Convert AZW3 to EPUB

This free converter turns a DRM-free AZW3 (KF8) Kindle book into an EPUB 3 file, keeping its chapters, stylesheets, embedded fonts, images, cover, links and table of contents. The conversion runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. Kindle Store books with DRM and KFX files cannot be converted.

Drop your AZW3 file here or click to choose

Did a file not convert correctly? E-mail [email protected], ideally with a small sample file, and it will be fixed.

Key facts

Input: AZW3 (.azw3). Output: EPUB (.epub).
Your files are not uploaded: the work is done in your browser, on your own device.
File size: up to 300 MB per book.
Needs a current browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari) on a computer, tablet or phone; nothing to install.
Free to use, with no sign-up.

Why convert AZW3 to EPUB

AZW3, also known as KF8, is the Kindle format that replaced MOBI in 2011. It is close to EPUB inside: each chapter is an XHTML file with CSS, and the book can embed fonts and even fixed-layout pages. The difference is the packaging. Amazon stores every file as a skeleton with numbered fragments, refers to images and stylesheets by record number and points links at byte positions, which is why only Kindle software opens it. Calibre users often end up with AZW3 files, and some publishers and authors sell DRM-free Kindle editions in this format. To read such a book on a Kobo, in Apple Books, Google Play Books, Thorium or a library app, you need EPUB. This tool unpacks the AZW3 in your browser, rebuilds each chapter as a normal XHTML file, saves the stylesheets, fonts and images under ordinary names, resolves the Kindle positions to real links and writes the table of contents as both an EPUB 3 navigation page and an EPUB 2 NCX.

How to convert AZW3 to EPUB

Drop the .azw3 file in the box, or click to choose it. The title, author and cover appear.
Click Convert to EPUB.
Save the EPUB and open it in your e-reader or reading app.

What changes when you convert

DRM-free files only

Kindle Store purchases are normally protected with DRM, which only Amazon's apps can unlock. The tool sees the DRM flag in the file and tells you rather than producing an unreadable EPUB. AZW3 files you made with Calibre, and DRM-free editions from authors and publishers, convert fine.

Files from a Kindle may be KFX

A book copied from a newer Kindle or downloaded with the Kindle app is often KFX, even when the file name ends in .azw. KFX is a different format that cannot be read outside Amazon's software, and the tool tells you when it finds one.

Embedded fonts and licences

Fonts embedded in the AZW3 are carried over to the EPUB, so the book looks the same. When the Kindle file protects its fonts by scrambling them, the EPUB scrambles them again with the standard EPUB method: every EPUB reader shows the fonts, but they cannot simply be copied out of the book.

Comics and fixed-layout books

Fixed-layout AZW3 books keep their pages and are marked as fixed layout in the EPUB, but Kindle-only features such as panel zoom (Kindle Panel View) have no EPUB equivalent and are left out. Most reading apps show the pages one or two at a time.

About the formats

AZW3

AZW3, also called KF8 (Kindle Format 8), is the Kindle e-book format Amazon introduced in 2011 with the Kindle Fire. It is built on HTML5 and CSS3, so it can hold embedded fonts, styled text, tables and fixed-layout pages for comics and picture books. Kindle devices and apps open it; most other e-readers do not.

AZW3 uses the same Palm database container as MOBI, but stores each XHTML file as a skeleton plus fragments.
Links inside the book point to positions (kindle:pos), and images and stylesheets are numbered resources.
Books bought in the Kindle Store usually have DRM; newer Kindle apps download them as KFX instead of AZW3.
Calibre and Kindle Previewer can create AZW3 files from EPUB.

EPUB

EPUB is the open standard for e-books, first published by the IDPF in 2007 and maintained by the W3C since 2017. Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books and most library and e-reader apps open it. The text reflows to fit the screen and the reader's chosen font size, so an EPUB has no fixed pages.

An EPUB is a ZIP archive of XHTML pages, CSS, images and fonts, plus a package file (.opf) that lists them.
The spine in the package file sets the reading order. EPUB 2 (2007) and EPUB 3 (2011 onwards) are both common.
Books with DRM, such as Adobe ADEPT or Apple FairPlay, are encrypted and only open in the apps that hold the key. Kindle books use Amazon's own formats, not EPUB.
Fixed-layout EPUBs, used for comics and picture books, have set pages instead of reflowing text.

Frequently asked questions

Are my books uploaded?

No. The AZW3 is unpacked and the EPUB is put together by your browser, on your device. Nothing is sent to a server.

Do the table of contents and links keep working?

Yes. The Kindle table of contents becomes the EPUB table of contents, with its levels, and links that point to other chapters or to footnotes are turned into normal links to the same places.

Is the result an EPUB 2 or EPUB 3?

EPUB 3, the current standard, with an EPUB 2 table of contents (toc.ncx) inside as well, so older e-readers that only know EPUB 2 still find the chapters.

Can I convert MOBI files here too?

Yes. The tool reads MOBI, AZW, PRC and AZW3 files alike. The MOBI to EPUB page explains the older format.