Best AZW Converter-Convert AZW to PDF/EPUB with Calibre

If you often purchase ebooks from Amazon Kindle, you must have come across the AZW format when downloading them. Here's something most guides get wrong, though: the .azw file extension doesn't necessarily tell you what format is actually inside. Kindle for PC/Mac saves almost all downloaded books with the .azw extension, regardless of the real format — and since Kindle KFX (Kindle Format 10) became the dominant format around 2015-2017, most of the ".azw" files you download today are actually KFX content wrapped in an .azw-named file. All these Kindle books, whatever their real format, are DRM-protected and only supported by Kindle devices and Kindle apps. To read them freely on other devices, you need an AZW Converter to help you.

Here in this post, you'll get the best free AZW Converter — Calibre — plus an easier alternative, to help you convert AZW/KFX to PDF/Epub/Mobi.

1. What's Actually Inside Your .azw File?

No. This is the most common misunderstanding about Kindle files. Kindle App for Windows/Mac labels downloaded books with the .azw extension no matter what format they actually are — the extension alone can't tell you the real format. You need to check the file structure/content (or just use a converter that auto-detects it) to know for sure.

AZW (the original format, pre-2012 purchases) is essentially a MOBI file wrapped in Amazon's DRM — once DRM-free, it's functionally identical to MOBI. AZW3 (KF8), introduced in 2011, added HTML5/CSS3 support for richer layouts. KFX (Kindle Format 10), introduced in 2015 and dominant since around 2017, added Amazon's enhanced typesetting engine (better hyphenation, kerning, the Bookerly font) along with features like X-Ray, Word Wise, and Page Flip.

If you downloaded it recently via Kindle App for Windows  or Mac, it's almost certainly KFX under the hood, even though the extension reads .azw. This matters because the conversion tool needs to handle KFX-specific DRM and structure — a converter that only understands legacy AZW/MOBI won't work on it. Both Calibre (with the right plugins) and Epubor Ultimate below are built to detect and handle this automatically, so you don't have to figure out the exact format yourself.

Why Do We Need AZW Converter?

1Kindle AZW/KFX books are not supported by non-Kindle devices. We need an AZW converter to convert them to more commonly used PDF, Epub, Mobi formats in order to read Kindle books freely on multiple devices like Kobo, Nook, Sony eReader or any reading app.

2We need an AZW Converter to back up our Kindle books so that even if Amazon abandoned it one day we can still enjoy them permanently. I want my purchases 100% owned by myself.

3We need it to remove the DRM and then share the Kindle books with our friends or family members, without wasting money purchasing the same title again.

4We hope that we could print Kindle books to paper books.

2. Calibre — A Free Kindle AZW Converter

Calibre is a free ebook manager which also serves as an ebook converter. With the right plugins, it can decrypt Kindle AZW/AZW3/KFX books too. Here's the quick version of how it works as an AZW converter.

Step 1 Download Calibre and the DeDRM plugin, and install the DeDRM plugin to Calibre. If your book is KFX, also install the KFX Input plugin.

Installing the DeDRM plugin (and KFX Input plugin, if needed) is an essential step to successfully decrypt Kindle books.

Step 2 Download Kindle books to your computer via Kindle for PC/Mac.

Step 3 Add Kindle books to Calibre by clicking the "Add books" button.

You'll need to add them from My Kindle Content folder manually.

Step 4 Convert to PDF, Epub, or Mobi by clicking the "Convert books" button.

After the conversion, there will be two formats for this book.

Most failures come down to a plugin/Kindle-version mismatch (see the tips box above), or the book actually being KFX without the KFX Input plugin installed. If you'd rather skip the plugin troubleshooting entirely, the section below shows a much easier way.

3. Calibre Alternative — Epubor Ultimate (A Much Easier-to-Use AZW Converter)

Epubor Ultimate, as a dedicated eBook Converter and DRM Removal tool, is the alternative choice to remove DRM from Kindle books and convert them — without the plugin setup Calibre requires.

   

The Whole Step Download Kindle books to your computer via Kindle for Windows or Mac. If you have a Kindle device, you can also download your Kindle books to your Kindle e-ink device for DRM-removing.

All you need to do is drag and drop the Kindle books from the left to the right main window, set the output format, and choose to convert to PDF, ePub, Mobi or AZW3. The books will be decrypted and converted immediately — no plugin needed, and no need to figure out whether the file is AZW, AZW3, or KFX first.

4. Calibre vs Epubor Ultimate (As AZW Converters)

AZW Converter	Calibre	Epubor Ultimate
Automatically detect and load Kindle books	No — must add manually	Yes
DRM removal setup	Requires DeDRM plugin, plus KFX Input plugin for KFX books	Built-in, one click, no plugins
Plugin/version maintenance	Plugin versions must match your Calibre version and Kindle app version; Amazon changes KFX's DRM periodically, and updating Calibre without updating the plugin can break decryption or corrupt text encoding	DRM handling is maintained internally and updated by Epubor as Amazon changes things
Batch conversion	Supported, slower on large libraries	Supported, faster
Customer support	Community/forum only	7/24 customer support
Price	Free	Paid (free trial available)

From the above comparison, Calibre is the better fit if you're comfortable with plugin setup and don't mind occasionally troubleshooting version mismatches. If you'd rather skip the maintenance overhead — especially now that most downloads are KFX under an .azw extension — Epubor Ultimate handles detection and DRM removal without any of that.

   

5. FAQ

   

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