDF file to your Kindle.

How to Find Your Send-to-Kindle Email Address

To read a PDF on Kindle and initiate the file transfer process, you’ll need to know the unique email address associated with your Kindle e-reader, tablet, or app.

This email address is officially referred to as your send-to-Kindle email address.

Your send-to-Kindle email address is not the email address you use to log into the Amazon website or apps. Nor is it the email you use for accessing Amazon services such as the video game streaming site, Twitch.

It’s completely understandable if you’ve forgotten your send-to-Kindle email address as most people wouldn’t have used it much if at all. However, it’s easy to locate and can be found in the Settings section of the operating system on your Kindle itself or within the Settings page on your Kindle app.

Your send-to-Kindle email address can also be found on this page on the Amazon website by clicking the ellipsis next to your preferred Kindle app or device.

This page also contains information on installed Audible apps which don’t support send-to-Kindle functionality. If you can’t see an email address, double-check to make sure that you’re not viewing the details of an Audible app.

Each send-to-Kindle email address is completely different for each device, so if you want to send a PDF to multiple devices, you need to email the file to multiple send-to-Kindle email addresses.

Add an Optional Approved Email Address

By default, your email address that you use to log into the Amazon website and apps is already approved for sending PDF files to your Kindle apps and e-readers. If, however, you want to use a different email address for security reasons, you need to register it as an approved email address.

An alternate email address prevents strangers from spamming Kindle devices with their own PDFs.

To add an approved email address to your account:

1. Go to the Preferences section of the Manage Your Content and Devices page on the Amazon website

Under Personal Document Settings, click Add a new approved e-mail address.

How to Send PDF to Kindle

Now that you have your send-to-Kindle email address and have added your personal email address as an approved email in your Amazon account, you’re ready to send your PDF to your Kindle.

1. Open your preferred email app or service such as Outlook or Gmail and begin composing a new email.

Within the Recipients or Address field, enter the send-to-Kindle email address for the Kindle e-reader, tablet, or app that you want to send the PDF file to.

If you want to convert your PDF file into the Kindle file format, write Convert into the email Subject line. Amazon will automatically convert your PDF file for you during the send process.

PDF files with advanced or complex styles may lose their formatting when converted. If your file displays incorrectly, simply repeat these steps and leave the Subject line blank. Kindle devices and apps can generally read PDF files completely fine without any conversion.

Attach the PDF file to your email as you would any other email attachment.

If your Kindle, or the smart device with the Kindle app installed on it, is disconnected from the internet, Amazon will continue to attempt to send the PDF file for around 60 days. After this time has expired, you will need to send the file again in a new email.

How to Read PDF on Kindle e-Readers

Once you’ve sent a PDF file to your Kindle e-reader’s associated email address, it should appear within your regular library of novels, comic books, and other publications you’ve purchased or downloaded in the past.

Reading PDF files on a Kindle works in exactly the same way as reading a Kindle ebook. All you need to do is tap on its thumbnail or title and it will automatically open.

How to Read PDF on Kindle for PC and Mac

The Kindle apps for Windows and macOS computers don’t have send-to-Kindle email addresses but they do have built-in support for importing local PDF files.

Here’s how to read PDF files in the Kindle for PC and Mac apps.

1. Open the Kindle app on your Windows or Mac computer.

Click File.

Click Import PDF.

A file browser will pop up. Locate your PDF file and click Open.

Your PDF file will now be readable and editable within the Kindle app. When you’re finished, you can close the app as you usually do or click Library to return to the app’s main menu.