How to Fix Formatting Issues on ePubs Sent to Kindle

Special characters are incorrectly displayed in EPUB NODRM files after sending them to Kindle devices and apps. Is there a solution to address this formatting issue?

EPUB files are already being accepted through the Send to Kindle Service. It is really a useful feature for Kindle users that Amazon Send-to-Kindle service has officially accepted EPUB. So you can send any DRM-free EPUB files to Kindle for PC/Mac/Android/iOS via email. However, some EPUB files sent through Send to Kindle are poorly formatted. This is generally caused by the file's character encoding. Most EPUB files use UTF-8 encoding, but unless this is explicitly defined in the EPUB file, the Send to Kindle service will assume it's ISO-8859-1 encoding which will lead to strange and unexpected formatting on the output file.

Fixes for formatting issues include using the Modify EPUB plugin for Calibre or a website tool or a software tool to set the EPUB character encoding to UTF-8 before sending it to Send to Kindle.

Solution 1: Use the calibre Modify EPUB Plugin

Modify EPUB plugin offers a way to perform certain modifications to your selected ePub files without performing a calibre conversion and touching the original ePub's file structure, CSS files, etc. One of the main features of this plugin is that Encode HTML in UTF-8 to fix invalid HTML encodings. Below are the detailed steps to fix the poor formatting issues.

Step 1Download and install the Modify EPUB plugin zip file.

Here’s the download link for the Modify EPUB plugin zip file. After downloading the zip file, then launch calibre, find the preferences icon on the toolbar > plugins > load plugin from file. Next restart calibre to make the plugin work.

Step 2Encode HTML in UTF-8 to fix invalid HTML encodings.

Select the ePubs in your library, right-click the book title > Modify epub.

Then tick the box in front of the Encode HTML in UTF-8 > OK.

After the modification, it will pop up a window to inquire whether you want to replace the epub file in your library.

Solution 2: Encoding EPUB in UTF-8 in a Website Tool

Besides using the calibre Modify EPUB plugin, there’s a website service that can fix your EPUB to be able to use with Send to Kindle. It currently tries to fix the following problems:

• • Fix UTF-8 encoding problem by adding UTF-8 declaration if no encoding is specified.
• • Fix hyperlink problem (result in Amazon rejecting the EPUB) when NCX table of content link to with ID hash.

This tool is super easy to use. Just select your DRM-free EPUB file saved on your computer, then click the Download output file to get the EPUBs that are compatible with the Kindle devices and apps.

Solution 3: Use Epubor Ultimate Software to Convert your ePUBs Twice

Epubor Ultimate provides a powerful one-stop solution to remove DRM from your Kindle/Kobo/Google Play/Nook books and convert all DRM-free files to EPUB/AZW3/PDF/Mobi, etc.

Step 1Download and install Epubor Ultimate on your computer.

   

Step 2Convert ePubs to another ebook format.

Get your DRM-free ePubs ready. Launch Epubor Ultimate, then drag and drop your ePubs to the right blank space of the software. Next, choose another output format in the drop-down menu, like AZW3. Lastly, you can find the output file by clicking the Succeeded word to the right of the book title, see the below image. You can also move these output files to the desktop for later use.

Step 3Convert the output files to EPUB format.

First, right-click the book title in the right main window > remove all items, see the below image.

Then drag and drop the output files to Epubor Ultimate, next choose EPUB as the output format in the drop-down menu. After the conversion, you can get the EPUB file that fixes the encoding issues.

   

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