Why Your Apple Books EPUB Doesn't Work on Kindle

You exported an EPUB from Apple Books, sent it to your Kindle, and... nothing. The file doesn't open, or Amazon's Send to Kindle rejects it entirely.

Here's what's happening and how to fix it in under a minute.

The technical reason

Every EPUB file is actually a ZIP archive with a specific structure. The EPUB specification requires that:

The first file inside the archive must be called mimetype
This file must be stored uncompressed (no deflation)
It must contain exactly: application/epub+zip

This is how e-readers identify the file as a valid EPUB.

Apple Books breaks this rule. When you import an EPUB into Apple Books and later export it, Apple repackages the ZIP archive differently — the mimetype entry is either compressed, not first in the archive, or both.

The EPUB still has the .epub extension. The content inside (your book's text, images, formatting) is perfectly fine. But the wrapper is broken.

It's like shipping a perfectly good product in a damaged box — the delivery service (your Kindle) refuses it because the packaging doesn't match what it expects.

What you'll see

Depending on how you try to use the file, you might encounter:

Send to Kindle: file rejected or silently ignored
Calibre: "Unable to save a copy: Saving a book based on a folder is not supported" — see how to fix EPUB files that Calibre can't import
Kindle direct transfer: book doesn't appear in your library
Other e-readers (Kobo, etc.): file won't open or shows as corrupted

The file isn't actually corrupted — it just needs to be repackaged correctly.

The fix

Quick fix: EPUB Fixer (online, free)

EPUB Fixer automatically detects and repairs the packaging issue:

Go to bp-flow.com/epub-fixer
Drop your EPUB file (supports files up to 500 MB)
Download the fixed version
Send to your Kindle — it'll work

The tool repackages the ZIP with the mimetype entry first and uncompressed, exactly as the EPUB spec requires. Your book content is untouched.

No account needed. No ads. No tracking. Just a fix.

Manual fix (technical users)

If you want to do it yourself:

Rename .epub to .zip
Extract the archive
Create a new ZIP archive where mimetype is the first entry, stored with no compression
Add all other files and folders to the archive (with normal compression)
Rename back to .epub

On macOS/Linux, the command looks like:

zip -X0 fixed.epub mimetype
zip -Xr9D fixed.epub * -x mimetype

This is what EPUB Fixer does automatically.

Want to send it straight to Kindle?

Once fixed, the easiest way to get books onto your Kindle is described in our step-by-step transfer guide. Or use PaperDrop — a Telegram bot that delivers EPUBs and PDFs directly to your Kindle. Send it a broken Apple Books EPUB and it'll fix the file and deliver it — no manual steps needed. It also converts web articles and PDFs to Kindle format.

Wait — is it a DRM issue?

Maybe. If you purchased the book from the Apple Books Store, it has Apple's FairPlay DRM. DRM-protected files cannot be opened on Kindle regardless of packaging — and no tool can legally remove DRM.

Your EPUB is DRM-free if: - You downloaded it from a DRM-free publisher or store - You got it from a library service (OverDrive, Libby) - It's from Project Gutenberg or a similar free ebook source - You imported it into Apple Books yourself from another source

Your EPUB likely has DRM if: - You bought it directly from the Apple Books Store - The book shows a lock icon or can't be exported/shared

EPUB Fixer fixes packaging issues — the problem Apple creates when modifying your DRM-free EPUBs. It doesn't touch DRM.

Preventing the problem

If you regularly move EPUBs between devices:

Keep original copies — before importing into Apple Books, save the original EPUB somewhere Apple won't modify it (a regular folder, cloud storage, etc.)
Use Calibre as your library manager — it preserves EPUB structure
Download DRM-free when possible — many publishers offer DRM-free EPUBs directly