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Customise Your Reading

You can customise your reading experience on your Kindle: from adjusting font size, to defining words as you read with the built-in dictionary, to sharing your favourite passages on Facebook.

Setting Text, Appearance and Screen Rotation

 
 
Back buttonKeyboard button5-way controllerMenu buttonHome button

You can choose from eight different font sizes and several additional options to customise the appearance of your Kindle books.

Some books offer a font specified by the publisher. If this is available for your title, you'll see the Publisher Font option, which you can turn on or off.


To change your text appearance and screen rotation:

  1. With a book open, press the Menu button and use the 5-way controller to select Change Font Size.
  2. Select the desired text size, words per line, screen rotation, or other options.

Note: The text size of menus and other screens is fixed and cannot be modified.

Using the Built-in Dictionary

While reading a book or periodical, you can see a brief definition of a word using the built-in dictionary.

To see the definition of a word in your reading:

  1. Move the 5-way controller up or down to display and place the cursor in front of the word.
  2. If the word is found in the dictionary, a definition extract appears on the screen.
  3. To see the complete definition, follow the instructions on the definition. You will now be placed in the dictionary and can use Previous Page and Next Page to view other word definitions.
  4. Press the Back button to return to your reading.

Changing your Default Dictionary

The default dictionary is the dictionary used when you look up a word while reading. In your Kindle Dictionaries collection in Home, you’ll find dictionaries for Brazilian Portuguese, U.S. English, U.K. English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Additional dictionaries can be purchased from the Kindle Store.

If you have only one dictionary for a language, your device will automatically set that dictionary as the default for that language. If you have more than one dictionary for a language you can change the default dictionary

To set your default dictionary:

  1. From the Home screen, select Menu, and then select Settings.
  2. Navigate to Dictionaries and select “edit.”
  3. Select the language you want to set the default dictionary for and select the default dictionary for that language.

Setting Your Language Preference

Kindle supports Brazilian Portuguese, English UK, English US, French, German, Italian, and Spanish languages.

You can set your Kindle to display all menus and messaging in one of these languages. The Set Up Your Kindle process will prompt you to select your default language, or you can change it at anytime.

To change the default language on your Kindle:

  1. Press the Home button and then press Menu.
  2. Navigate to Settings using the 5-way controller.
  3. Use the Next page or Previous page buttons until you see the Device Language heading.
  4. Select Set next to Device Language.
  5. Use the 5-way controller to navigate to and select your preferred language.
  6. Click OK on the popup screen to confirm the change.


Once the change is complete, the device will restart. Your content will not be affected. If you have a password associated with your Kindle, you will be prompted to enter it once the device restarts.

Page Locations and Page Numbers

As you read, you'll see your progress displayed at the bottom of the screen as a percentage of the Progress Indicator.

Page Numbers

Kindle's page numbers match the page numbers in print books so you can easily reference and cite passages, and read alongside others in a book club or class.

If your Kindle book includes page numbers, you'll see page numbers displayed next to locations when you push the Menu button.

Not all Kindle books include page numbers. Kindle books that include page numbers list "Page Numbers Source ISBN (the print book identification number)" for the matching print edition under Product Details on the detail page at Amazon.co.uk.

If the Page Numbers Source ISBN (the print book identification number)" listed under "Product Details" on the product detail page is the same edition as your print book, the Kindle page numbers will match the page numbers in the printed edition.

Because Kindle books allow you to change font size and other features, you may be able to view more than one page on your screen at once. Only the corresponding page number for the text displayed at the top left of the screen will be shown.

Locations

Kindle books also mark your progress using locations. Location numbers are specific to each line of text so you can easily find a particular passage, regardless of changes you may make to text size.

Press Menu to display the location number at the bottom of the screen above the Progress Indicator.

Chapter, Section, and Article Breaks

If the book you are reading shows chapter, section or article breaks, displayed as small dots within the progress bar, you can jump between these using the 5-way controller.

While reading, move the 5-way controller to the left or right to skip ahead to the next chapter or return to the previous chapter. This feature will also allow you to skip from one section to another or one article to another.

Menu Options While Reading

Press the Menu button when reading a book or periodical to display menu options that will help you navigate your Kindle content. You will have slightly different options depending on the type of content you are reading.

If you are reading a Kindle book, the menu shows the following options:

Change Font Size: Choose from eight different font sizes and several additional options to customise the appearance of your Kindle books.

Shop in Kindle Store: takes you to the Kindle Store.

Go to...: enter a specific location or page number to jump to that part of your book. Press the keyboard button to enter the page number or location. You can also use the 5-way controller to navigate to the table of contents, cover, beginning, or end of the book.

Sync to Furthest Page Read: compares your current reading location with the one saved at Amazon. If you are further along in your book using another device, Kindle gives you the choice to go to the furthest page read.

Book Description: connects to the Kindle Store and displays the detail page for the full book.

Search This Book: displays the search line at the bottom of the screen. Enter text to begin searching for a particular term or phrase within the book.

Add Bookmark: bookmarks the page you are currently on. After selecting this option, the upper right corner of the book will be dog-eared and this menu option will change to "Delete Bookmark."

View Notes & Marks:  displays a page containing all of your notes, highlights, bookmarks, and clippings for the book you are reading.

View Popular Highlights: displays a list of the most Popular Highlights from Kindle users.

If you are reading a periodical or blog, you will see the following different options:

Clip This Article: makes a copy of the entire article and adds it to your "My Clippings" file.

Keep This Issue: designates the newspaper or magazine issue as one to be stored in your Kindle until you remove it.

Zooming in on Images

You can zoom in on images in Kindle books.

Kindle Format 8 books allow you to zoom and pan when viewing an image. 

To zoom on an image in a book:

  1. Place the cursor over the image with the 5-way controller. You’ll see a magnifying glass icon. .
  2. Press the 5-way controller to fit the image to the screen.
  3. In Kindle Format 8 books that support image zoom, press the 5-way controller again to zoom in further. You can use the 5-way controller to pan across the image. Press the Back button to exit.
  4. In other books, press any key to return to your content.

Your view may change from portrait or landscape to maximise the use of the display.

Zooming in on Tables

Kindle Format 8 books allow you to zoom in and pan across tables.

To zoom and pan on a table in a Kindle Format 8 book:

  1. Place the cursor over the table with the 5-way controller.
  2. Press the 5-way controller to fit the table to the screen.
  3. Press the 5-way controller again to zoom in on the table. You can use the 5-way controller to pan across the table. Press the Back button to exit.

Annotations: Highlights, Bookmarks, Clippings, Notes

Annotations (bookmarks, highlights, notes, clippings) you make on your Kindle book are stored in your Kindle Library on Amazon.co.uk when your Kindle is connected to wireless.

To view your annotations: Open the book, press the Menu button and select "My Notes & Marks."

To turn off Annotations Backup:

  1. Navigate to Kindle's Home screen and press the Menu button.
  2. Select "Settings."
  3. Select the desired option next to "Annotations Backup.

Adding Bookmarks

You can place one or multiple bookmarks at any location in whatever book you are reading. Select "My Notes & Marks" to return to any bookmarked location. Bookmarked pages have a "dog-ear" icon in the upper right corner.

To place a bookmark:

  1. Go to the page that you want to bookmark.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Highlight and select "Add a Bookmark" using the 5-way controller.

To view a bookmarked location:

  1. Press the Menu button and Select "My Notes & Marks."
  2. Highlight and select the desired location from the list.

To remove a bookmark:

  1. Go to the bookmarked page.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Highlight and select "Delete Bookmark."

Highlighting Passages

You can highlight text in Kindle content like you would use a highlighter pen on paper and view them at any time by pressing the Menu button and selecting "My Notes & Marks." The text you highlight appears with a grey underline.

To highlight one or more lines:

  1. Use the 5-way to position the cursor where you want to start highlighting.
  2. Select "start highlight."
  3. Move the 5-way to select the desired text. Use Next Page or Prev Pages to highlight text across multiple pages.
  4. Press the 5-way at the place where you want the highlight to end. Select "end highlight."

To remove a highlight:

  1. Press the Menu button and select "My Notes & Marks."
  2. Underline the bookmark you want to remove with the 5-way controller.
  3. Press the Delete key.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to remove additional highlights.
  5. Select "Close Notes & Marks" when finished.

Automatic Book Updates

You can receive the improved versions of all your books by opting in to receive book updates automatically. You can do this by visiting Manage Your Kindle at http://amazon.co.uk/MYKupdate and clicking on the Manage Your Devices section.

You will find an option labelled Automatic Book Update. Under Actions, select Turn On.

To ensure you retain your notes, highlights, bookmarks and furthest reading locations, you will need to turn on Annotation Backup on your Kindle.

To turn on Annotations Backup on Kindle:

  1. Navigate to Kindle Home screen and press the Menu button.
  2. Select Settings
  3. Select the desired option next to Annotations Backup.

Viewing Popular Highlights

Amazon displays Popular Highlights by combining the highlights of all Kindle customers and identifying the passages with the most highlights. The resulting Popular Highlights help readers focus on passages that are meaningful to the greatest number of people.

Some books don't have enough highlighting in them to have Popular Highlights. Popular highlights are marked with a grey dashed underline.

The number of people who have highlighted the text appears at the beginning of the marked text. You can see Popular Highlights for all books that have them at kindle.amazon.com.

To view Popular Highlights:

  1. Open a book on your Kindle.
  2. Press the Menu button and select "View Popular Highlights" from the options.

To turn Popular Highlights on and off:

  1. Navigate to Kindle's Home screen and press the Menu button.
  2. Select "Settings."
  3. Select the desired option next to "Popular Highlights."

Managing Popular Highlights

If you have a Kindle device, you can turn off the option to have your highlights included in all Popular Highlights by turning off Annotations Backup on your device.

Annotations Backup backs up your annotations and last page read and syncs them across devices. You can also remove highlights you made previously from Popular Highlights.

To remove previous highlights from Popular Highlights:

  1. Visit the Kindle Website website and log in using the e-mail address and password for the Amazon account you used to register your Kindle.
  2. Select "Your Highlights" from the Browse options at the top of the page.
  3. Select "Delete this highlight" next to each highlight you wish to remove.

Adding Notes

Kindle allows you to add comments, make notes, and mark up passages just as you might in a printed book.

To add a note:

  1. Move the cursor to where you want to place a note using the 5-way controller.
  2. Choose "create note."
  3. Press the Keyboard button to begin typing your note. Select the Done button or press the Keyboard button when finished.
  4. Select "save note" using the 5-way controller.

A super-scripted number appears where you insert your note. Notes are numbered in the order they appear in the content and update automatically if you add more.

To edit or delete a note:

  1. With the Kindle book open, press the Menu button.
  2. Select View Notes & Marks.
  3. Select the note and press the 5-way controller.
  4. Select delete or edit from the choices at the bottom of the screen. If editing, press the Keyboard button to make changes and press the Keyboard button again when finished. Use the 5-way controller to select "save note."

Making Clippings

You can "clip" an entire periodical article and save it to the "My Clippings" file.

To clip an article:

  1. Go to the article you want to clip.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Select "Clip this Article."

To view your clippings:

  1. Press the Home button to display the Home screen.
  2. Select "My Clippings" from the Home screen.

Editing "My Clippings"

All of your bookmarks, highlights, notes, and clippings are stored in the "My Clippings" file on your Kindle. You can transfer and copy the file to share and use your clippings.

To transfer the "My Clippings" file and open it on your computer:

  1. Connect your Kindle to your computer using the USB cable. Your Kindle will appear in the same location as external USB drives.
  2. Open the Kindle drive. You will see several folders inside, one of which will be named "documents." Locate the "My Clippings" file and transfer it from Kindle to your computer.
  3. Open the "My Clippings" file on your computer using an application that can read or import a .TXT file.

You can make changes to the file and transfer it back to your Kindle. Changing your "My Clippings" file does not affect any notes, bookmarks, or highlights you've made in the actual content. The next time you read the content, you can still use them for navigation and reference.

To remove the "My Clippings" file from your Kindle:

  1. Press the Home button to display the Home screen.
  2. Underline "My Clippings" on the Home screen.
  3. Move the 5-way controller to the left and select Delete.

A new "My Clippings" file will appear on your Home screen the next time you add a clipping or annotation to any content.

Public Notes

Public Notes allow you to connect with fellow readers by seeing what passages they found meaningful in books you are both reading.

You can search for and follow other readers at kindle.amazon.com.

If someone you follow has highlighted a passage in a book and has turned on Public Notes for the book, you'll see that passage highlighted along with the name of the person who highlighted it. The"@" symbol will be displayed in the text where any notes were made.

Public Notes will also appear in a list with your personal annotations if you select "View Notes and Marks" from the menu while reading. By default, Public Notes are displayed in your books but you can turn them off if you don't want to see them.

To turn Public Notes on and off:

  1. Navigate to Kindle's Home screen and press the Menu button.
  2. Select "Settings."
  3. Select the desired option next to "Public Notes."

Turning Public Notes on or off from your device will not make your notes visible. You have to turn on Public Notes for a book through our website before anyone else can see your highlights and notes in that book. Go to kindle.amazon.com/your_reading to make your highlights and notes visible through Public Notes.

Following other readers to see their Public Notes

Authors, book club members, thought leaders, passionate readers, professors, and all Kindle users can opt-in to share their notes with other readers.

To follow other readers:

  1. Visit kindle.amazon.com
  2. Log in using your Amazon account details.
  3. Search for the name of the person you would like to follow in the search bar in the top right corner.
  4. Click the "Follow" button. If you'd like to stop following this person in the future, simply select the "Stop Following" button.

Sharing your Public Notes

  1. Visit kindle.amazon.com and select "Your Books" from the options on the top of the screen.
  2. Check the boxes to select what information you would like to share about any of your books.

You can also make a single Public Note and share it with people following you by selecting "save & share."

This will also post the highlighted passage and any comment you add to the social media networks you have associated with your Kindle account.

To share a single Public Note:

You can make any highlight or Public Note, without setting Public Notes for that book online.

  1. Move the cursor to where you want to place a note using the 5-way controller.
  2. Choose "create note."
  3. Press the Keyboard button to begin typing your note. Select the Done button or press the Keyboard button when finished. (There is a 100 character limit.)
  4. Select "save & share" using the 5-way controller.To share an existing note, press the Menu button and select View Notes & Marks. Select the note and then choose "save & share."

Only this single highlight or note will be shared with other readers following you. You have to turn on Public Notes for the entire book to make all your notes and highlights from that book public.

If you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account associated with your Kindle account, you'll automatically be prompted to manage your social network registration before your message is posted.

If you choose not to link your Kindle account to your social media networks, your highlights and notes will still be saved in the book, as well as at kindle.amazon.com.

Sharing Highlights, Notes and Ratings on Facebook and Twitter

If you're reading and happen across a passage you'd like to share with friends or followers through social networking sites, Kindle gives you the option to post it to Facebook or Twitter.

You can also share your rating of any Kindle Book you're reading through your social media networks.

Registering Your Social Networks

Before you can share what you're reading, you'll need to link your Amazon.co.uk account to your account on Facebook or Twitter.

To manage your social networks:

  1. Navigate to Kindle's Home screen and press the Menu button.
  2. Select "Settings."
  3. Select the "manage" option next to Social Networks on the Settings page.
  4. Follow the instructions on the screen to link or unlink an account.

Note: In order to share passages from your Kindle books through your social media networks, you must set the Country of Origin on the device. Go to Manage Your Kindle, scroll to Your Country and click Edit.

To create a highlight or note to share:

  1. Move the cursor to where you want to place a note using the 5-way controller.
  2. Choose "create note."
  3. Press the Keyboard button to begin typing your note. Select the Done button or press the Keyboard button when finished. (There is a 100 character limit.)
  4. Select "save & share" using the 5-way controller.To share an existing note, press the Menu button and select View Notes & Marks. Select the note and then choose "save & share."

If you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account associated with your Kindle account, you'll automatically be prompted to manage your social network registration before your message is posted.

If you choose not to link your Kindle account to your social media networks, your highlights and notes will still be saved in the book, as well as at kindle.amazon.com.

To rate a book and share via social media:

On the final page of your book, you'll be given the opportunity to share your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook.

  1. Use the 5-way controller to select "Rate this book."
  2. Select the number of stars you'd use to rate the book, then select "save & share."

You can rate the book at any time just by going to the final page. Press the "Menu" button, select "Go to" and select the "End" button.

You can also select "Tweet/share that you've finished this book" to let everyone know you've read it.

You can rate a book even if you haven't linked your Amazon account to your social media accounts. Ratings are displayed at kindle.amazon.com/your_reading and www.amazon.co.uk/gp/yourstore.

Note: You can only rate Kindle books purchased from the Kindle Store.

Book Recommendations

When you're finished reading a Kindle book, you'll see recommendations for similar books on the last page of the book. Recommendations are based on what other customers who bought this book also purchased.

To see these recommendations at any time, press Menu while reading. Select "Go to" and choose "End." Select a recommendation from this page to go directly to the recommended book's detail page in the Kindle Store.Learn how to adjust reading options such as text size, appearance, and screen rotation. This page also provides information about features such as public notes, highlights and sharing highlights on Facebook and Twitter.