Will I Lose Everything if I Reset My Kindle?

The Amazon Kindle is an e-reader that allows you to download and read electronic books, magazines, newspapers and other documents. Media compatible for the Kindle can be purchased and synced from the Amazon Kindle store, or sent directly to the device via an email address that is specific to the device. When problems with the Kindle occur, Amazon recommends resolving them by either restarting or resetting the device.

When the Kindle freezes, becomes unresponsive or won't charge, Amazon recommends resetting it by sliding the power switch, holding it for 15 seconds and then restarting the device. This "soft" reset restarts the Kindle software, but won't affect any of the documents or books you currently have saved on the device.

If you're experiencing continuous problems with your Kindle and aren't getting results from a simple reset, reset the Kindle to factory settings. This process wipes the Kindle of everything that is saved on the device, so back up anything you wish to save before taking this step. To reset a Kindle to factory settings, go to the Settings Contextual menu by clicking the "Menu" button from the Home screen, selecting "Settings" and then clicking the "Menu" button again.

Amazon keeps a record of all the e-book purchases you've made through the Amazon store and saves them in the cloud. This allows you to retrieve any book previously purchased and download it directly to your Kindle whenever it is needed. Because of this feature, there is no concern over losing Kindle books prior to initiating a factory reset.

Documents that you received via email on your Kindle and past editions of periodicals will be erased when a Kindle is reset to factory settings. This makes it necessary to back this data up prior to initiating a factory reset by connecting the Kindle to a computer via a USB cord. Once connected, the Kindle will appear as an external drive and will provide access to all personal documents and other files saved on its hard drive. These files can be saved directly to your computer and re-downloaded to your Kindle once the reset is complete.