How to Delete Books From Kindle

Save memory space on your device by unloading unwanted books

What to Know

  • From the Kindle Home screen, go to Your Library. Press and hold the book you want to remove and select Remove From Device.
  • To permanently delete the book from your Amazon account: Go to Account & Lists > Your Content and Devices.
  • Then, in the Select column, choose the books you want to delete and select Delete. Select Yes, delete permanently to confirm.

This article explains how to delete books from your Amazon Kindle plus how to delete books from your Amazon account, in case there's something from your literary past you'd rather forget.

How to Remove Books From Kindle

Here's how to delete a book from your Amazon Kindle.

  1. Turn on your device. On the Home screen, select Your Library.

  2. Press and hold the book you want to delete.

  3. Select Remove From Device.

    To remove a book permanently from your Kindle device and your Amazon account, instead of selecting Remove From Device, select Delete This Book. Then follow the steps below to delete a book from your Amazon account.

How to Permanently Delete Books From Your Amazon Account

When you remove a book from your Kindle, it still exists in your Amazon account and appears on your device in the ALL category of Your Library. You may want to keep some books in this state to download again later (see below for instructions on how to re-download books).

If you want to delete a book from your account for good, here's how:

  1. On a computer, open a browser and navigate to Amazon.com.

  2. In the upper-right corner, hover your cursor over Account & Lists and select Your Content and Devices.

    The "Your Content and Devices" option on Amazon
  3. The Manage Your Content and Devices screen opens. In the Select column, select the check boxes to the left of the books you want to delete. Toward the top of the screen, select Delete.

    The selection box and Delete button for a book on Amazon
  4. A dialog box appears, asking if you're sure you want to delete the titles. Select Yes, delete permanently.

    Once a book is permanently deleted, there's no way to retrieve it. To get it back on your Kindle, you must repurchase it.

    Amazon.com with book deletion dialog box displayed

How to Re-Download Books to Your Kindle Library

If you deleted a book from your Kindle but not your Amazon account, it still exists on Amazon's cloud. You can re-download it to any device at any time. This can be done on your Kindle or through the Amazon website.

Here's how to do it on your Kindle device:

  1. Turn on your Kindle. On the Home screen, select Your Library.

  2. Select ALL.

  3. Select the book you want to re-download.

You can repeat the process of removing a book from your device and re-download it as many times as you want. This is one way to free up memory space when you don't need a particular book.

If you want to re-download a book from the Amazon website, here's how:

  1. On a computer, open a browser and navigate to Amazon.com.

  2. In the upper-right corner, hover your cursor over Account & Lists and select Your Content and Devices.

    The "Your Content and Devices" option on Amazon
  3. The Manage Your Content and Devices screen opens. Next to the book you want to re-download, select Actions.

    The Actions option in the Kindle library
  4. In the dialog box, select your preferred Deliver to option.

    Delivery options for a Kindle book
  5. A Deliver dialog box appears. Select Deliver.

    Amazon.com with Deliver dialog box displayed
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