Why downgrade Kindle for PC/Mac to an older version?
Amazon recently released a new version of Kindle for PC/Mac, version 1.25, which has a more robust Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme than any previous version. Kindle books downloaded through Kindle for PC/Mac 1.25 (or higher) are now encrypted with the new Kindle KFX DRM, known as Kindle KFX 2.
Unfortunately, there is currently no software available anywhere that can remove DRM from Kindle books downloaded via Kindle for PC/Mac 1.25 or any higher version. While we believe a direct way to crack the new Kindle KFX DRM will eventually be found, we have provided a temporary solution for readers in this article to bypass Kindle KFX 2. This solution involves downgrading Kindle for PC/Mac to an older version, which will allow you to download old Kindle KFX format e-books. You will then be able to use many tools to decrypt and convert your Kindle books.
Note: If you are on Mac Catalina 10.15 or later version, downgrading kindle to old version will not work any more, but you still can remove Kindle DRM on Mac.
Method 1. Downgrade Kindle for PC
Since the new Kindle KFX DRM has been implemented for Kindle books since the release of Kindle desktop version 1.25, we only need to downgrade the Kindle app for Windows/Mac to version 1.17. In this section, I will guide you through the process of manually downgrading Kindle for PC/Mac to an older version.
Manually downgrade kindle for PC to version 1.17.
1Run Kindle for PC. Go to the top menu bar, select “Tools”-->> “Options”.
2The option window will pop up. Select “Registration” at the left side and click on “Deregister”.
3In the popped-up window, tick “ I understand….be removed from this device” and then click on “Deregister”.
4Uninstall Kindle for PC 1.25 or any later version and download Kindle for PC version 1.17.
Kindle for PC 1.17 Kindle for Mac 1.17
5Install Kindle for PC 1.17 and then uncheck the Kindle automatically update option by clicking on "Tools"-->>"Options"-->>"General"-->> uncheck “Automatically install updates when they are available without asking me."
If the "Software Update Available" notification pops up, please click on "Skip this version" button. Then re-download the kindle books again via old kindle for PC/Mac.
Downgrade Kindle for PC to 1.32 automatically
If you have updated Kindle for Mac to version 1.35 or later, the 'auto-downgrade' option will appear in the top right corner. You can simply click the 'auto-downgrade' button in the software, as shown in the picture below, to downgrade Kindle for PC to version 1.32.
Pro tip: How to remove drm from kindle for PC?
After successfully installing the old version of Kindle desktop, you can register it and re-download your Kindle books.
To decrypt Kindle books, run Epubor Ultimate, then drag the Kindle books from the left bar to the right main interface. All Kindle books will be decrypted successfully.
To convert Kindle books, choose the output format from the central-bottom button and click on "Convert to XXX".
Once finished, "Succeeded" will appear at the end of each book title. Click on "Succeeded" or on the "Output folder" at the bottom right to locate the converted files.
Since you have liberated your Kindle books, enjoy them on any device as you like.
Method 2. Downgrade Kindle for Mac
[Video Tutorial] How to downgrade kindle for Mac in 2023 and remove drm
Downgrade Kindle for Mac to 1.31 automatically
If you are on Mac platform, Epubor Ultimate can help you downgrade your Kindle for Mac to version 1.31 automatically. What’s more, it can remove Kindle KFX DRM as well. Below are detailed steps.
1Download and install Epubor Ultimate.
2Run Epubor Ultimate. Click the menu button at the top left corner to display the book library of this software.
3Click on “Kindle” tab, if the kindle for Mac version is higher than Version 1.31, there will be a notification to remind you to downgrade your Kindle for Mac, see below picture.
Click the notification to open the window of downgrading the Kindle for Mac and click on “Start” button to start the automatic downgrading process.
Once finished, the kindle for mac version 1.31 will be installed successfully and restart automatically on your computer.
The Kindle for mac old version has been successfully installed.
Just a few clicks, you can downgrade your Kindle for mac to version 1.31. Then you can patch kindle for mac and remove kindle drm.
Downgrade Kindle For Mac to version 1.31 manually
Failed to downgrade kindle for mac automatically, please follow the guide to downgrade the kindle for Mac manually. The steps of downgrading the Kindle for Mac is the same as on Windows.
Step 1. Go to "Applications", right-click on "Kindle", and select "Move to Trash".
Step 2. Download and install "Kindle for Mac 1.31".
Step 3. Launch "Kindle for Mac 1.31", click on "Kindle" from the top menu bar, select "Preferences", then click on "Update". Uncheck the "Automatically install updates" checkbox.
Pro tips for removing drm on Mac>>
Step 4. Now close your Kindle for Mac. Launch Terminal on your Mac and copy and paste the following command to it:
sudo chmod -x /Applications/Kindle.app/Contents/MacOS/renderer-test
Then press "Enter" and enter your Mac passwords.
Step 5. Launch Kindle for Mac, right-click on the book title, and select 'Download' to download your Kindle books. Remember not to open the downloaded books before removing the DRM from them using Epubor software.
Step 6. Launch Epubor Ultimate, and drag the downloaded books from the left panel to the right panel. The DRM will be automatically removed.
Takeaways
Today, I want to share two methods for downgrading Kindle for PC/Mac. Regardless of which method you use, the ultimate goal is to remove Kindle DRM.
Takeaway 1 If you are using a Windows platform, follow the instructions on the Epubor Ultimate interface. Keep Epubor Ultimate running in the background to redownload Kindle books and remove Kindle DRM. There is no need to downgrade Kindle for PC to an older version when using Epubor Ultimate.
Takeaway 2 On a Mac computer, you can download an old version of Kindle for Mac if you are not using Mac Catalina OS or a later version. If you are using Mac Catalina or a later OS, Kindle for Mac 1.17 cannot be installed. Therefore, you need to install Kindle for Mac 1.31 and then remove Kindle DRM. If you have already installed Kindle for Mac 1.32 or a later version, you can automatically downgrade to version 1.31 via Epubor Ultimate.
Takeaway 3 The old Kindle app cannot download Kindle books published since January 3, 2023, and you need to update the Kindle app to version 1.39 or later to download these books. In this case, if you have a Kindle device registered with your Amazon account, you can download Kindle books via "Download and transfer via USB." Here are the detailed instructions for removing DRM from Kindle books published after January 3, 2023.
Iris Yan the passionate member of Epubor since 2017. Her mission is to enhance your ebook reading experience by sharing insightful tips and tricks. Join her on a journey towards reading excellence today!
Dear Sirs and Madames,
I want to buy ultimate for Mac, but as I've seen, the Verion Kindle 1.23 will not run on the new OS. Mac now completely converts to 64 bit. When do you expect the program changeover? I have now as an attempt 1.23 Mac and he immediately showed me that she will not run at operating system change.Now iI have Mojave.
Yours sincerely
Marion Kuna
Translate with Google
I have Epubor ultimage v3.0.10.330 (purchases upgrade today) and Kindle 1.26.0. I tried to automatically downgrade the kindle version using your instructions, but when I clicked on the 'kindle' tab I did not receive the message shown in your instructions. How can I remove DRM from kindle azw version 1.26.0 ebooks?
Hi there,
The Epubor Ultimate you are using is very old version. Please download the latest version of Epubor Ultimate here:
windows: https://www.epubor.com/ultimate-download.htm#os_Win
Mac: https://www.epubor.com/ultimate-download.htm#os_Mac
When the latest version has been installed, you will see the notification at the left column. Just follow the instructions to solve your problem.
Any more problem, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com
Thanks in advance for your reply
When I used kindle (version 1.24), there is a message that " Your kindle app requires an update to view this content. Click here to download and install the free update (support OS: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7)."
So, I couldn't download a book on kindle (version 1.24), and couldn't use Epubor Ultimate.
But I can download the book on the newest kindle version.
How should I deal with the problem?
My book is textbook.
One strange point is that even though I can download other textbooks, only one textbook cannot be downloaded.
Please check your internet connection and then try to download the kindle books again.
What does you mean that you cannot download your kindle books via kindle version 1.24? Can you please screenshot and send the details to us via support@epubor.com? Then we will check this issue and help you fix it.
Also, we've tested the downloading on 1.24 kindle app, it works fine.
Thank you for your comments.
The license for kcr converter is not suitable for Epubor Ultimate.
If you'v already purchased KCR Converter, please send us your order no. so that we can change your license to Epubor Ultimate.
Please send your order no. to us via support@epubor.com so to can help you fix it.
If your kindle for pc/mac is 1.24, then this will not notification in this software. So please check your kindle for pc/mac version at first.
If your kindle for pc /mac is higher than 1.24 but there is no notice, please contact us via epubor.iris@gmail.com to get the further assistance.
Sorry for the inconvenience. But you can install kindle for pc on your windows computer. Then follow the guide to get your kindle books decrypted.
Any more problem, please feel free to contact us.
Two solution: 1. use epubor ultimate 2 revert to calibre 4.0 and then install the dedrm plugin again.
This doesn't work. When you try to install the old 1.23 Kindle version on macOS Catalina, you get this error message:
"The developer of this app needs to update it to work with this version of macOS. Contact the developer for more information."
There is no way to bypass this.
Any more problem, please feel free to contact us.
After install there is always a new update to 1.30
S h i t Amaozon....
Thank you for your comments, and we are sincerely sorry about this.
To deal with this updates, we can disable the latest kindle kfx format by using the method 1 in this article: https://www.epubor.com/how-to-deal-with-the-new-kindle-update.html
Any more problem, please feel free to contact us via epubor.iris@gmail.com.
Have a nice day.
Please don't worry.
If you still cannot use it, please screenshot and send it to us via support@epubor.com. Then we'll try our best to help you check this.
Have a nice day.
Thank you for the advice on how to convert files from azw to epub.
It used to work for me and I have used Calibre and Epubor for a while now but all of a sudden it doesn't work anymore.
I have the right version for Kindle (1.24.3 (51068))on my computer (Windows 10) but I get a message saying that the book I want to be converted is protected by DRM.
I tried to do it directly from Calibre but no joy there either.
Any idea?
Thanks for your help.
K.
Then try to remove drm with Epubor Ultimate. If you are still failed, please screenshot and send it to us via support@epubor.com.
Then we will contact you and help you fix this issue vis Teamviewer.
I have done exactly as instructed. But I am not able to register in the downgraded version. The pop up appears for registration, but it keeps blinking and the cursor gets kind of erratic - just jumps about! Can you please help me with this? Thank you.
Thank you for using our software and sincerely sorry for this issue. It is impossible to register the old kindle for pc currently. You can register this latest kindle for pc but disable the use of kindle kfx format by this way to remove kindle drm: https://www.epubor.com/faq.html#e109
Any more problem, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com
.
We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience caused.
I have used the free trial version. I tried to remove the DRM to a Kindle rented book and it says that "We don't support rented books". It means that I have to buy the book to be able to download it into my PC? How can I be sure that Epubor software can download the book once purchased on Amazon?
Now we are working on this issue. Once there is a solution, we will let you know. The older kindle books still can be cracked with Epubor Software.
There is still another way to remove drm from this kind of kindle books if you have any kindle eink device registered with your amazon account. Please download the kindle books via "Download and transfer via usb" and then remove kindle drm with Epubor Ultimate. Here is the detailed guide: https://www.epubor.com/how-to-remove-drm-from-kindle-kfx-ebooks.html#meth4
We were aware of this issue. It seems amazon kindle has changed something in the newly published Kindle books. It requires the latest Kindle app to download it. For the books published before 2023, it still can be downloaded with the old kindle app and can be decrypted with Epubor Ultimate.
Now we are working on this issue. Once there is a solution, we will let you know. The older kindle books still can be cracked with Epubor Software.
For the ebooks published in 2023, here is still another way to remove drm from this kind of kindle book if you have any Kindle eink device registered with your Amazon account. Please download the Kindle books via "Download and transfer via usb" and then remove kindle drm with Epubor Ultimate. Here is the detailed guide: https://www.epubor.com/how-to-remove-drm-from-kindle-kfx-ebooks.html#meth4
Hello,
Thanks for asking. The old Kindle app cannot download Kindle books published since January 3, 2023 and you need to update the Kindle app to version 1.39 or later to download these books. In this case, if you have a Kindle e-ink device registered with your Amazon account, you can download Kindle books via "Download and transfer via USB." Please follow this guide below:
https://www.epubor.com/kindle-kfx-drm-remove-failed-and-solution.html#meth7
Any other questions, please feel free to contact us via support@epubor.com. Thank you!