Calibre DeDRM Guide (Windows, as of Feb 2025)

This is a guide to setting up Calibre on Windows with the DeDRM plugin. This is only useful for removing DRM from ebooks you've purchased from Amazon. The decryption key associated with your account is necessary to remove the DRM. This will not work for Amazon-encrypted ebooks downloaded from arbitrary sources.

Warning

Tampering with any kind of DRM is a crime under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. No one really cares, but I've gotta put this disclaimer here. Performing the steps below is illegal and I cannot legally endorse or recommend doing so.

Part 1: Installing Kindle for PC 1.17.44170

  1. Download the 1.17.44170 version of Kindle for PC from here: https://archive.org/details/kindle-for-pc-1-17-44170.
  2. Install that version of Kindle for PC. Keep the installer after installing, for reasons below.
  3. Open Kindle for PC. Open settings and disable automatic updates. If it updates anyway, go to step 5.
  4. Attempt to register the copy of Kindle for PC. You can do this through the "Registration" section in the Kindle for PC options.
    • For me, the 1.17 version's embedded web browser couldn't display the captcha so I couldn't log in. If this happens to you, go to step 5.
  5. If you encountered issues above, download the installer for the latest version of Kindle for PC from the Amazon website and install it.
    • Go into the settings and disable automatic updates.
    • Log in to your account under the "Registration" section in the Kindle for PC options.
    • Close Kindle for PC. Run the 1.17.44170 installer again (you saved it before, right?) and install that version over the existing installation.
    • Attempt to register it again. Hopefully, the embedded web browser will remember you having solved the captcha from the latest version and not prompt you this time, allowing you to log in.
    • If you're still unable to log in, you're on your own, sorry. You'll have to find a way to end up with a copy of Kindle for PC version 1.17.44170 that is logged into your Amazon account. Good luck.
  6. Double-check that automatic updates are turned off in the Kindle for PC options.
  7. Kindle for PC should now show a list of your "owned" (licensed) ebooks. Right-click on each one and choose "download".
  8. If you encounter an error saying that the Kindle app requires an update, see the note at the bottom of the page.

Part 2: Installing Calibre and the DeDRM plugin

  1. Download Calibre from here: https://calibre-ebook.com/. Install it (or "install" the portable version, if you prefer).
  2. Download the DeDRM plugin(s) from here: https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools/releases. As of writing this guide, the 10.0.3 version is the latest stable release, and is what I used.
  3. Unzip the downloaded archive somewhere. Inside you should find DeDRM_plugin.zip and Obok_plugin.zip, among other files.
  4. Open Calibre, open the Preferences menu (look for the button on the top bar) and click "Plugins" under "Advanced".
    • Click the "Load plugin from file" button at the bottom and select the DeDRM_plugin.zip file from the archive's extracted contents. Confirm the plugin installation.
    • Then do it again for the Obok_plugin.zip file. This one is used specifically for Kobo ebooks so you might not need it, but it doesn't hurt to have it installed anyway.
  6. Close and re-open Calibre to ensure the plugins are fully installed.
  7. Open the Preferences menu again, and again go to Advanced > Plugins.
  8. This time, in the list, open the "File type" section and select the "DeDRM" plugin. Click the "Customize plugin" button at the bottom.
  9. Click the "Kindle for Mac/PC ebooks" button.
  10. Click the green plus button on the right side. It should automatically detect your Kindle for PC installation and prompt you to give the key a name. The default name is fine.
  11. Close the key import window, then be sure to click "OK" on the DeDRM plugin options window. Click "apply" in the plugin options window, and close the preferences window.
  12. At this point, assuming the key matches the account used to buy the ebook, DeDRM should automatically strip any DRM from files when importing them to the Calibre library.
  13. Go to C:\Users\<YourUserName>\Documents\My Kindle Content. All the ebooks you downloaded through Kindle for PC should be here. The files you want are the ones with an .azw extension. Drag and drop them into the Calibre window to add them to the library (this creates a copy of the file in the Calibre library folder).
  14. To double-check that this is working, double-click on one of the imported books in the list and ensure it opens correctly. Calibre cannot open ebooks locked with any kind of DRM, so if it can read the ebook, you know it's DRM-free. You can now convert the ebook into any other format if you like, including epub and pdf. For information on converting ebooks, check the Calibre documentation (it's got nothing to do with DRM at this point).

Part 3: There is no part 3

Enjoy reading the books you paid for, without fear of Amazon revoking your rights to do so in the future.

Note: Some ebooks may fail to download, saying the Kindle app needs an update. These are probably using a newer version of the DRM, and may not be supported by DeDRM. After downloading all the ebooks you can with version 1.17.44170 (and stripping the DRM from them, as explained above), you might want to try updating to the latest version of Kindle for PC and downloading the newer ebooks as well. DeDRM may or may not be able to decrypt these; be sure to double-check that the DRM is removed (as explained above).

If this guide helped you, remember that it is possible to support me financially through several services, and that I appreciate all the support I can get. To be clear, I am not asking for money in exchange for the use of this guide. You may choose to donate to me to support what I do, if you wish. This guide is already in a very grey area legally, so I won't be posting any links here. You'll have to find them yourself (it shouldn't be very hard).