Kindle Skills - The Files On Your Kindle

Many Kindle books have helper files in the Documents folder with the same names as the actual book files. But if you look closely, have a different extension (the letters after the . in a file name) indicating they are a different file type. If you view the  folder in details mode, you will also see these files are considerably smaller in size than the main book files.

Here are some I have found:

• .phl - database configuration file
• .mbp - mobipocket notes file - auxiliary file for .azw (Amazon ebook) file
• .ea - couldn't find any information on this one
• .apnx - has to do with page mapping in a book. If your book has page numbers available when you press the menu button, it probably has one of these as a helper file.
• .tan - Amazon Kindle file definition and linked programs information (not all books will have this file with them)
• .azw - amazon Kindle eBook format file - the main file
• .azw1 - another Amazon format file type. This one uses a different compression than standard .mobi files and can have embedded fonts in the file allowing more comples display using font sets and characters that are not standard to Kindle. Another name would be Topaz format. 

These helper files are very small, compared to the actual book or audio file, but can be quite useful in the long run.

Can't see the file extensions on your file names? You might want to read about The Adult View for files.

A very special Thanks to Terri for inspiring this post.

Kindle Skills - From the Desk of Mrs. Wizard - If you have a Kindle you will love this book! Get a sample and see.

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