# What's compatible with the Kindle?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-compatible-with-the-kindle/481885
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 18, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-compatible-with-the-kindle/481885 "2009-01-18T20:34:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-compatible-with-the-kindle/481885/1 "2009-01-18T20:34:46Z")
After reading the spiffy article about how to pack for trips in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living, I’m filling my Sunday afternoon with pleasant thoughts about shoe bags, acid-free tissue paper, messenger totes, and the Amazon Kindle.
One thing I can’t figure out from Amazon’s website is… does the Kindle _only_ read files you buy in the Kindle store, or can you load other file types onto it? For example, can I download my fill of Dickens and Thackeray from [gutenberg.org](http://gutenberg.org), and read it on my Kindle?
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-compatible-with-the-kindle/481885/2 "2009-01-18T20:49:13Z")
I don’t know about plain text files from Project Gutenberg, but [Fictionwise.com](http://Fictionwise.com) offers kindle MOBI format downloads. (They come out with a .prc extension, and are full of binary code.)
There are also some interesting results on google for ‘Project Gutenberg Kindle’
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### Author:  [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-compatible-with-the-kindle/481885/3 "2009-01-18T21:06:28Z")
From [Amazon.com Help](http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200140600) –
Recognized File Types
documents
Kindle (.azw), text (.txt), Mobi (.mobi\*, .prc\*)
music
MP3 music format (.mp3)
Audible
[Audible.com](http://Audible.com) (.aa)
- Files containing digital rights management software will not be readable.
* * *
The following file formats can be converted via e-mail for viewing on Kindle:
```
* Microsoft Word (.DOC)
* Structured HTML (.HTML, .HTM)
* JPEG (.JPEG, .JPG)
* GIF (.GIF)
* PNG (.PNG)
* BMP (.BMP)
```
* * *
PDF conversion is experimental. The experimental category represents the features we are working on to enhance the Kindle experience even further. You can email your PDFs wirelessly to your Kindle. Due to PDF’s fixed layout format, some complex PDF files might not format correctly on your Kindle.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-compatible-with-the-kindle/481885/4 "2009-01-18T23:10:10Z")
The non-technical answer, for my fellow Luddites:
I have a Kindle, and I have downloaded free books from Feedbooks and similar sites.