Have a Kindle from 2012 or earlier? It’s about to go offline for good if you don’t update it. Over the past several days, Amazon has been sending out emails to owners of Kindle Paperwhite 5th Generation (2012) or earlier devices warning them that they need to download an important software update by March 22nd, 2016 or risk being cut off from the Cloud, the Kindle Store and other Kindle services.
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As The Verge notes, your Kindle will update automatically if it’s connected to Wi-Fi, but if it’s been dead in drawer somewhere for the past three years, it almost certainly hasn’t received the latest update. If that’s the case, just charge the device, turn it on and click “Sync and Check for Items” in the menu.
If you don’t update your device by Tuesday, this is the message you’ll see:
“Your Kindle is unable to connect at this time. Please make sure you are within wireless range and try again. If the problem persists, please restart your Kindle from the Menu in Settings and try again.”
Thankfully, all is not lost if you can’t get to your Kindle before the Great Disconnect of 2016 takes place. Just head to this page, find your device and download the update file directly from Amazon. You can then transfer the file to your Kindle with a USB cable and update manually, bringing your Kindle’s connectivity back to life.
Here’s the full list of Kindle devices that need to be updated:
- Kindle 1st Generation (2007)
- Kindle 2nd Generation (2009)
- Kindle DX 2nd Generation (2009)
- Kindle Keyboard 3rd Generation (2010)
- Kindle 4th Generation (2011)
- Kindle 5th Generation (2012)
- Kindle Touch 4th Generation (2011)
- Kindle Paperwhite 5th Generation (2012)
If your device is on this list, start updating!
