3 Easy Ways to Convert PDF to MOBI

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions.

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If you convert your PDF file to a MOBI file, you'll be able to read it on popular hardware and software e-readers like the Amazon Kindle. This wikiHow article will teach you how to use Calibre to convert PDFs with special formatting, and Auto Kindle eBook Converter on Windows for plain text PDFs.

• The easiest way to convert PDF to MOBI is to use Calibre, which you can download from https://calibre-ebook.com/download.
• If you're converting to MOBI to read on your Kindle, email the PDF to your Kindle address with the subject "Convert."
• On Windows, you can install simple app called Auto Kindle eBook Converter that can convert text-only PDFs to MOBI.

Using Calibre

Install Calibre on your computer. Calibre is a free e-book management app that can convert various file formats. If you don't have Calibre installed, visit https://calibre-ebook.com/download to download the correct version for your operating system.

• If you installed Calibre on Linux, you can convert the file at the command prompt using the command ebook-convert test.pdf output.mobi . Replace "test.pdf" with the full name of the PDF file and "output.mobi" with the desired output file name.

Select the PDF and click Convert Books . It's the brown book icon with two curved arrows inside, and you'll find it at the top of Calibre. This opens the "Convert" window.

• The Metadata tab allows you to change the way the title, cover, author, and other descriptive info appears in the converted file.
• The Look & Feel tab lets you customize colors, text, and layout.
• MOBI output has format-specific options for ignoring margins, avoiding JPEG image conversion, disabling compression, and changing the MOBI version.
  • By default, "MOBI file type" is set to "old" to ensure compatibility with all Kindles. However, if you have a newer Kindle (3rd generation or later, except Kindle DX), changing to New adds additional formatting features.

  

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  Click OK to convert the file. It's at the bottom-right corner of the window. The PDF will now convert to the MOBI format.

  

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  • If you don’t see Save to disk, expand the window to see the entire toolbar.
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  Emailing to Kindle

  

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  Log in to Amazon.com. If your goal is to convert a PDF to MOBI so you can read it easily on your Kindle, you can email the PDF to your personal Kindle email address with "Convert" as the subject. Before doing this, you'll need to find your Kindle email address and add your regular email address to its sender list.

  

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  Hover over "Account & Lists" and select Content & Devices . You'll see "Account & Lists" in the upper-right corner of Amazon once signed in.

  

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  \n"> Click the Devices tab. It's at the top of the Digital Content page.

  

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  Select your Kindle. If you have more than one Kindle registered, select the one you want to use to read the PDF.

  

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  • Write down or copy the email address to a safe location.

  

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  \n"> Click the Preferences tab. It's at the top of the page.

  

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  \n"> Scroll down and click Personal Document Settings . It's the last option on the list.

  

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  • Also, make sure you see "Archiving is Enabled" just above the email address list. If it's disabled, click Edit Archive Settings and enable it now. This ensures that when you send the PDF to your Kindle to convert it to MOBI, it'll be easy to find in your library.

  

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  • To attach the PDF to the email message in most email apps, click the paperclip icon or the word Attach, and select the PDF.
  • If you don't add "Convert" to the subject, you will still receive the PDF on your Kindle, and you'll be able to read it. However, it won't convert to the MOBI format.
  • Make sure you're sending the document from an email address in the Approved list. Your personal Kindle email address will not accept files from any other addresses.

  

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  Connect your Kindle to the internet to receive the PDF. The next time your Kindle is connected to Wi-Fi, it will receive the PDF you sent, convert it to MOBI, and display it in your Kindle library.

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  Using Auto Kindle eBook Converter

  

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  • Other than being able to choose the output location, this tool doesn't allow you to customize the MOBI file in any way. It's just a quick tool for simpler conversions, such as scanned documents and other files without special formatting. If you want more control over how the MOBI file appears, use the Calibre method.

  

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  Open Auto Kindle eBook Converter . You'll find it in your Start menu inside a folder with the same name.

  

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  Click the Select button. It's near the top-right portion of the window under "Default Output Location."

  

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  Select an output folder and click OK . The folder you select will be where the MOBI file is saved after conversion.

  

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  \n"> Click the Save button. It's at the bottom of the window.

  

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  \n"> Click the X to close the app. Closing this window makes the file browser window appear.

  

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  Select the PDF file you want to convert and click Open . Auto Kindle eBook Converter will now convert the PDF to the MOBI format. The finished file will appear in the folder you selected as the Default Output Location.

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  You can also use an online converter to convert PDF to MOBI. However, avoid doing this with PDFs containing sensitive information—there's no way of knowing who can read the PDF once you upload it to an online converter.

  If you're using Calibre to convert and don't like the way the MOBI looks on your e-reader, you can always tweak the settings and try the conversion again.

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