Now you can copy a document from Microsoft Word to the Kindle ebook reader in one step with the arrival of “Send to Kindle” inside Word 365 for Windows and Mac. We’ll also explain how to convert and transfer a Word document to Kindle without the latest Office innovation.
It’s always been possible to send Word documents to a Kindle (see below) but the process is clumsy. Now there’s a faster way – ‘Send to Kindle’ in Word. It’s shrouded in unnecessary secrecy, but it is a lot faster.
Send to Kindle
In Word for Windows go to File | Export and there’s a new option Send to Kindle (see Who Gets It, below)
Word for Mac has the same ‘Send to Kindle’ option under the File | Share menu
There’s an initial setup to link up your Amazon account, see First Time Setup below.
Two formats to choose from
There are two formats possible for Send to Kindle which Microsoft describes in broad terms without specifics. We’ve dug into those important details for you.
Choose whichever suits you and the original document. If unsure, export twice to both formats and see what works best.
Like a Kindle Book
“Makes font sizes and page layouts adjustable.
Supports handwritten sticky notes with Kindle Scribe.
Good for text with simpler formatting and reading on smaller screens.”
That really means the AZW3 format which is the current standard Kindle format.
Conversion from Word document to AZW3 format appears to be done by Amazon’s systems. (Based on the metadata in a converted file <meta name="generator" content="Amazon.com"/> )
This format works best for text only documents or docs with few images or other objects. The small Kindle screen can’t handle complex formatting very well.
Like a Printed Document
“Keeps page layouts and formatting as-is.
Supports writing directly on the page with Kindle Scribe.
Good for text with more complex formatting and elements like embedded tables.”
In other words, a PDF file (Microsoft, why not just say that?).
PDF retains the look of the original document but that might not appear very clearly on the smaller Kindle screens.
Conversion to PDF appears to be done in Word before sending to Amazon. (Based on the file properties which say “Microsoft Word © for Microsoft 365” created the PDF.).
Which Kindles?
Almost any modern Kindle supports the Word ‘Send to Kindle’ feature. You’ll need:
- A Kindle ebook reader which supports either AZW3 or PDF format.
- See official list below
- A Kindle app on any computer/device
- An Amazon account linked to that Kindle device
According to Microsoft, these Kindle are supported: Kindle app, Paperwhite 3, Kindle Oasis, Kindle (2016), Kindle Oasis (2017), Kindle Oasis (2018), Kindle Paperwhite (2018), Kindle (2019), Kindle Oasis (2019), Kindle Paperwhite (2021), Kindle (2022), Kindle Scribe (2022)
We used a Kindle Paperwhite from 2015 for our tests with no trouble.
First time setup
The first time you use ‘Send to Kindle’, you have to create a link between your computer and your Amazon account. Sign in to Amazon, including two-factor authentication if necessary.
Then you have to give Microsoft broad and non-specific permission to “Send your Word documents …. to your Kindle library”. There’s no detail about how that’s done, which servers ‘hands’ contact the documents, how the document is converted or anything else.
How to disable the Word link to Kindle
To remove the Amazon Kindle link or change to another account go to the ‘Send to Kindle’ link and choose ‘Sign out of Amazon’.
What documents can be sent to Kindle?
Any Word document can be sent to Kindle with a few exceptions, the main ones are:
No password protected documents.
Only documents up to 200MB, which is very big for a modern Word doc.
In practice Word documents with complex formatting (text wrapping, specific positioning etc) won’t work well in the ‘Like a Kindle book’ (AZW3) format. Only on the larger Kindle Scribe screen will some PDF’s be readable.
Privacy? What Privacy?
There’s not a word about customer privacy in the announcement of this feature even though customer data is passing through Amazon’s systems and possibly Microsoft’s too.
In fact, the whole ‘Export to Kindle’ process is hidden. There’s no way to know exactly how the document is converted, where data is stored or how that storage is secured.
There’s links to the usual Terms and Conditions if you care to read through thousands of words. But a straight-forward explanation of what’s done with a customers personal or business data is completely missing.
All Microsoft offers is a mention that each converted document contains a unique ID without anything about more important privacy issues like the storage or retention of documents by either company.
How long will ‘Send to Kindle’ last?
‘Send to Kindle’ is possible because of some contract between Microsoft and Amazon. How long does that contract last?
Microsoft has a history of adding third-party features to Office then dumping them later because the contract isn’t renewed. Though Microsoft might give other vague or even implausible reasons for the feature loss.
Excel’s additional Data Sources disappear in mid-2023, probably because the contract with Wolfram isn’t being renewed. See Microsoft 365 customers getting (a little) less for their money
Remember the Outlook Social Connector? It was a useful way to link Outlook Contacts with their social media accounts, such as Facebook. That was heavily promoted by Microsoft until it became inconvenient to their broader corporate aims. As contracts with providers expired, they weren’t renewed. Never mind the usefulness to Microsoft’s paying customers.
Who gets it?
Word 365 for Windows: Beta Channel v2305 build 16403.20000 and later or Current Channel (Preview) v 2304 build 16327.20104 and later
Word 365 for Mac: Insiders v16.72 build 23040200 and later
Word for the web: promised ‘soon’.
Other ways to “Send to Kindle”
Amazon has always had ways to move documents and other files to Kindle with conversion where necessary.
If you won’t have or want Word’s ‘Send to Kindle’ there were three broad options:
- Email the document to a unique address for you at Amazon. Amazon’s system will convert the file to a Kindle format and forward to your Kindle (via the Wifi or mobile connection). See Personal Document Settings near the bottom of the settings page.
- Upload the file via https://www.amazon.com/sendtokindle
- Convert the document yourself to either PDF or Kindle format then copy to a Kindle via a USB connection. This process can be made easier with the excellent Calibre, the ebook and ebook device management software.
Amazon accepts these formats for transfer to a Kindle device: PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, EPUB. They’ll be converted, where necessary, to a Kindle compatible format.
