Do You Send Documents to Your Kindle?

My most used Kindle feature is something you may be overlooking

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

Amazon’s Kindle has most definitely changed the way that people read books. You now have the ability to take an entire library’s worth of books with you wherever you go. With an integrated backlight, you can read in almost any lighting condition. And the amazing e-ink screen likely has the longest battery life of any screen in your home. Your Kindle should be a big part of your reading system.

But how are you getting your books on it? Like most people, you’re probably making purchases through Amazon.com or directly on the Kindle itself. Personally, I very rarely buy books through the Kindle store. I much prefer to use the “Send to Kindle” feature to get content on my device.

What is Send to Kindle?

This feature allows you to send nearly any type of text document to your personal Kindle device. Maybe you have a PDF of a whitepaper that you need for work. Perhaps a friend shared a rough draft of a book they’re working on that you’d love to read on your Kindle rather than on a computer. There are lots of reasons why you’d want to take advantage of reading on the device itself but may not want to purchase the content through the Kindle store.

How Does it Work?

The functionality of the feature is easy enough to understand but I’ll break it down here. You have a few different options to get your document from your computer or phone to your Kindle.

Option 1 — Use “Send to Kindle” Software

Amazon has a piece of software that you can use for this exact purpose. It can be downloaded on PC, Mac, or Android. They also offer a Google Chrome plugin for your browser or Chromebook. This software lives on your device and allows you to choose files that will be sent to your Kindle device. If you have multiple Kindles registered, you can choose which devices will receive the content and you also have the option to upload it to your Kindle Cloud Reader.

For most people, this will be the easiest option

Option 2 — Use “Send to Kindle” e-mail address