Own a Kindle from 2012 or earlier? It could be time to upgrade as Amazon's officially ending support for very old models
First to fifth-generation Kindle and Kindle Fire devices will lose support from May 20
by https://www.techradar.com/uk/author/sharmishta-sarkar · TechRadarNews By Sharmishta Sarkar published 8 April 2026
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- Kindles from 2012 and older are being sunsetted on May 20
- Amazon has started emailing users about the imminent loss of support
- First to fifth-generation Kindle and Kindle Fire devices will be affected
RIP, 1st gen Kindle, I loved your keyboard.
A decade after users of older Kindles were required to update the software to retain access to the Kindle Store, Amazon has decided to completely sunset them on May 20 this year.
Reddit user Amorisaiya posted that they've already received an email from Amazon advising them that Kindle and Kindle Fire devices "from 2012 and earlier" will no longer be supported. Others still using these older models, however, are yet to be notified.
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While owners of these older Kindles will still be able to use them to read already downloaded content and access their accounts, they will no longer "be able to purchase, borrow or download additional books on them after that date".
Kindle removing support for OG devices from r/kindle
If any of these devices have been deregistered or a factory reset performed, users will not be able to re-register them after the May deadline, making them entirely defunct.
The full list of Kindles affected are:
- Kindle 1st generation from 2007
- Kindle DX from 2009
- Kindle DX Graphite released in 2010
- Kindle Keyboard also from 2010
- Kindle 4 launched in 2011
- Kindle Touch also released in 2011
- Kindle Fire 1st generation from 2011
- Kindle 5 released in 2012
- Kindle Paperwhite 1st generation also launched in 2012
- Kindle Fire 2nd generation from 2012
- Kindle Fire HD 7 tablet also released in 2012
- Kindle Fire HD 8.9 from 2012
It's clear from the Reddit thread that users of the third and fourth-generation Kindles are still quite happy with their ereaders, but it doesn't surprise me in the least that Amazon has finally pulled the plug on these pioneering models.
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