photo credit: Patrick Hoesly via photopin cc
So let’s look at the life of a Kindle book.
Once you buy a Kindle book, it is yours forever (if you want to keep it).
Imagine a huge bookshelf in the sky. This is your bookshelf. There is no limit to it. It will grow and grow as you add books. When you buy a Kindle book at Amazon, the book appears on your shelf-in-the-sky. Amazon calls this the “Cloud”.
If you have a Kindle Fire, or a Kindle App on an iPhone or iPad or a newer Kindle (like the Paperwhite), you will see a spot that says “Cloud/Device”.
This is how “Cloud/Device” appears on the Kindle App on the iPad. It is similar on other devices.
(On the oldest Kindles, the “Cloud” can be found by looking at your “archived items”)
Tap on “Cloud” and you will see ALL OF THE BOOKS YOU HAVE EVER BOUGHT. Touch and hold any one to download it to the device in your hand.
Tap on “Device” and you will see ONLY THE BOOKS THAT YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED to the Kindle or Kindle app in your hand.
Your purchased book can reside in many places. It can sit on your Kindle reader, or on another device that has a Kindle app (like your iPad or iPhone), or it can stay in Amazon’s ‘Cloud’.
A book can also be in several places at once. When I read a book, for example, I will typically download it to my Paperwhite AND to my iPhone Kindle app AND to my old bathtub Kindle, so I can pick up the book and continue reading wherever I am.
Any family member or anyone else sharing the same Amazon account can have the same books on their Kindle at the same time, as well. The Cloud is the source for all your content on all your Kindle-powered devices.
Now, to answer Marcia’s original question: removing the books from your Kindle or Kindle App does not ‘delete’ them from your life. It only takes the book off of the device .. but it leaves it in the Cloud, so that you can put it back on your device whenever you choose.
When you want to remove a book from your device, just tap and hold it. On a Kindle App, a bubble will pop up that says “Remove from Device”. Go ahead and tap that. The book will be gone from your reader, but it will still be in the Cloud to be downloaded again, whenever you want it.
(On the Paperwhite, if you tap and hold a book that is on the Kindle, a list of options will appear, and among them is “remove from this device”.)
So if you look at this diagram, you can now imagine your books flying back and forth from Device-to-Cloud from Cloud-to-Device, back and forth and forth and back. Move them around as you’d like.
It is possible to delete books permanently, as well. (Thank goodness for that, because I have nabbed some free ones that I quickly regretted.) I’ll make this process a separate blog post, another day.
dadirri7
/ January 21, 2013you are a treasure trove of information!
sharechair
/ January 22, 2013kdkh
/ January 21, 2013Thanks! Sharing this post with my family!
sharechair
/ January 22, 2013Glad it is helpful for you.
As long as your family has the same Kindle account, you can share everything.
Marcia
/ January 21, 2013I knew how to do the “archives” thing since my own Kindle is older, but I really didn’t understand about the “cloud.” I keep hearing the term, but wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, especially in regard to Kindles. Thanks, SC, for a perfect explanation. I did figure out how to delete books permanently, because, like you, I ended up with a couple I didn’t want in my device, in my archives, or on my cloud…or anywhere else, actually. But I’ll be looking forward to your post, anyway, to see if I can add a few more pointers.
sharechair
/ January 22, 2013I doubt if I’ll be giving you any pointers, Marcia! You really seem to know your way around the World of Kindle-goodness.
I’m sure there are quite a few things that you could teach me.
Marcia
/ January 22, 2013I AM a bit compulsively in love with my Kindle, for sure, but I doubt I could give you pointers. Maybe we can just help and encourage each other. I know I’ve learned new stuff from you already, and if I once in awhile have a tip you haven’t found yet, then yay! I’ll share happily. The more people who learn how wonderful these devices are, the better, as far as I’m concerned. And having a Kindle Buddy to chat with is fun, too.
Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife
/ January 22, 2013Thanks for the useful advice.
Do you have any helpful tips on finding free downloads from Amazon? The only way I can find books is by typing a topic/author etc, and wading through pages and pages until I find something. Is there an easier way?
Marcia
/ January 22, 2013Tilly Bud, if you click on Menu in your Kindle and then on Shop In Kindle Store, you can type in “Free books,” and a big list will come up. Don’t know if you’ve tried that, but I’ve found lots of free books that way, especially classics and older works.
Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife
/ January 22, 2013Thanks. I have tried that but only got books with ‘free’ in the title. Maybe it’s the English site being unhelpful.
sharechair
/ January 22, 2013Amazon > Kindle books. Then look over on the right side, scroll down the page. You’ll see a tab for “top 100 free books”. That’s a start! AND….
Go to the website Pixel of Ink. It’s a great resource for free Kindle books. Hopefully these two spots will get you started.
Tilly Bud - The Laughing Housewife
/ January 22, 2013Thanks! That’s great.
Marcia
/ January 22, 2013Oooh, good to get the website, SC. I’m going to bookmark that one, for sure. Tilly, sorry you had trouble with my method. As long as I’m doing it on the device, itself, and not on amazon, I get a huge list of completely free books. But as you say, it may be a difference in the English site. But now SC has you all set up, so it doesn’t matter. Good luck!
Pat
/ January 22, 2013Thanks so much. I am loving my Paperwhite but little cautious about getting books. This helps a lot.
sharechair
/ January 22, 2013So glad you are enjoying your Paperwhite. The more I use it, the more I love it. Go ahead and ‘feed’ it (with books).
Karla Davis Glessner
/ February 1, 2013What do you do with books you have already read? I don’t want to delete them because I might want to lend them but I want to get them out of my way at least. I wish they had a shelving system like on Goodreads, maybe they do and I just don’t know about it.
sharechair
/ February 1, 2013Once I read a book, I just remove it from my device. That way is doesn’t clutter my everyday stuff, but is waiting for me in the Cloud if I ever want it, again. Removing a book from the device doesn’t delete it forever, just literally removes it from the Kindle in your hand. It is still yours … it’s just waiting in the Cloud.
Maggie Norton
/ April 25, 2013I tried what you recommended and it did not work on my ipad2.
sharechair
/ April 25, 2013You have the Kindle App on your iPad? This description was for the Kindle app, only.