Amazon's Family Library lets you share most Kindle books with up to four other adults and children on the same account

Amazon offers two main ways to share Kindle books: Family Library, which pools books across family members' accounts, and Kindle MatchBook, which gives you a discounted or free Kindle version when you buy the physical book. Family Library is the simpler option if everyone in your household uses Amazon accounts. It works by linking accounts together so that purchased books appear on everyone's devices — though publishers set the rules about which books can be shared, and some titles cannot be shared at all.

The catch is that Family Library requires you to link accounts with shared payment methods or to set up a household. This works well for spouses, partners, and children, but not for friends or relatives outside your home. If you want to share with someone outside your household, you have other options: you can lend individual books for 14 days, or the other person can buy their own copy.

Key Takeaways

  • Family Library pools books across up to six accounts (the organizer plus five others) and works best for people who live together or share finances.
  • Not all books can be shared through Family Library — publishers decide, and some titles are restricted to one device or account only.
  • You can lend a single Kindle book to anyone for 14 days using the "Loan this title" button, even if they are not in your Family Library.
  • Kindle MatchBook gives you a discounted or free Kindle version when you own the physical book, but only for titles the publisher has enrolled.
  • Once you set up Family Library, shared books appear automatically on family members' devices and in their Kindle apps.

Setting up Family Library on your Amazon account

To create a Family Library, go to Amazon.com, sign in, and navigate to Account & Lists in the top right corner. Select Your Account, then scroll down to find Family Library (under the "Digital content and devices" section). Click Create your Family Library.

Amazon will ask you to confirm your name and date of birth, then invite you to add family members. You can add up to five other people — they can be adults or children. For adults, you will need their email address and they will receive an invitation to join. They must accept the invitation and link their Amazon account to yours. For children under 18, you can create a child account directly without needing their email, though they will need their own device or Kindle app to read the books.

Once someone joins your Family Library, any book you purchase that is may be able to access for sharing will automatically appear in their Kindle library. They do not have to do anything — the book just shows up. The same applies in reverse: books they purchase will show up in yours, as long as they are shareable titles.

Which Kindle books can and cannot be shared

Publishers control whether a Kindle book can be shared through Family Library. Before you buy, you can check by looking at the book's product page on Amazon. Scroll down to the Product Details section and look for a line that says Lending or Family Library. If it says "Enabled" or "Yes", the book can be shared. If it says "Not enabled" or does not appear, that book cannot be shared.

Some publishers restrict sharing because they want to protect sales — they worry that if one person buys a book, five family members will read it instead of buying their own copies. This is especially common with new releases, bestsellers, and self-published books. Older books, backlist titles, and books from larger publishers are more likely to be shareable. There is no way to change this setting yourself; it is entirely up to the publisher.

If a book is not shareable through Family Library, you still have the option to lend it to one person for 14 days using the "Loan this title" feature, which is described below.

Lending a single Kindle book for 14 days

If a book is not may be able to access for Family Library sharing, or if you want to lend to someone outside your household, you can use the Loan this title feature. This works for most Kindle books (though some publishers disable it). Go to your Kindle Library on Amazon.com, find the book you want to lend, click the three dots next to it, and select Loan this title.

Amazon will ask you for the recipient's email address. You can lend to anyone with an email address — they do not need an Amazon account yet. Amazon will send them an email with a link to accept the loan. Once they accept, the book appears in their Kindle library for exactly 14 days. After 14 days, it disappears automatically and returns to your library. The recipient cannot extend the loan or keep the book longer.

One important limit: you can only lend each book once. Once you have lent it to someone, you cannot lend that same copy to a different person until the first loan ends and the book returns to your library. You also cannot read the book yourself while it is on loan — it is removed from your devices during those 14 days.

Using Kindle MatchBook for physical books you already own

If you own a physical book, Kindle MatchBook may let you buy the Kindle version at a discount or for free. This is not the same as sharing — you are buying a separate Kindle license — but it is a way to have both formats without paying full price twice.

To see if a book is enrolled in Kindle MatchBook, go to the book's Amazon product page and look for a banner that says "Kindle MatchBook" near the price. It will tell you the discount or free offer. You will need to prove you own the physical book by entering the ISBN (the 10 or 13-digit number on the back cover) or by linking your Amazon account to a library service like Goodreads. Some publishers do not participate in MatchBook, so not every physical book has a Kindle version available this way.

Managing Family Library members and removing access

You can see who is in your Family Library and remove people at any time. Go to Account & Lists on Amazon.com, select Your Account, and find Family Library. You will see a list of all members. To remove someone, click the X next to their name. Once you remove them, any shared books disappear from their devices within 24 hours.

If a family member leaves your household or you want to stop sharing with them, removing them from Family Library is the cleanest way to end access. They will keep any books they purchased themselves, but they will lose access to books you purchased. If you want to keep sharing some books but not others, Family Library is not the right tool — you would need to use the 14-day loan feature instead, which gives you more control over individual titles.

What happens when you remove someone from Family Library

When you remove a family member, the shared books disappear from their Kindle devices and apps within a day. They keep any books they bought themselves. If they have highlighted passages or notes in a shared book, those notes are lost when the book is removed.

If you remove someone by mistake, you can re-invite them and the books will reappear. There is no penalty for adding and removing people — Amazon does not limit how many times you can change your Family Library membership. However, each person can only be part of one Family Library at a time, so if they join your library, they cannot also be in someone else's library simultaneously.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share Kindle books with friends who do not live with me?

Family Library requires household members, so friends do not may have access to. However, you can lend individual books to anyone for 14 days using the "Loan this title" feature, even if they live far away. They just need an email address to receive the loan invitation.

What if someone in my Family Library buys a book I do not want to read?

You do not have to read or download any shared book. Shared books appear in your library, but you can ignore them. If you want to hide a book from your library view, you can archive it without deleting it. Archiving removes it from your active library but keeps it in your account history.

Can I share Kindle Unlimited books through Family Library?

No. Kindle Unlimited is a subscription service, and only the person who pays for the subscription can read those books. Shared books must be ones you have purchased outright. If someone in your Family Library has a Kindle Unlimited subscription, their borrowed books do not appear in the shared library.

What if a publisher removes a book from the Kindle store after I bought it?

You keep the book in your library and can still read it, and it remains shareable through Family Library if it was shareable when you bought it. Amazon has removed books in rare cases (usually due to copyright disputes), but this is uncommon. Your access does not change based on what happens in the store after purchase.

Can I lend the same book to multiple people at the same time?

No. You can only lend each book to one person at a time for 14 days. Once the loan ends and the book returns to your library, you can lend it to someone else. If you want multiple people to read the same book simultaneously, Family Library is the better option, assuming the publisher allows sharing.