Have an Amazon Kindle that’s pre-2012? You need to read this if you want it to connect via Wi-Fi again

Vaughn Highfield March 21, 2016

Amazon’s Kindle range is fantastic, but if you want to stop your reader from becoming a brick, you’ll need to update it by 22 March.

Have an Amazon Kindle that's pre-2012? You need to read this if you want it to connect via Wi-Fi again

As part of an emergency update for its 2012 Kindle Paperwhite, Amazon requires all Kindle users to keep their devices up to date. Failure to do so results in a Kindle that can no longer connect to the internet to sync your device with the cloud or gain access to the Kindle Store. To put it bluntly, if you forget to update, your device will become a useless brick.

If it’s switched on, a Kindle will typically update itself via an associated Wi-Fi connection. However, if it’s been a while since you last used your Kindle, it’s definitely worth checking it has enough power in it to auto-upgrade.

You can manually perform the upgrade by pressing the “Sync and Check for items” button in the homescreen Menu tab. You know the update has been successful when you receive a notification saying “03-2016 Successful Update” on your Kindle.

Those who miss the 22 March deadline can still update, but it’s far more of a faff and involves plugging your Kindle into a computer to do so. Thankfully Amazon has listed step-by-step instructions for manual upgrades over on its device help page.

If you’re unsure whether your Kindle will be affected by the update, here’s a list of the readers that Amazon is insisting are updated: