How to Read Kindle Books on PC: 4 Easy Ways!

written by

Doug Stevenson

updated September 18, 2023

If you are a reading fanatic like me, you are bound to have thought at some point about the convenience of reading your Kindle books on your PC.

Sure, reading on a proper Kindle is fun. But there is a special charm in reading your favorite books while you are at your work desk, or simply want a big screen experience.

So with this article, I will be sharing four different ways in which you can read your Kindle books directly from your PC.

You can read Kindle books on PC by using the official Kindle PC app, Kindle Cloud Reader for web browsers, the Android Kindle app via BlueStacks, or a third-party app like Calibre.

Read Kindle Books on PC Using the Kindle PC App

Amazon officially offers the Kindle app both on Windows as well as Mac.

With this available, it is as easy as installing the app and logging in to your Kindle account to access your Kindle library with zero hassles.

Granted, the availability of such an app is not known to a lot of folks and Amazon themselves don't market the Windows and Mac apps as much as their Android and iOS counterparts.

This is probably owing to the fact that the Windows and Mac app is not updated as frequently, and is known to have server failures often.

But the fact still stands true that Amazon has provided an app for the big screen experience, and you need not lock yourself into a Kindle or your smartphone to read your books.

To install and use the Kindle app on your Windows or Mac machine, follow the steps given below:

Visit the Kindle app page from your Windows or Mac.

Click on the option that says Download for PC & Mac.
Amazon will automatically detect your operating system and initiate the download process of the app.
Set up the app and complete the installation process.
Open the app and input your Amazon login credentials in the login fields to access your Kindle library.

To ensure that all your Kindle books are synced across all devices, keep your Kindle devices connected to the internet.

Here's a video walkthrough from us that'll show you different ways to read Kindle Books on your PC,

4 Ways to Read Kindle Books on PC

Read Kindle Books on PC Using the Kindle Cloud Reader

If you are not on a Windows or Mac machine or don't want to install an app for accessing your Kindle library, Amazon has got you covered in that area as well.

Amazon has a web-based implementation of Kindle, termed the Kindle Cloud Reader.

This negates the need for any compatible operating system that is required for the Kindle app, and all you need is a browser, even allowing Linux users access to their Kindle library.

To access the Kindle Cloud reader on your PC, follow the steps below:

Visit the Kindle Cloud Reader website from any browser of your choice.
Log in with your Amazon account to gain access to your Kindle library.

Read Kindle Books on PC Using Bluestacks

It is a fact that Amazon tends to focus more on the Android and iOS versions of the Kindle app, most probably due to its higher user base.

The Kindle app for PC is quite notorious for frequent shutdowns and visual glitches.

The Kindle Cloud Reader can seem like an excellent all-rounder solution, but there are issues with some books not properly being supported.

Judging from all of this, it is fair to say that if you could access the Android or iOS versions of the Kindle app, the experience could be seamless.

Enter BlueStacks. Blue Stacks is an Android emulator that can be installed on Windows or Mac PCs.

An Android emulator is a program that can basically let you use Android directly from your Windows or Mac PC.

Using BlueStacks you can install the Android version of the Kindle app directly to the Android environment of BlueStacks.

iOS emulators are available too, but they don't work as smoothly as BlueStacks.

Using BlueStacks is safe and will lead to no complications with your Google account.

To install BlueStacks on your Windows or Mac PC and use the Kindle app, follow the steps below:

Visit the BlueStacks website from your PC.

Click on Download.
BlueStacks should automatically detect your operating system and provide the installation file for BlueStacks accordingly.
Install the app.
After the initial boot, BlueStacks should ask you to log in with your Google account.
After logging in, you will see the usual Android homepage.
Navigate to the Google Play Store.
On the search field, search for Kindle.
Tap on the most relevant result and install the Kindle app.
Boot up the Kindle app and log in with your Amazon credentials.

This is the same Kindle app that you would be using with an Android device, so the user experience should be top-notch.

Almost all Kindle edition books should work without issues as well.

Read Kindle Books on PC Using Calibre

If you are a Kindle user and don't like the options that the Kindle Store provides, then Calibre might not be an unfamiliar name.

Calibre is an open-source application that allows you to transfer books to your Kindle, with support for a wide variety of formats.

Calibre also has a built-in reader feature that lets you read your Kindle books, as well as local files from your PC.

Of course, you will need to connect your Kindle to your PC in order to read using Calibre.

Calibre is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux PCs as well.

In order to use Calibre to read your Kindle books from your PC, follow the steps below:

Visit the Calibre website from your PC.
Click on Download Calibre.
Select your operating system to start the download process.
Install and boot the app.
Skim through the initial setup where you can set up your Kindle email for sending to Kindle.
Connect your Kindle to your PC. Calibre should recognize the device and show an icon indicating the Kindle.
Tap on the Kindle icon to go to the Kindle books locally stored on your Kindle.
Tap on the book and select Read on Calibre.

Calibre requires the books that you read to be downloaded locally to your Kindle app.

DRM

Kindle has a DRM system across all their Kindle devices and Kindle edition books.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a tech that restricts access to copyrighted material to select devices only.

Basically, only Kindle devices that you have the book installed can access and decrypt the book for reading.

This is a step to prevent the piracy of books. Although there are plenty who support this move, digital archivists are quite against this move.

DRM is applicable only to books that you download from the Kindle Store. You can freely transfer your local library to and from your Kindle.

There are projects such as DeDRM tools and KindleDecrypt that lets you remove DRM from your Kindle books, directly with a plugin extension from Calibre.

But this method is a hit or miss most of the time, and buying the book legally is always the right thing to do from an ethical standpoint.

Final Thoughts

If you have further queries regarding reading Kindle books on your PC, you can contact Amazon Kindle support.

On a similar note, you could also make Alexa read books to you by enabling Kindle assistive reader feature. Make sure to check it out as well.

I hope my article on how you can read your Kindle books directly from your PC has been a helpful read and has aided you with the same.

Have a good day!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is Kindle Unlimited free with Amazon Prime?

Kindle Unlimited is a separate service that allows subscribers access to thousands of Kindle-Unlimited-certified books for free and is not included with Amazon Prime.

Prime Reading is included with an Amazon Prime subscription, which offers a limited selection of Prime-Reading-certified books for free.

Do Kindle books ever expire?

Kindle books that are bought are strictly the buyer's product to keep and do not expire. Borrowed books do indeed expire and go back to Amazon once the lending period is over.

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Doug Stevenson

Hey! I'm Doug, My passion for tech started by fixing phones and computers for my friends and family.

I started Blinqblinq to give reliable tech advice to anyone who needs it, for free! If you have questions on anything tech-related, feel free to contact me.

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