Have you ever discovered a interesting book available exclusively on Amazon but only own a Kobo eReader? This common frustration leads many to ask: Can you read Kindle books on a Kobo? While Kobo devices natively support EPUB and PDF formats, Amazon’s Kindle books use proprietary file types (AZW, KFX) protected by DRM restrictions. This creates a technical barrier for cross-platform compatibility. However, with the right tools, it’s entirely possible to convert and transfer Kindle books to your Kobo.
Why can't we directly read Kindle on Kobo?
It's known that Amazon Kindle books are special for Kindle devices. It's formats are not completely compatible with Kobo readers format epub and pdf. Besides, Kindle books we buy online are usually DRM protected.
Kobo official website has also declared that.
In a word, here are 2 reasons that we can't directly read our Kindle books on Kobo:
- Kindle books are with DRM protection
- Kindle books are with Kindle format, not common epub or pdf
Now let's learn about how to read Kindle books on Kobo.
How to read Kindle books on Kobo tablet?
This way is to help you read Kindle azw files on Kobo tablet, such as Kobo Arc, Kobo Arc 7, Kobo Arc 7 HD, etc.
Tip: As Kobo tablet is based on Android system, so I recommend you install the Kindle for Android app in your Kobo.
1 Go to Amazon's official site, and download the Kindle for Android app and install it in your Kobo tablet.
2 Open the app and register it with your own Amazon account.
3 Buy and download books you like. After downloading the books, you can read them on your Kobo tablet freely.
How to read Kindle books on Kobo glo/aura?
If you want to read Kindle books on your Kobo e-ink readers, such as Kobo glo, Kobo aura, Kobo touch, etc, which you can't install app on them, you'll need to convert kindle books to Kobo supported format--EPUB.
With the help of Epubor Ultimate, you can easily convert drm-protected kindle books to EPUB format. Below are detailed steps.
1 Download Kindle Books to your computer via Kindle for PC/Mac.
2 Download and install Epubor Ultimate
3 Remove Kindle DRM with Epubor Ultimate
Run your Epubor Ultimate, you'll find it will automatically recognize all your existing books, no need to add books by yourself.
Drag the books to the main screen. Books with drm protection will be decrypted automatically soon.
4 Convert Kindle books to Kobo format
Select epub or pdf, then click the button "Convert to EPUB", your books will be converted soon.
5 Transfer Kindle books to Kobo e-ink reader
Click "Output folder" icon at the bottom right corner, you will get all the converted books from the main window. Just transfer them to your Kobo with USB.
Another easy way to transfer Kindle books to Kobo
Importance Notice: To use this method, please ensure your Kindlefor PC/Mac is older than version 1.25 and Kindle firmware is older than 5.10.2.
If you can not meet this requirement, please just follow the above-mentioned method to transfer your kindle books to kobo.
No matter your Kindle books are from Kindle for PC/Mac or Kindle e-Ink reader, here I recommend you a useful tool Kindle Transfer, which is used to transfer books among Kindle, Kobo and computer. Its transmission speed is very fast. I guess you may be pleased that even though your Kindle books are DRMed, when you transfer your Kindle books, this program will automatically remove Kindle DRM and convert Kindle files to Kobo supported formats.
Windows Version Download Mac Version Download
How to use this tool? Don't worry! It's very easy. Simply connect your Kobo e-Ink reader to computer, then select the eBook path on your computer, and click "Transfer" button is OK. All of your Kindle books will be tranferred within a few seconds.
As your books have been removed DRM and converted format, now you can transfer them to any tablets, eReaders for reading.
Ada Wang works for Epubor and writes articles for a collection of blogs such as ebookconverter.blogspot.com.
