How to delete Kindle books from your PC: It’s Geek to Me

FLORIDA —

QUESTION: I have downloaded many books from Amazon Kindle onto my PC, both free and paid. How can I delete some of them from the PC? I have read all as many times as I care to.

– John P.
Crestview, Florida

THE GEEK’S ANSWER: I could probably answer your question in a single sentence, John, but that would make for an awfully short, and I dare say, pretty boring issue of It’s Geek To Me. Besides, I can almost guarantee that somewhere out there is a reader who is a complete neophyte when it comes to e-readers.

So, the parts of this issue that don’t answer your question will be dedicated to providing all the background that you, as a Kindle user, already know. Sorry, but remember, I have been asking for questions from the readership at large. My response to your question should tell you how that’s going so far.

So, starting from the beginning, an e-reader is a device that lets you read electronic versions of books, newspapers, magazines, and other documents. You might say, “So what?  My cell phone and/or tablet can do that. They have e-reader software built-in. Yes, but the best e-reader solutions are dedicated devices that sport a display explicitly designed for e-reading.

The technology is called E Ink, and the resulting display is easier on the eye and more power efficient than the LCD panels used in tablets. It also does something your typical cell phone or tablet cannot do: it remains perfectly readable in direct sunlight.

The basic operation of an e-reader goes something like this: a person selects their desired media from their provider’s library. This is the so-called electronic book or e-book. It is a file, much like any other data file associated with some application on a computer or smart device.

The file is either sent to the person’s e-reader device or is accessed directly from their servers.

This occurs, of course, via the Internet—usually over Wi-Fi. The device presents the contents of the file as electronic ink on the device’s display. Typically, the screen is touch-sensitive, and you can turn pages by swiping left or right or by pressing a button.

The goal is to give the whole “book experience” without an actual book. And frankly, e-readers are superior to printed pages in many ways, and most publishers have embraced electronic versions of their reading materials in one way or another.

The Kindle e-reader device is only one possible Kindle-based solution.

If you don’t mind losing the super-readable E Ink screen, there are Kindle apps available for all brands of smartphones and tablets. If that’s not enough for you, there is also a Kindle app for your PC or Mac.

This seems to be what reader John, who submitted today’s question, is using. In the course of reading over some span of time, John has accumulated a library of eBook files on his PC, which he would now like to get rid of.  After all, they do take up some amount of space on your local hard drive, and John has made it clear that he’s done reading these books.

Okay, John, here’s the one sentence I promised you above. To delete Kindle books from your PC, you need to open the Kindle app, right-click on the cover of the book you want to delete, and select “Remove from Device.”

To take you beyond that lone sentence, you can also do this from Amazon’s website.

Log into your Amazon account and click “Account & Lists.” Select “Manage your content and devices” and click the three-dot button to the left of the book’s name. On the menu that pops up, click “Delete.”

The nice thing about doing this through Amazon is that once it’s deleted from your Amazon account, it will also be removed from any device it’s loaded on when you do a Sync.

Tread carefully! Deleting a book is a permanent operation, and if, for some reason, you change your mind, you’ll need to purchase it again.

To view additional content, comment on articles, or submit a question, visit my website at ItsGeekToMe.co (not .com!)

Jeff Werner, a software engineer based in Niceville, Florida, has been writing his popular “It’s Geek to Me” tech column since 2007. He shares his expertise to help readers solve everyday tech challenges. To view additional content, comment on articles, or submit a question, visit ItsGeekToMe.co (not .com!).