10 Life Hacks Every Kindle User Should Know
For many book lovers, the Kindle has become the default e-reader, and I understand that. I’ve been using a Kindle for over ten years, and I really like my latest Paperwhite. It helped me read over 30 books last year, so I’m not complaining.
The Kindle’s basic setup is fine, but once you master the device’s gesture controls, hidden features, and extra services, you can really get a lot out of this unassuming reading device.
Kindle Gestures You Really Need to Know
The Kindle has only one button. Everything else is controlled by touch. And, like any touchscreen device, using it requires a variety of gestures. The most obvious are for turning pages. You can swipe or tap right to go to the next page, and swipe or tap left to go to the previous page. If you have a Paperwhite Signature Edition , you can also double-tap the back or sides of the device to go to the next page.
Tap the top of your Kindle screen to open the toolbar, where you can return to the home screen, change settings, view the table of contents, and more.
By tapping the bottom left corner, you can switch between various metrics, such as reading progress, page number, chapter time remaining, and more. And if you want to quickly change the font size, simply pinch your fingers together or spread them apart to enlarge the text (like you would enlarge an image on a phone).
Want to take a screenshot of your Kindle? Tap two opposite corners of the screen (upper right and lower left, or upper left and lower right). The screen will flash for a second, and the image will be saved as a PNG file in the root directory. Connect your Kindle to your Mac or PC to get the image file.
Convenient navigation between chapters
Kindle navigation isn’t the most convenient, especially when reading books where you need to quickly switch between chapters. Here, a hidden gesture can help again. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the new page-turning mode. At the bottom, you’ll see a slider that lets you move forward and back. There are also buttons to skip to the next chapter (I use this all the time).
Switch to dark mode and set the light to warm.
If you like to read in bed, you’ll need to enable Dark Mode. Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Quick Settings panel. From there, tap the “Dark Mode” button to quickly invert the colors. Now you’ll read white text on a black background. While you’re at it, check the “Warm Light” setting (if you have a Kindle Paperwhite, Oasis, or Scribe). Use the slider to increase the screen’s warmth, making it more amber.
This is especially useful for reading in the evenings or at night, but I like it so much that I keep it enabled all the time. You can also schedule the color temperature change so the display gradually gets warmer during the evening hours. You can do this in Settings > Device Settings > Display Settings > Schedule .
Lock your Kindle
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Not everyone needs to know what’s on your Kindle, right? If you read a lot at school or in public, you can lock your Kindle with an additional setting. Go to Settings > Device Options > Security & Privacy > Device PIN . You can then set a numeric unlock code of up to 12 digits, but a four- or six-digit code might be easier.
Send documents and books to your Kindle wirelessly.
Reading on your Kindle isn’t limited to books purchased from the Kindle Store. In fact, you can send any DRM-free PDFs or ebooks to your Kindle wirelessly. I’ve previously described several ways to do this , from using an email address to the Kindle app. But the one I always return to is Amazon’s own “Send to Kindle” website. Open it in any browser, sign in to your account, drag and drop a document in a supported format (.DOC, .DOCX, .HTML, .TXT, .PDF, and .EPUB), and send it. After your Kindle syncs via Wi-Fi, these documents will be available for reading on it—it’s that simple.
Use your book covers as screensavers.
Every time I set up a new Kindle, I’m surprised that I still have to manually enable this feature. By default, the Kindle displays a couple of images as a screensaver when it’s turned off. This is due to the use of electronic ink, which allows it to display a static image without consuming power. However, these default screensavers are boring. You can make this feature much more interesting (and useful) by displaying the cover of the last book you read as a screensaver. Go to Settings > Device Options and enable “Display Cover Art.”
Read long articles on Kindle.
The Kindle’s built-in browser is rather basic and slow, but it’s still capable of reading long articles. For a more enjoyable experience, you can wirelessly send articles to your Kindle, where they’ll display as books, without ads, formatting, or images.
The easiest way to do this is with the Amazon Send to Kindle extension for Chrome . Go to the page, activate the extension, and send a message to your e-reader.
If you don’t use Chrome, you can also use a dedicated service like Push to Kindle to send articles to your Kindle. You can send up to 10 articles per month for free, and the $2.99/month plan removes all restrictions.
Export selections and notes.
If you use your Kindle for research or reading nonfiction for school or work, you’ll accumulate a lot of highlighted text. These highlights, simply stored on your Kindle, aren’t all that useful. Amazon has a dedicated website that lists all the highlights from all the books you’ve purchased through the Kindle Store, but that’s not your only option.
Personally, I prefer Clippings , which also works with content not purchased from the Kindle Store. It lets you import all highlights and notes from your Kindle books and personal documents using a browser extension. You can also view and organize all your notes directly in the browser, but if you want to export them to a document, you’ll need to purchase the Professional plan for $1.99 per month.
Borrow books from your local library for free.
There are many places where you can legally and freely borrow books and use them for reading . The most popular option is the Libby app by Overdrive, which allows you to borrow books using your library card or student ID. In the Libby app, go to “Shelf” > “Borrowing” > “Read with…” > “Kindle.” From there, sign in to your Amazon account and verify your Kindle device. Then, tap “Get a Library Book.” Voila, an ebook from your local library will instantly appear on your Kindle device.
Remove Amazon from your Kindle.
Finally, you can take inspiration from my colleague Pranay, who uses his Kindle without any Amazon services . You can set up a Kindle without an Amazon account and use it as a perfectly valid e-reader. You can purchase DRM-free books online from various sources and transfer them to your Kindle by simply transferring the e-book files to your Kindle storage or using the “Send to Kindle” feature I mentioned above.