One of Kindle’s most useful features was just discontinued for no real reason

Summary

Amazon is removing the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ option for Kindle books starting Feb 26.
It’s unclear if this change affects all Kindle models and all countries.
Kindle users can still read books on multiple devices, but can’t download their Kindle books to a PC via USB, making it harder to backup Kindle books they’ve purchased.

If you have a Kindle e-reader and download the books you buy onto your PC, that process is about to become more complex.

According to Kindle users on Reddit, Amazon is removing the ability to download and transfer Kindle books via USB. This means the only way to send Kindle books in the future will be over a Wi-Fi connection. It’s currently unclear whether this affects just some Kindle models or all of them. The change will reportedly take effect on February 26.

Amazon is sending out the following warning message to some users when they download a book: “Starting February 26, 2025, the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ option will no longer be available. You can still send Kindle books to your Wi-Fi enabled devices by selecting the ‘Deliver or Remove from Device’ option.” You can check out the original Reddit thread below.

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What this means for Kindle devices

It’s possible the change isn’t worldwide

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

It’s important to note that this update does not affect your ability to read your Kindle books on multiple devices. It just means you can’t download a purchased Kindle book and transfer it to your PC via USB, making it harder for Kindle users to back up books they own onto their PC for safekeeping. However, this change may not happen everywhere yet.

Kindle users in the UK and Canada report on Reddit not seeing this message pop up when downloading a book, just US Kindle owners. It’s possible this update could have a gradual rollout, but that’s not certain. One Reddit user in the US who owns multiple Kindle devices says the message pops up before they select a device, leading them to believe the update isn’t device-specific.

It’s unclear why Amazon is doing this exactly. One possibility is that the company may be trying to lock down its Kindle ecosystem even more than it already is. However, there is a fix for that. Interestingly, the day the ‘Download & Transfer via USB’ option is reportedly no longer available on Kindles is the same day Amazon is holding a devices and services event in New York City, which could just be a coincidence.