How to Send Files to an Amazon Fire Tablet

Evan Gower October 16, 2019

Sending files over to your Amazon Fire tablet (also called the Kindle Fire until they dropped the Kindle in 2015) isn’t as simple as it is on other tablets. Due to Amazon including a customized version of the Android OS on their tablets, you have to use their Kindle Personal Documents Service.

How to Send Files to an Amazon Fire Tablet

Despite the name, it’s not just limited to document file types, as it can also handle images, gifs, and saved web pages. In this article, we’ll run you through what you need to know when sending over files, and how to do it.

Confirm What Your Send to Kindle E-mail Address Is Currently

Unlike most tablets, and even older generation Fire tablets, you can’t just plug in a USB cable and transfer the files over. You have to send them by e-mail via Amazon’s Kindle Personal Documents Service. In order to do that, you need to know what your Send to Kindle E-mail Address is.

Amazon automatically assigns a unique address for each device you register with them, so your Fire tablet will have its own dedicated address. Here’s how you find it, and change it if you feel the need:

Open up the web browser on your computer (Firefox; Safari; Chrome; Edge; etc.)
Type https://www.amazon.co.uk/mycd in the address bar, or use this link to get to the Manage My Content and Devices page on Amazon’s website.
Log in to your Amazon account.
Click on Preferences towards the top of the window.
Click on Personal Documents Settings heading to show the necessary options.
You should see your Fire tablet listed in the Send-to-Kindle E-Mail Settings section on the page. The e-mail address listed next to the device is the one that you have to send the files to in order to transfer them to your tablet. If you don’t see your device listed here, chances are it’s not compatible with the service.
If you want to change the e-mail address that you have to use, click on Edit to the right of the address associated with the device.
Enter the updated address in the text box.
Click on Save.

Confirm Your Approved Personal Document E-mail Address

You can only send files to your Fire from e-mail addresses that have been added to the Approved Personal Document E-mail List. In most cases, this will be the address that you have registered your Amazon account to, unless you have previously changed it.

To add a new e-mail address to this list, simply click on the Add a new approved e-mail address link at the bottom of the list. Enter the new address in the text box, then click on the Add Address button. If you want to remove a previous address, click on the Delete link to the right of the address, then click on the OK button to confirm the deletion.

Send Files by E-Mail Using Kindle Personal Documents Service

Once you’ve confirmed your Send to Kindle e-mail address, and have registered the address that you want to send from with Amazon, it’s pretty easy to send over the files. Go to your e-mail software or website, attach the files that you want to transfer, and then put the Send to Kindle address as the recipient. You don’t need to enter a subject.

Once the files have been sent, you need to make sure that your Fire tablet is connected to Wi-Fi, and then Sync it for the transfer to occur. Tap on the Settings icon in your tablet’s top bar, then tap on Sync. If your device is unable to connect, Amazon will keep trying to send it for 60 days.

Helpful Information About Sending Files to Your Fire

Here’s the list of all the file formats that the service supports: MOBI; .AZW; .DOC; .DOCX; .HTML; .HTM; .RTF; .TXT; .JPEG; .JPG; .GIF; .PNG; .BMP; .PDF. You need to make sure that the overall size of the files being sent is less that 50mbs. If what you want to send exceeds that limit, you can either send them spread over a number of emails, or you can use compression software to turn them into a .ZIP file and then send that.

The service will automatically decompress the files when Syncing them to your device, as well as converting them to an Amazon file type such as .MOBI or .AZW. Therefore, if you want to keep to original format intact you should avoid compressing them. Speaking of converting, if you actually want it to convert your files, even if they’re not compressed, simply make Convert the subject of the e-mail that you send.

You won’t be able to edit the files, but you can review them and store them on your tablet.

Fire Away

It’s a shame that you can’t edit files on your Amazon Fire tablet, or just copy them directly any more, but considering how affordable they are in comparison to many other brands, it could be worse. If you’ve found other ways of transferring files over, why not share them with us in the comments section below?