Do you use Kindle for Mac?
There are a bunch of good Kindle devices now, and you can even run it on your PC or Mac. You can even synchronize your libraries between devices.
Unfortunately, even with the latest Mac, there may be instances where the application won’t work. It’s an even stickier situation when you don’t know what’s causing the problem.
Don’t panic! We’ve got a few tips to help you out. Discover what kind of problems you’ll encounter with Kindle for Mac and how to fix them. Read our guide below and learn more
Kindle Keeps Crashing
The most common issue you’ll experience with Kindle for Mac is the app suddenly crashing. This can happen due to several reasons. It might be an updated version of the app, your CPU usage might be slowing things down, or a firewall or anti-virus might have deleted important files.
Regardless of the potential cause, run an antivirus to make sure this won’t happen to the rest of the applications on your Mac. Once you know that it’s not a virus causing the crash, your next option is to restart your Mac.
Update your Mac OS as well. Go to your System Preferences and then choose Software Update. If everything is up to date, try restarting your Mac and keep it in Safe Mode.
If that doesn’t work, it’s time to uninstall and start from scratch. Simply go to your Applications and then drag the Kindle app down to the Trash. However, you also need to clear the app’s saved cache files.
Open a Finder, type in /Library, and then delete all the associated Kindle files under Application Support, Application Scripts, Caches, Containers, and Preferences. Make sure to also delete any Kindle files stored in other folders, such as .mobi files you might have.
You can then download Kindle for Mac and reinstall.
Kindle Won’t Sync
Reading a book on the Kindle app on your phone or the official Kindle device? If you have all the settings right, you should be able to synchronize your device with your Mac. When you open the Kindle reader for Mac, you should see the books from your mobile app and even pick up reading on the last page you were on.
If you’re not getting this real-time synchronization, there are three possible issues.
The first problem is that you saved .mobi files locally. You have to keep them saved to the Cloud as well. This is often the issue for people using a Kindle to read .mobi books not bought on Amazon.
Do you use audiobooks? Enable Whispersync to make sure your libraries on mobile and Mac synchronize. Simple go to your App Settings on the Kindle app on your mobile device and enable the feature.
Once on, you should be able to synchronize with the Kindle app on your Mac.
The third explanation is that you have books that aren’t in the .mobi format. You need to convert these over and save them to cloud storage. You need to do this before you can synchronize and share libraries between your mobile device and Mac.
App Not Responding
If the app synchronizes but doesn’t respond well, there are several culprits at play. The first possible problem is that your Mac is suffering from high CPU usage.
Close down all of the unnecessary background applications and turn off your antivirus for a while. Turn off some of the startup applications too, particularly those you don’t need right away.
Restart your Mac and then with your CPU no longer struggling, try to open Kindle again. The application should work fine.
Do you still experience a bit of slowdown? Make sure you turn off your antivirus or at least pause it from running an active scan. Scanning can and will slow down your Mac.
If the application is still slowing down or encountering errors, you’ll need to try updating your macOS or reinstalling Kindle on your Mac. Follow the steps listed above to fully uninstall the application. Download the Kindle app for Mac again and reinstall.
Updated to the new Big Sur for Mac? Doing so might make your Kindle app for Mac incompatible. Again, you’ll have to follow the steps above to remove all the Kindle files and then reinstall the application for it to work with the Big Sur update.
Kindle Won’t Install
What can you do if the Amazon Kindle app for Mac simply won’t install? You’ll need to talk to Amazon’s customer support. However, if you still can’t get Kindle to work, there are other options available.
For example, you can try a few alternative Mac reading apps. iBooks, Margin Note, Calibre, and Adobe Digital Edition all work well. BookReader, FBReader, NOOK, and Readium are also great choices.
The best part about some of these apps is that they work with file types beyond .mobi. One of the most common eBook formats is ePub and CBR. The former is for traditional books, while the latter is a format for graphic novels and comic books.
Not all of these alternatives are free. You might be able to download them for free but you’ll hit a barrier before you can do things like synchronize libraries or upload new books.
If you use Google Docs, you can also access some of your books there. This is not an optimal route to take, however, as Google Docs isn’t optimized for eBook reading.
Fix Kindle for Mac With These Tips Now
Now you know the most common problems you’ll encounter with Kindle for Mac. These tips will also help you address these problems so you can get back to reading!
But why stop with this guide about Kindle for Mac when we have even more technology posts for you to check out?
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