What to Know

  • Download and install the Kindle app from the Mac App Store. When you open the app and sign in, you’ll see all your Kindle e-books.
  • Organize your books in collections, or create a new collection. To start reading, double-click the cover of a book you want to read.
  • You can’t purchase books in the app. Another way to access and read your books: Sign in to the Kindle Cloud Reader in a browser.

How to Download and Use the Kindle App for Mac

The Kindle app is available for free from the Mac App Store, and it’s quick to set up. Follow these steps to get started with your digital library.

Purchasing New Books

Open the App Store under the Apple menu.

Search the App Store for “Kindle.”

The official Kindle app is the first result. Click Get and then Install to download and install it.

Click Open on the Kindle app in the App Store or go to the Applications folder and click on the Kindle app.

  • All shows your entire library.
  • The sync button, which looks like a circle with arrows, checks your account and updates the library with any books you’ve bought.
  • Downloaded shows titles you’ve transferred to your computer.
  • The PDFs menu contains documents you’ve added that aren’t in the traditional e-book format.

You can organize your books using Collections, which are like folders in which you store items in any way that makes sense.

To create a new Collection, click the plus sign.

The menu that opens has two options. New Collection creates a new folder. Import Collection moves any existing ones you’ve made (for example, from the Kindle app for iPad) to the Mac app.

To make a new collection, select that option and type a name for it. Press Enter to save.

You can add a book to your new Collection in two ways:

  • Drag its cover to the name of the Collection on the left side of the screen.Right-click the cover, highlight Add/Remove from Collection, and then click the name of the one you want to add it to.

To start reading, double-click the cover of the book you want.

How to Use the Kindle Cloud Reader

If you don’t want to (or can’t) install the Kindle app on your Mac, you can go to a web browser tab and visit the Kindle Cloud Reader.

Click Get Started Now.

Your library appears, where you click the book you want to read.

To download a book for offline reading, right-click it and select Download & Pin Book from the menu.

While you no longer need an internet connection to read the book, you can only read the book through a Kindle device, app, or the Kindle Cloud Reader.

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