Your Digital Content
What you can take, what you can replace, and what you effectively lose.
Amazon's content Terms of Use are explicit: "Kindle Content is licensed, not sold, to you by the Content Provider." That sentence has cost millions of people thousands of dollars in content they believed they owned. This page is honest about what that means for you.
Section 1 — Content you own and can export
Amazon Photos
Your photos are standard JPEG, HEIC, PNG, and video files. No DRM. These are yours.
Important: If you cancel Prime, unlimited photo storage drops to 5GB. Export before you cancel.
How to export
- Desktop app: Install Amazon Photos for desktop → select all → Download originals. Most reliable for large libraries.
- Web: amazon.com/photos → select → download
- Data export: amazon.com/privacycentral → Request your data → select Amazon Photos. Takes days for large libraries.
Order history and account data
amazon.com/privacycentral lets you download everything Amazon has on you: every order ever, search history, browsing history, Alexa voice recordings, Kindle reading data (highlights, notes, bookmarks, reading pace), your advertising profile, wish lists, and reviews.
Download this at least once even if you're not leaving. The scope of what Amazon holds is often startlingly comprehensive.
Kindle notes and highlights
Your annotations are yours even when the underlying book is DRM-locked. Go to read.amazon.com/notebook — every highlight and note you've made is there. Export manually or use a browser extension. Your thoughts, in your words, are always exportable.
Note: Amazon limits how much of a book you can highlight (typically 10–15%). Your notes (your own words) have no restriction.
Section 2 — Content you can replace but not transfer
Amazon Music (streaming)
Playlists and favorites can be migrated via Soundiiz, TuneMyMusic, or FreeYourMusic to Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, or YouTube Music.
Exception — MP3 purchases: If you bought MP3s from Amazon's digital music store (before they pivoted to streaming), those are DRM-free files you own. Download them from your Amazon Music library. They're yours and they play everywhere. Check your purchase history — you may own more than you think.
Alexa routines, skills, and smart home configuration
None of this is portable. Alexa routines cannot be exported to Google Home or Apple HomeKit. Your smart home configuration, automations, and voice history are tied to your Amazon account.
- Screenshot your routines and automations before leaving — you'll rebuild manually in the new ecosystem
- Export your Alexa shopping lists (alexa.amazon.com)
- Download your voice recordings before deleting them (amazon.com/privacycentral)
- Delete all voice recordings: Alexa app → More → Alexa Privacy → Review Voice History → Delete all
If you have a complex Alexa smart home, this is the most painful migration in the Amazon exit. There is no automated path. Plan for a full weekend to rebuild from scratch in Home Assistant, Google Home, or Apple HomeKit.
Section 3 — Content you effectively lose
Amazon's three major DRM platforms — Kindle, Audible, and Prime Video — represent what may be thousands of dollars in purchases you cannot take with you through any legal means.
Kindle books
Kindle controls approximately 80% of the US ebook market. Many books are Kindle-exclusive or significantly cheaper on Kindle. Amazon built this dominance deliberately. Your entire ebook library may be locked in Amazon's proprietary formats (AZW, AZW3, KFX), unreadable outside Kindle apps and hardware.
If you keep your Amazon account (free, no Prime needed)
Your Kindle library remains accessible through Kindle hardware, the Kindle app (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows), and read.amazon.com in any browser.
If you delete your Amazon account
Your library is permanently inaccessible. No refund. No export. Gone.
Your real options
- Keep your account but stop buying Kindle books. Existing library stays. Future purchases go to Kobo or DRM-free sources. Your Kindle library becomes an archive; your active reading moves to platforms you control.
- Move to Kobo or DRM-free sources. Kobo sells EPUB (some DRM-free, some Adobe DRM). Many publishers sell DRM-free direct. Smashwords and similar platforms are entirely DRM-free. Calibre (free, open-source) manages a cross-platform ebook library.
- Use your library. Libby/OverDrive covers the majority of what most readers buy. Free with your library card.
- Accept the sunk cost. If you've spent $500 on Kindle over a decade, that's $50/year. You read most of those books once. The question is whether inaccessible books are worth maintaining an Amazon account for. Only you can do that math.
Audible audiobooks
You paid $15–30 each for audiobooks in Amazon's proprietary AAX/AAXC format. You cannot play them outside of Audible's app. You cannot convert them. You bought them, and you cannot use them freely.
The key distinction
The Audible subscription and your Audible purchases are separate. Canceling your Audible subscription does not delete your purchased audiobook library. Cancel the subscription; keep the account; keep your books.
Your real options
- Cancel subscription, keep account. Your purchased audiobooks remain. This is the pragmatic first step.
- Move future purchases to Libro.fm. DRM-free MP3 downloads. Supports independent bookstores. Direct ethical and practical alternative to Audible.
- Use Libby for audiobooks. Free. Legal. Extensive catalog via your library card.
- Use Chirp for discount audiobooks. Pay-per-book at reduced prices. No subscription. (Note: Chirp uses its own DRM — addresses the Amazon-specific problem, not DRM generally.)
Prime Video purchases
Same license-not-ownership model as Apple. Purchases remain accessible as long as you have an Amazon account (no Prime required). Delete your account and they're gone.
One important difference from Apple: Amazon has participated in Movies Anywhere from the start. If you linked your Amazon account to Movies Anywhere, your eligible purchases are already accessible on Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu, and other platforms. Check your Movies Anywhere account — you may have more portability than you realize.
Section 4 — The approach we don't recommend
DRM removal tools — the legal landscape
Tools exist for each of Amazon's DRM systems. We are not recommending them. We are documenting the landscape.
Kindle: Tools that decrypt Kindle books and convert them to standard EPUB, often as plugins for Calibre. The DMCA (US) and equivalent laws in most countries make DRM circumvention illegal even on content you purchased. Enforcement has historically focused on tool developers, not end users. The legal risk exists.
Audible: Tools that decrypt AAX/AAXC files to standard MP3 or M4A using your account's activation bytes. Several open-source projects exist and have been openly maintained for years. Same legal landscape as Kindle.
Prime Video: Screen recording tools (capture output during playback) and download/decrypt tools. Lower quality than the source, more clearly in violation of the DMCA than personal ebook backup.
Our position: We believe when you pay for content, you should own it. Amazon's "Buy" button means "license" in their legal documents. This is a bait and switch conducted at scale. We are documenting the law as it exists. Adults can evaluate the risks. That is all.
The structural solution: stop buying DRM content from Amazon
- Books: Buy DRM-free EPUB from publishers direct, Kobo, or Smashwords. Use Calibre. Borrow from Libby.
- Audiobooks: Libro.fm (DRM-free, indie bookstore support). Libby for free borrowing.
- Music: Amazon MP3 purchases are already DRM-free. Keep them.
- Movies: Physical media for content you actually own. Movies Anywhere for cross-platform digital purchases.
- Games: GOG.com for DRM-free PC games.
The bigger picture
Amazon's content ecosystem is the most comprehensive lock-in strategy ever built. It is not one product. It is an interlocking set of products, each reinforcing the others: you buy a Kindle because books are cheap; you buy Kindle books because you have a Kindle; you join Prime because shipping is fast; you get Prime Video because it's included; you get an Echo because it works with Prime Music and your Ring doorbell.
Each purchase makes the next purchase easier and makes leaving harder. This is not accidental. Amazon sells convenience. The price is dependency.
Your photos are yours. Your MP3 purchases are yours. Your Kindle books are Amazon's, and they have been since the moment you clicked "Buy now with 1-Click." The button lied. Now you know.