# Help! Kindle for Windows 8 mystery



## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

I'll admit Windows 8 and I don't get along very well, but this one has me totally stumped.  I can't find where the Kindle app stores its books on my Windows 8 laptop.  I've unhidden all the files on the C:\ drive and have looked in every directory.  Am I blind or just incredibly dense Does anyone know where Windows 8 hides my downloaded books?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have an icon on my task bar to access the directory structure.  For me, it's under documents and there's a folder called 'my kindle content'.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Nope, not there.  I can't find the program file either; but somehow the app on the start screen works.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Don't know what to tell you, then.  I did double check and everything I have listed as a book downloaded to the kindle app is in that folder.  And nothing else.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks anyway.  Guess it will remain a mystery for the time being!


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Does Windows 8 have a search thing?  If so type Kindle in the search and it should show you where your stuff is.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

You should be able to right click on the shortcut, select properties and read the path.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

I've done the search thing - no useful results.  Right clicking on the Kindle app tile on the Start screen only brings up an option to uninstall or unpin from the start screen.  There is no shortcut on the desktop or task bar.  I'm stymied.  My next step is to uninstall and reinstall and see if that fixes things.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> I've done the search thing - no useful results. Right clicking on the Kindle app tile on the Start screen only brings up an option to uninstall or unpin from the start screen. There is no shortcut on the desktop or task bar. I'm stymied. My next step is to uninstall and reinstall and see if that fixes things.


I'm not on a Windows 8 machine at the moment so I'm doing this from memory. When you select the application title on the start screen, a menu at the bottom of the screen shows an option to go to the application's location. When you do that you can right click on the file and select properties. The tab that says something like "general information" has the full path to the file.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

What Jeff said -- I just tested it. . . . from the start page right click and a bar will pop up at the bottom that will have a circle that says 'all apps'.  If you click that you can see everything installed.  Find the Kindle icon and right click and there will be options at the bottom of the screen.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

The only options on the bottom bar are "Unpin from Start," "Uninstall," and "All Apps."  If I knew how to post a picture, I'd show you a screen print.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> The only options on the bottom bar are "Unpin from Start," "Uninstall," and *"All Apps."* If I knew how to post a picture, I'd show you a screen print.





Ann in Arlington said:


> ...that says *'all apps'*. If you click that you can see everything installed. Find the Kindle icon and right click and there will be options at the bottom of the screen.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

I did that; the only things there are Unpin, Uninstall and All Apps.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> I did that; the only things there are Unpin, Uninstall and *All Apps*.


*All Apps* is what you want. See above.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

How can I post a screen print?  I'd like to show that I've followed the directions exactly, and I'm not seeing what you say should be there.

I right clicked Kindle on the Start screen, clicked on All Apps, right clicked Kindle on the Apps screen and all I see is what I said before.  If I click All Apps there it takes me back to the Start screen.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> How can I post a screen print? I'd like to show that I've followed the directions exactly, and I'm not seeing what you say should be there.
> 
> I right clicked Kindle on the Start screen, clicked on All Apps, right clicked Kindle on the Apps screen and all I see is what I said before. If I click All Apps there it takes me back to the Start screen.


You have to host the screen-print elsewhere, but that's not necessary. I believe you and I don't know why your computer would behave differently than Ann's.

Did you try the method that I suggested? If so, what happens?


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

This is what I get.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

From the Start screen:


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks Kinbr,  I'll check it out.  Sounds like the Windows 7 version just might be the way to go.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

I have the Windows 7 version of the Kindle for PC app on my Windows 8 computer, but that shouldn't have anything to do with the main issue.

When you click on the Kindle app, do you see the option to open the file location as below?


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Nope, I sure don't.  See above.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> Nope, I sure don't. See above.


Sorry. I'm out of ideas.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Yeah, me too.  I appreciate your efforts though.  Funny, years ago I used to be a system administrator for a room-sized computer, but Windows has turned me into a novice user.  Sigh....I miss DOS.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> Yeah, me too. I appreciate your efforts though. Funny, years ago I used to be a system administrator for a room-sized computer, but Windows has turned me into a novice user. Sigh....I miss DOS.


I've made the adjustments over the years - until Windows 8. I may get used to it someday, but I don't think I'll ever learn to like it.

If I have an epiphany, I'll let you know.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

I installed the Windows 7 version and now I see the icons you were talking about.  I also now have a directory called My Kindle Content.  The mystery is solved......don't use the Kindle for Windows 8 app if you want access to your book files.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> I installed the Windows 7 version and now I see the icons you were talking about. I also now have a directory called My Kindle Content. The mystery is solved......don't use the Kindle for Windows 8 app if you want access to your book files.


Oh good.

I just checked and the Kindle for Windows 8 download seems to be dead. Maybe they've pulled it.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff said:


> I just checked and the Kindle for Windows 8 download seems to be dead. Maybe they've pulled it.


I hope so. Thanks again for sharing my angst. And now I can go to sleep knowing we've fought the good fight, winning this small skirmish in the War Against Windows.


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## amyberta (Dec 14, 2009)

I'm going to get a new computer soon. Is windows 8 easy to use? Do you like it?
Thanks.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I just bought my first Windows 8 laptop, the hardware is good but the new tile interface is close to useless. I switched to the desktop and add a start button. (and I dual-booted with Ubuntu which is much more awesome)


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

amyberta said:


> I'm going to get a new computer soon. Is windows 8 easy to use? Do you like it?
> Thanks.


I haven't found it to be very intuitive; I had to buy a copy of Windows 8 for Dummies to figure out how to do some things, but I'm getting used to it. As for liking it? The jury's still out on that one for me. Maybe if I had it at work too and could get totally in the Windows 8 mindset, I'd like it better. Or maybe I'm just old and crotchety and resistant to change.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

LaRita said:


> Or maybe I'm just old and crotchety and resistant to change.


No maybe for me. I don't want to learn anything new if I can avoid it.


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## amyberta (Dec 14, 2009)

Maybe I should wait and see what windows 9 is like. LOL


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

What screen do you get when you right click on the Kindle app?  
Right click should pop up a little screen and have several options.

Unless you have a left handed mouse, then you would left click.


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## PhillyGuy (Dec 18, 2010)

cinisajoy said:


> What screen do you get when you right click on the Kindle app?


If the Windows 8 store app, right-clicking on the tile has no effect.

If the Windows 7 app installed onto Windows 8, right-clicking on the desktop shortcut I get a properties windows showing this path:

C:\Users\steve_000\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\application\Kindle.exe

I do find some old public domain titles in this folder, but not one I freshly downloaded and viewed today:

C:\Users\steve_000\AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\application\content



LaRita said:


> I can't find where the Kindle app stores its books on my Windows 8 laptop.


Based on what I wrote above, it appears to me that the books are usually stored in a computer owned by Amazon, not on your laptop or my Windows 8 desktop. Or if they are on the laptop/desktop, they are not in a file with the name of the book. I find this regardless of whether I used the Kindle reading app from the Windows 8 store, or the Kindle software that is labeled on the Amazon web site (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771). As someone already noted, the software from my last link that is labeled as for "Windows 7, XP & Vista" works just as well for Windows 8.

Re Windows 8, I like it a lot due to being speedy and stable, but rarely venture to tile world (although I did so to research this post). I just don't yet have much need for the new interface.

So I did as suggested in the following link to add an All Programs button to my desktop taskbar, eliminating a lot of the need to go to tile world:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-add-an-all-programs-button-to-the-windows-8-taskbar

If the above doesn't work for you, this article makes a slightly different suggestion that will have virtually the same effect:

http://blogs.computerworld.com/19820/how_to_bring_back_the_start_menu_to_the_windows_8_desktop

The above two links aren't adding anything to Windows, but just activating a nice built-in feature.

After doing the above, you still boot into tile world. It takes just one click to get to the desktop, but to avoid having to do this every time you boot, see this article which I followed exactly as respected author Paul Thurrott advises:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CEoQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwinsupersite.com%2Fwindows-8%2Fwindows-8-tip-boot-directly-desktop-skip-metro-suite&ei=VO9UUeKkMtC80QGY4AE&usg=AFQjCNHDOAsLZ1qxLk59zmV_kHTXqa0Qbg&sig2=agpFiKM_jyYtI8jhWWkEbg


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## jpw21683 (May 14, 2013)

PhillyGuy said:


> If the Windows 8 store app, right-clicking on the tile has no effect.
> 
> If the Windows 7 app installed onto Windows 8, right-clicking on the desktop shortcut I get a properties windows showing this path:
> *snip*


There's a bit of confusion on what the different Kindle programs are/do.

The Kindle app downloaded from the Windows Store is a *Windows app*. It is touch-friendly (can still be used without a touchscreen), and only runs on Windows 8/RT devices. As with all Windows apps downloaded from the Windows Store, it is installed to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\, and all of the files it downloads will be stored there too. (That's how Win8 apps are required to operate.)

It is not easy to get into the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\ folder, and that's by design. You can try these steps if you really want to: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-8-metro-apps-folder-location

The other Kindle program is the regular Windows desktop application (Amazon confusingly calls it the Kindle for PC App). It runs on the Windows desktop on Windows XP or newer and downloads eBooks into the "My Kindle Content" folder.

I have a Microsoft Surface Pro, which is a touchscreen device, so I prefer using the Windows app. If you need access to the actual eBook files, I recommend using Kindle for PC. Or you can use both on the same computer. However, eBooks will be downloaded to two different locations on your hard drive.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Thank you. That's very good information. After a lifetime of loyalty to Microsoft, I've become a hater of Windows 8. I can't for the life of me understand why the company would create products that would abandon all mouse users. It would be so simple to detect a touch screen... Never mind. Thanks for the information.


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## Morf (Nov 18, 2010)

Jeff said:


> Thank you. That's very good information. After a lifetime of loyalty to Microsoft, I've become a hater of Windows 8. I can't for the life of me understand why the company would create products that would abandon all mouse users. It would be so simple to detect a touch screen... Never mind. Thanks for the information.


Agree with you Jeff, sticking with 7 for home use but trying 8 at work because we need to support Server 2012.
I'm still struggling to be convinced...



jpw21683 said:


> As with all Windows apps downloaded from the Windows Store, it is installed to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\, and all of the files it downloads will be stored there too. (That's how Win8 apps are required to operate.)


...and that's just one of the reasons. Having worked for several years towards program/data separation (with data in "My documents" and settings files etc in "ProgramData") Microsoft then just throw it all away...


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## JetJammer (Jan 18, 2009)

The Windows 8 app files are well hidden.  I did finally track them down, but they're not in a terribly useful place, and the Windows 8 app actually converts them into "fragments" instead of the .azw files we're used to.  If you really want them:

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Packages\AMZNMobileLLC.KindleforWindows8\LocalState\cache

As far as I can tell, there is no way to change this default destination.  Very annoying, especially if you're like me and have a small drive with my OS on it, and a large drive for actually storing data.  There's no way to default off the "OS" drive that I've found so far.

I agree with the others.  The Kindle for PC designed for Windows 7 and Vista works just fine off the desktop on a Windows 8 machine, and you can install it wherever you want.  It actually runs better on my Windows 8 machine that my old Windows Vista machine so far.

The app looks nice for actually "reading" a book, but if you're trying to organize or use the PC for backup storage, I'd recommend running the version for Windows 7.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

FWIW, there was recently an update to the Win8 Kindle app.  I have it. . .but haven't actually checked to see what's changed. . . . . .


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