18 Things You Can No Longer Do On An Unsupported Kindle

Amazon discontinued support on Kindle e-readers made before 2012 effective May 20, 2026. The retailer's decision to stop supporting devices that are at least 14 years old shouldn't be surprising, as mobile devices routinely reach the end of their supported life well before 14 years. Even so, users of now unsupported models may be frustrated to learn that the functionality of their devices has been significantly limited. In fact, many of the key features have stopped working.

What models have been affected? The following Kindle e-readers are now unsupported: Kindle 1st Generation, Kindle 2nd Generation, Kindle DX, Kindle DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, Kindle 5, Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation. In addition, several Kindle Fire tablets lost Kindle e-book features after the cutoff: Kindle Fire 1st Generation, Kindle Fire 2nd Generation, Kindle Fire HD 7, Kindle Fire HD 8.9.

The list of features no longer available on older Kindle devices includes actions such as factory resets and downloading previously purchased content. The following list covers most scenarios in which an old, unsupported Kindle device will not work as intended.

The following list outlines what is no longer possible on old and unsupported Kindles. Some may seem obvious, while others may only impact users when trying to perform specific tasks. 

1. Register a Kindle with an Amazon account.
2. Re-register an old Kindle after a factory reset.
3. Re-register an old Kindle after deregistering it.
4. Access Amazon servers.
5. Access cloud-based libraries.
6. Access the Kindle Store.
7. Access Kindle Unlimited.
8. Purchase new Kindle books.
9. Borrow new Kindle books.
10. Download new Kindle books.
11. Download existing Kindle books that were purchased in the past but not downloaded.
12. Download Kindle books and transfer via USB (the feature was removed in 2025).
13. Use the Send to Kindle feature.
14. Use Libby's Send to Kindle feature.
15. Sync reading progress and other e-book data across devices.
16. Back up Kindle data.
17. Restore data from backups.
18. Receive new software and security updates.

While older Kindle readers and tablets can no longer connect to Amazon servers or other e-book sources to access new content, they can still be useful. Users can still read any Kindle books that were purchased and downloaded before May 20. In addition, the impacted Kindles still support sideloading of compatible files and accessing personal files.

Other features that aren't tied to reading Amazon books will also continue to work on old devices. Kindle Fire tablets can still be used as Android tablets, though old devices may not perform as well as newer tablets. Amazon users can also keep reading their Kindle books elsewhere, including on new Kindle readers and the Kindle app, available on iPhone, iPad, Android devices, and Mac. The Kindle for PC app is being discontinued.

If you are in the market for a new device, Amazon's Fire lineup offers a variety of models with great functionality, including five cool things you probably didn't know Amazon Fire tablets could do.