# How many books CAN a Kindle hold?



## Cheryl Shireman

I was just reading a post on book hoarding (funny - go read it) and I started thinking - just how many books can a Kindle hold? Does anyone know?

Have any of you filled your Kindle to the limit?

I think I remember reading somewhere that if you reach capacity you can just archive them on Amazon's site. Is this true?

Anyone have that "problem" yet?

I just got my Kindle in December (Christmas gift). I have over 160 books on it (shhhh....don't tell my husband) and I would love to know how many books the Kindle can hold. Of course, this will vary according to the size of the book, I suppose. But I'd like to have an estimate.

Do any of you have a "full" Kindle? And if so, how long did it take to fill it up?


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## DYB

Kindles can probably hold thousands.  It really depends on how big the books you have are.  And how big the harddrive of your Kindle is.  I think a K3 has more room than a K2 did.

Also, Amazon does keep all of your purchases in its database.  So if you delete an Amazon purchased book from your Kindle it will appear in your Archive on the Kindle.  You can also find it in your "Manage Your Kindle" section of the Amazon web-site and re-send it from there (or download it to your computer.)  In fact, because each book is specifically coded to your particular Kindle - if you were to get another Kindle (or if you added your significant other or a friend, etc. to your account) you'd have to resend books to it from the Amazon web-site so they will be coded for that new device.


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## Paolo Amoroso

Cheryl Shireman said:


> I think I remember reading somewhere that if you reach capacity you can just archive them on Amazon's site. Is this true?


Yes, you can remove unneeded books from the device. But they are still archived online, ready to be accessed again if needed.



Cheryl Shireman said:


> I just got my Kindle in December (Christmas gift). I have over 160 books on it (shhhh....don't tell my husband) and I would love to know how many books the Kindle can hold.


About 3,500 according to the Kindle specifications.


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## Ann in Arlington

The K3 and DX can hold 3500.  The K2 holds 1500.  The K1 held 200, but had an SD card so you could expand that.

Note that audiobooks and other audio files take up more space than the average ebook and will cut down on the number of books it can hold.


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## Harry Shannon

Dunno but I intend to find out


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## Cheryl Shireman

3500 !!!!

Woo Hoo!

Honey, hide the credit card!    

So - this is now the question - How many books do you have on YOUR Kindle?  (If you are willing to admit it)

I will start...okay... I said 160, but it might be a little closer to 200  (shhhh)


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## BTackitt

Well, let's see. I only keep unread books on my Kindle or school stuff.
by catagory:
KB Authors 265
English & Classics 14
Science Fiction 13
Popular Authors 12
Feedbooks Freebies 21
Bibles & Reference Materials 30
Games & samples to buy next 11
Romance 63
Kids under age 13 books 8
Amazon Freebies 156
KB Samples to buy 73
Nursing 18
History & Gov't 10
Microbiology 29
Fanfiction 135
Cookbooks 12
Science Fantasy 14

So 884 total at this moment, but I haven't turned on my wireless today and I know there are 2 more waiting to DL. As soon as I get about 8 reviews done, those books will get removed from my Kindle.  My numbers obviously change day to day.


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## Ann in Arlington

I have 1000 in my archive. . .fewer on the device as I delete them after I've read them.


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## BTackitt

Oh I didn't think to include archive info.. 894 there, but not all are mine, about 200 of those are ones I will never read, they are Westerns for my dad & Uncle.


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## theraven

Wow 3500! At least I know I have a way to go before I run out of Kindle space.


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## NogDog

I tend to "house-clean" my Kindle when I get over 100 books or so on it, archiving/deleting those that I have no intention of reading again, or at least not for a few years.


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## Cheryl Shireman

Wow! And I thought I had a problem!

You people are obviously sick!

Looks like 1000 is the top so far. Can anyone beat that?

And do you all archive when done reading?  I am such a Newbie on my Kindle that I am afraid I will "lose" my books if I archive them. Of course, I can't tell you HOW that would happen. lol


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## crebel

183 on my K3 home page (which is my TBR pile), 1145 archived items.  I always archive when I finish reading a book.  They are certainly easy enough to reload if I want to read again or refresh my memory from a series, etc.  The plus to archiving, for me, is fewer pages to look through when deciding what to read next and knowing everything on my home pages are To Be Read.  Like BT, my numbers change daily.

I think I am still way down the list on total number of books, wait till Pidgeon and some others chime in.


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## Steph H

Eh, I've got 2,042 items on my Kindle.  About 1500 are actually books, another 500 are samples, the rest are miscellaneous things (collections, dictionaries, magazines, etc.).  Archives has another....855 books in it.  My computer holds a lot of non-Amazon books too, I don't have a exact count (they're mixed in with other things from when I do my backups) but probably another 500-750.


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## kindlegrl81

358 books in collections, 137 books in my archive. I also have 21 samples waiting to be purchased.


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## Indy

298, and I have only deleted like two things from the kindle itself, I haven't archived stuff as a practice.  I put the stuff I finished into the collections in case I want to reread it.  That does happen occasionally.


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## Atunah

I only keep unread stuff on my kindle so the numbers reflect that. Also not all of my books are from Amazon.

On my K1 I had 1700 books on it. And I had no collections so that was fun  

Now I have a K3 and I have around 600 on it, 70 of those are samples. The rest is now sitting in Calibre. Now that I have wifi, its so easy to just send the books from calibre via email and they get there whenever I fell like turning on wifi. 
I would prefer still though having all of them on the Kindle, but I notices the collections and amount of books in them slowed down the navigation a little so I try to keep at 600 if I can help it. Of course I said I'll keep it at 300 a while back  

When I read a book it goes into my read folder until I can enter the data into my spreadsheet of read books and read on goodreads, then they get deleted.


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## MLPMom

I knew it could hold quite a bit, I have almost 400 and have barely made a dent in my space. I think I have almost another 100 in my archives and I have deleted quite a few from my account, maybe 20 or so.


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## Madeline

I have about 900 of them.  I can not stop buying books.  Just bought another one today!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.  I am never gonna get through 900 books cause for every one I read, I've downloaded 20 more.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.  Help.  I have a problem lol


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## Atunah

Madeline said:


> I have about 900 of them. I can not stop buying books. Just bought another one today!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I am never gonna get through 900 books cause for every one I read, I've downloaded 20 more. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Help. I have a problem lol


 I have what I call my bucket list. Books I really want to read before I croak and of course I keep adding to that list. So I better live a while longer, or I'll be peeved. Especially if I don't get to finish some of the series I started. 
That is not even counting the books I get that are free, or look good or else.

Of course these darn writers keep writing books all the while so I don't see an end in sight.


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## Paegan

I got 989 books on my K2 and this I got the "out of memory" error.  I imagine it depends on the size of the books you are downloading


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## pidgeon92

The size of the books is important, as is anything else you might put on your Kindle; such as MP3s, audiobooks, your own pics on the screensaver hack, picture albums, etc.


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## Tara Maya

I don't have that many books on my kindle yet. But I have more than 3500 books in my print library. I'm not sure of the exact number, but probably around 10,000.


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## Cheryl Shireman

I am sure that I will read ALL of the books that I have bought (that is - if I live to be 200).

Obviously, you guys are buying LOTS of books.

What percentage of the books that you buy do you actually read?
I would guess that my percentage of read books is about 80%

How about the rest of you.

You see - if I was smart - I wouldn't buy ANOTHER book until I read all of the ones I have already bought!


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## Paolo Amoroso

Cheryl Shireman said:


> What percentage of the books that you buy do you actually read?


Most, but I'm unable to provide figures.


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## Grace Elliot

Steph H said:


> Eh, I've got 2,042 items on my Kindle. About 1500 are actually books, another 500 are samples, the rest are miscellaneous things (collections, dictionaries, magazines, etc.). Archives has another....855 books in it. My computer holds a lot of non-Amazon books too, I don't have a exact count (they're mixed in with other things from when I do my backups) but probably another 500-750.


Sorry Steph, its off topic but just had to say what a gorgeous puddy tat in your photo! 
There, said it. I feel better now. Grace x


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## caseyf6

I just know I have a ridiculous number of samples on mine...  Lots of books of course, but an astounding number of samples.


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