5 Useful Kindle Features You’re Probably Not Using

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You may not know it, but Amazon offers many useful Kindle features that often go unnoticed. These include things like rewards programs and discounted monthly ebooks, convenient features like the ability to send files to your Kindle, or built-in features like book summaries so you can easily jump back into a story after a brief reprieve. If you only use your Kindle to purchase and read e-books, you need to know some of the most underrated features that can increase the usefulness of your device.

The features we’ll cover below will come in handy if you’re looking to stock up on new reads, trying to finally finish that novel you’re stuck on, or want to contribute your own titles that aren’t yet in a Kindle-supported format. And since not everyone uses their device the same way (there are a lot of different things you can do on a Kindle, after all), we made sure to include some lesser-known features that can help you save time and money – something we can all appreciate.

So, rather than using your Kindle for a single purpose, it’s time to expand your mind and, more importantly, the functionality of your Kindle. Once you’ve tried a few of these features, your Kindle should shine a little brighter as the personalized digital reading station it was always meant to be.

Amazon doesn’t promote Kindle Rewards much, perhaps because the program only recently came out of beta in 2025. But now that Kindle Rewards is an official feature, everyone who buys ebooks on Amazon should take advantage of it.

The program is quite simple in design, so it’s easy to follow. For every dollar spent on Kindle ebooks, you earn three rewards points. For every 300 points earned, you get three dollars back, which you can then exchange for more ebooks. The catch is that you have to use these points within three months or they will expire. Ultimately, if you’re already giving money to Amazon to buy Kindle ebooks, there’s no real downside to tracking your Kindle Rewards so you know when you have enough to discount the latest novel or manga.

What’s particularly nice about Kindle Rewards is that you don’t need to be a Prime member to benefit from them: your Amazon account is registered as soon as you purchase your first Kindle ebook. Amazon also offers occasional promotions that can earn you double or triple points during specific periods, and there are bonus offers that can increase your points further. However, you should keep in mind that if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited or Audible, these downloads will not count towards your points since you are not technically purchasing this content. You can easily check how many points you have earned using the official Kindle Rewards page. If you’ve purchased an ebook recently, chances are you already have a few points lined up.

If you’ve already started a book but can’t get back to it in a timely manner, it’s easy to forget what’s happening in the story. But who wants to start a book or series again to simply catch up? Probably not much, which is why Amazon’s handy Kindle Recaps feature is built right into every Kindle from the 10th generation (current generation is 12). It’s actually quite useful, and yes, it uses AI to summarize the story down to the last point you read. This is a case where AI can shine as a generative text engine.

What’s particularly cool about Kindle Recaps is how you can use the feature to browse ebooks in a series. For example, if you’re reading Robert Jordan’s 14-novel “The Wheel of Time” series, you can ask Kindle recaps to summarize previous titles to refresh your memory, perhaps because those events are now relevant in the most recent novel you’re reading. This is a handy tool that you can access directly from the three-dot overflow menu of any ebook, which allows you to access the entire collection. Keep in mind that the feature runs on AI, so spoilers may occur. Not all ebooks support this feature either, although supported titles are clearly marked on the store.

So if you’ve ever wanted a quick summary of Kindle ebooks, Kindle summaries are here to save the day. When an author takes years to publish a new novel in a series, rather than having to reread previous books to get back into the story, you can simply open the Kindle Recaps feature and catch up in seconds.

Send to Kindle is a feature that lets you send files to your Kindle, and you can do so from Kindle mobile apps, PC apps, a dedicated Chrome extension, or even using a unique email address linked to each of your Kindle devices and apps. If you have a Kindle Scribe, files you send to it this way are converted to PDFs that support the included stylus. Send to Kindle can even be used to transfer ePub files to your Kindle: the files will be converted to a supported format, allowing you to read and even annotate them on any Kindle.

So there’s definitely a use case that goes beyond just sending a few files: you can skip third-party conversion apps and do it yourself via Send to Kindle. No need to pull out a laptop and open Caliber, because you can convert and charge wirelessly with Send to Kindle. Better yet, you can send multiple files at once, right from the comfort of your phone.

This way, you’re not tied to the Amazon store for all your reading material. And there are plenty of underrated places to get free ebooks for your Kindle today, from Project Gutenberg to the Internet Archive. Plus, once a file is downloaded, it’s in the cloud, meaning you can then download the converted copy to any hardware in your Kindle collection, which also includes apps on PC and mobile. Essentially, once a file is downloaded via Send to Kindle, it’s in your library and will stay there until you manually delete it.

You may have heard of Libby. This is a fairly popular library app created by OverDrive specifically for borrowing e-books, audiobooks, and magazines, as part of a paid service the company offers to public libraries. If you have a library card, chances are you can use it with Libby. If it doesn’t support the service, the key is to find an OverDrive partner library. With over 90% of all US libraries supporting the digital distribution service, this shouldn’t be too difficult.

Libby is one of the best Kindle Unlimited alternatives for people looking to reduce their online subscriptions. It offers modern content like New York Times bestsellers that you would otherwise have to pay full price for on a traditional e-book store like Amazon’s. Best of all, any borrowed ebook shows across the entire account, so you can easily pick up where you left off, whether you’re reading on a Kindle or using the app.

There are restrictions for borrowing with Libby, and they may differ depending on your library. Where one library may have a standard 14-day policy, another may allow you to choose to check out a book for seven days or up to 21 days. So you may want to look for one that offers the digital rental time limits you prefer. Luckily, you can read offline, which is also a workaround to extend your rental time since Libby can only revoke access once your device is connected to the internet. And don’t worry, using this trick won’t deprive others of borrowing the ebook, so you can leave airplane mode on for as long as you want.

Whether you’re a Prime member or skipping the subscription, Amazon First Reads is a convenient way to get free and discounted ebooks. For those who pay for Prime, early reads are a perk that can net you a free ebook or two each month from a selection of genres. If you don’t subscribe to Prime, these ebooks are marked down to $1.99, well below their usual retail price. It’s a good idea to check each month to see what deals and giveaways are going on.

As for the content of these ebooks, it may vary from month to month. Sometimes there are heavyweights in the ranks, and other times it’s just freelance writers. There’s usually a solid mix, but it can sometimes veer into mostly romantic novels. That’s where the fun lies: you never really know what you’re going to get, so it’s exciting to see what the new selection is every 30 days or so. Additionally, Amazon will send you an email reminder by default, but you can unsubscribe. So it’s not like you have to keep a close eye on the date to remind yourself to pick up new titles as a first read.

Whether you’re a Prime subscriber or prefer to live subscription-free, Amazon’s Early Reads are a great way to get new ebooks, especially if you check in every month to see what’s new. Not only is it an incredibly easy way to expand your library, but it’s also a great way to leave your comfort zone and explore new authors that you might not choose to read if you paid. And that’s the point: First Reads is a vehicle to introduce writers to a wider audience through early access to new ebooks for Amazon customers.