Troubleshooting Where are my original books?

kangxi · 06-28-2024, 03:23 PM

Apologies if all this has already been asked & answered - I did look through past posts but couldn't see anything relevant.
I upgraded to a Kindle Paperwhite a while ago. I was surprised to find all the stuff from my old Kindle was available on the new one but thought no more about it. I've now installed Calibre on my desktop, but when I went to look at the contents of the new Kindle the only stuff that displayed in Calibre were the books I'd recently downloaded or emailed to it and not the stuff that had been imported the day I set it up. I opened up the Kindle with File Explorer but couldn't see see the old stuff anywhere. Where are all the old books stored? On the cloud somewhere, or an Amazon server? I'd like to migrate all my old stuff into Calibre so I can edit metadata, sort onto sets etc. How can I do that?

tomsem · 06-28-2024, 07:45 PM

When you set up the new Kindle there is no content there: you have to download it from your Library (or side load it).

Perhaps the UI is new to you, but by default the Downloaded filter is not set, so you see a listing of everything in your Library. It used to be a visible toggle between ALL and DOWNLOADED, but now you have to tap the filter icon in upper left and select Downloaded. At that point you'll see only the items that are Downloaded (subject to other filter conditions you can set).

Note that downloaded items also have a little checkbox icon on them to distinguish them from things that are in your library but have not been downloaded.

Quoth · Yesterday, 06:28 AM

Also you need to download direct from Amazon (Your account Content page) to computer, not direct on the PW, or the ebooks are crippled.

kangxi · Today, 07:13 AM

Thanks for the info. As you correctly surmise I'm new to Calibre. Some of the terms are new as well - what is side loading? And jail breaking?
I found out where my missing files are - they're previous purchases and old downloads from Amazon & I can access them via my Amazon account. From there I can make a book appear and disappear from the Kindle PW but I can't seem to get an entire file to download to my Kindle even when I start to read the book. Is the file released from the Amazon website in chunks as I read through the book? Is so how do I read a complete book when I'm offline? (I'm shortly heading off to China where access to Amazon is restricted unless I use a vpn.) Calibre shows me those books but I can't add them to my library. Does that matter?

06-28-2024, 03:23 PM	#1
kangxi Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2024 Location: Kendal, Cumbria Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Where are my original books? Apologies if all this has already been asked & answered - I did look through past posts but couldn't see anything relevant. I upgraded to a Kindle Paperwhite a while ago. I was surprised to find all the stuff from my old Kindle was available on the new one but thought no more about it. I've now installed Calibre on my desktop, but when I went to look at the contents of the new Kindle the only stuff that displayed in Calibre were the books I'd recently downloaded or emailed to it and not the stuff that had been imported the day I set it up. I opened up the Kindle with File Explorer but couldn't see see the old stuff anywhere. Where are all the old books stored? On the cloud somewhere, or an Amazon server? I'd like to migrate all my old stuff into Calibre so I can edit metadata, sort onto sets etc. How can I do that?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Glo Can't sideload books (again!) onto my original Glo	ilovereading.com	Kobo Reader	3	10-08-2017 07:05 PM
Do you always keep the original file of your books?	ficbot	General Discussions	49	12-12-2012 03:19 PM
Deleting books off of original Nook	tlo07	Barnes & Noble NOOK	3	04-03-2011 04:08 PM

06-28-2024, 07:45 PM	#2
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,567 Karma: 26963509 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	When you set up the new Kindle there is no content there: you have to download it from your Library (or side load it). Perhaps the UI is new to you, but by default the Downloaded filter is not set, so you see a listing of everything in your Library. It used to be a visible toggle between ALL and DOWNLOADED, but now you have to tap the filter icon in upper left and select Downloaded. At that point you'll see only the items that are Downloaded (subject to other filter conditions you can set). Note that downloaded items also have a little checkbox icon on them to distinguish them from things that are in your library but have not been downloaded.

Yesterday, 06:28 AM	#3
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,778 Karma: 87663463 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	Also you need to download direct from Amazon (Your account Content page) to computer, not direct on the PW, or the ebooks are crippled.

Today, 07:13 AM	#4
kangxi Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2024 Location: Kendal, Cumbria Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks for the info. As you correctly surmise I'm new to Calibre. Some of the terms are new as well - what is side loading? And jail breaking? I found out where my missing files are - they're previous purchases and old downloads from Amazon & I can access them via my Amazon account. From there I can make a book appear and disappear from the Kindle PW but I can't seem to get an entire file to download to my Kindle even when I start to read the book. Is the file released from the Amazon website in chunks as I read through the book? Is so how do I read a complete book when I'm offline? (I'm shortly heading off to China where access to Amazon is restricted unless I use a vpn.) Calibre shows me those books but I can't add them to my library. Does that matter?