How to Strip the DRM from Your Kindle Ebooks for Cross-Device Enjoyment and Archiving
As an avid reader, nothing can be more satisfying than having a hoard of eBooks at your disposal. However, not all eBooks come without restrictions. eBooks bought from Amazon’s Kindle Store, for instance, comes with DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection. This means that you can only read the eBook on the Kindle device or an authorized app. But what if you want to read the same eBook on another device or store it offline for archiving purposes? Well, you can strip the DRM from your Kindle eBooks!
Here’s how to strip the DRM from your Kindle eBooks for cross-device enjoyment and easy archiving:
1. Install the DeDRM Plugin in Calibre:
To strip the DRM from your Kindle eBooks, you need to use the DeDRM plugin for Calibre. Calibre is a software application for managing eBooks. Download and install it.
Next, head over to the DeDRM plugin’s Github page, and download the most recent version of the plugin. Click the “DeDRM_tools_X.X.X.zip” file to download the plugin.
Now, open Calibre, and navigate to the “Preferences” tab. Click on “Plugins,” then the “Load plugin from file” button. Find the DeDRM plugin that you downloaded and select it. Once loaded, you can configure the plugin by clicking the “Customize Plugin” button.
2. Download Your Kindle Ebook:
Go to your Kindle Library and download the ebook you want to strip. The downloaded ebook will be in Kindle’s .azw3, .azw, or .kfx format, depending on which version of Kindle the file is compatible with.
3. Add the eBook to Calibre:
Drag and drop the downloaded Kindle eBook from your computer’s file explorer to Calibre’s main window or click on the “Add books” button in Calibre and select the ebook.
4. Strip DRM protection from the eBook:
Select the eBook in Calibre, and click the “Convert books” button. In the resulting dialog box, choose “ePub” as the output format and click on the “Ok” button. Calibre will do its magic, and the DRM-free version of the eBook now appears on your main ebook library.
5. Move the eBook to your preferred device:
To read the de-DRM’d ebook on your preferred device, simply connect it to your computer and use Calibre to transfer the ebook. Calibre has support for most eBook reader devices, including Kindle devices, and can convert ePub to .mobi format, which is compatible with Kindle.
That’s it! You now have a DRM-free version of the Kindle eBook that you can enjoy on any device or store offline for archiving purposes.
Conclusion:
DRM is an infringement on your freedom as a reader since it dictates what you can and can’t do with your eBooks. Fortunately, stripping DRM protection from your Kindle eBooks is easy with software such as Calibre and the DeDRM plugin. With this process, you can convert your eBooks into different formats and transfer them to your preferred device for your reading enjoyment.