Amazon Is Ending Support for These Kindle Models

Attention Kindle readers: Amazon may soon end support for your e-reader. Now, if you’ve recently acquired a Kindle, meaning anytime in the last 10 years, you don’t have to worry. But for anyone still using an old Kindle, you might be concerned.

The news began spreading on Tuesday, followed by confirmation from Amazon. In a statement to PCMag, Amazon said the following: “Starting May 20, 2026, customers using Kindle and Kindle Fire devices released in 2012 and earlier will no longer be able to purchase, borrow, or download new content through the Kindle Store. » Amazon’s very first Kindle was released in 2007, which means the company is ending support for five years of the devices. This includes:

• Kindle 1st generation (2007)

• Kindle DX and DX Graphite (2009 and 2010)

• Kindle Keyboard (2010)

• Kindle4 (2011)

• Kindle Touch (2011)

• Kindle5 (2012)

• Kindle Paperwhite 1st generation (2012)

• Kindle Fire 1st generation (2011)

• Kindle Fire 2nd generation (2012)

• Kindle FireHD7 (2012)

• Kindle Fire HD 8.9 (2012)

As with most device write-offs, Amazon is not murder Kindles released in 2012 and beyond. If you have an older Kindle from that era, it will still work and you will be able to read on it, you just won’t be able to access the Kindle store. This may not be a problem: you can still read your existing books or add new titles by hand. But you won’t be able to borrow books with library apps like Libby, which is how a lot of readers use their Kindles. The problem gets worse if something happens to your device, such as if you need to deregister it or reset it to factory settings. Amazon states in this case: “under no circumstances will you be able to re-register or use these devices”.

Amazon will contact affected customers directly via email, explaining the situation and offering these users 20% off new Kindle devices as well as $20 ebook credits following the purchase of a new device. This code is valid until June 20, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.

What to do if you have an old Kindle device

E-readers aren’t really like smartphones: it’s not really about having the latest and greatest features, since, in most situations, you’re using your e-reader to, well, read, and often just black and white text, at that. If your 2012 or older Kindle is still working great, you may not feel the need to spend money on an upgrade, even with Amazon’s discount.

Fortunately, you have a few options here. First of all, you can continue to use the Kindle Store for now. So, if you like to buy e-books, you can charge your Kindle until it turns off. But the long-term option is to start “side-loading” (or manually downloading) your ebooks onto your device. One of the most popular apps for manually managing your e-book library is Caliber, which acts as a sort of iTunes for e-books. You can customize each book’s data (for example by choosing to swap covers) and convert e-book formats to Kindle’s proprietary AZW3. While there are certainly illegal ways to obtain eBooks and download them to your Kindle, there are also many legitimate methods to purchase books like this. This way, you can still purchase your ebooks, convert them to Amazon format, and then download them to your Kindle, without having to upgrade your device unnecessarily.