A Beginner’s Guide to Ebook Formatting for Kindle

An ebook is a book people read on a screen, such as a phone, a tablet, or a Kindle. Kindle is Amazon’s name for its ebook store, its e-readers, and its reading apps. An e-reader is a small device made for reading.

Ebook formatting means preparing your manuscript so it reads well on those screens. Your manuscript is the file that holds your book’s text.

This guide shows you how to format an ebook for KDP. KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s Amazon’s service for publishing your own books. The rules here come from KDP’s help pages as of October 2026. KDP can change them. Where its pages disagree, we say so.

How is ebook formatting different from print formatting?

A printed book has fixed pages. Kindle ebooks are reflowable by default. That means the lines of text rearrange to fit each screen. Readers can change the font, font size, line spacing, margins, and background color.

KDP says page numbers don’t apply to ebooks. The number of pages changes with each screen and font size. Ebooks also don’t have headers and footers, the lines of text at the top and bottom of a printed page. Leave all of these out of your ebook file.

Some ebooks use a fixed layout instead. In a fixed-layout ebook, every page keeps its exact design, like a printed page. KDP suggests it for picture books, comics, and other books with little text. This guide covers reflowable ebooks.

Which file formats does KDP accept for ebooks?

KDP recommends three file formats for your manuscript.

KDP also accepts a few other formats, such as PDF and plain text.

When you upload a file, KDP turns it into a Kindle ebook. KDP says most Word files come out well. Files with complex formatting may not.

KPF stands for Kindle Package Format. Kindle Create, Amazon’s free app for Windows and Mac, makes it. Kindle Create opens a Word file and formats it for Kindle.

EPUB is the standard ebook format most formatting apps make. KDP accepts EPUB files that follow its Kindle Publishing Guidelines, Amazon’s detailed rules for ebook files. To compare tools, see our guide to book formatting software.

How do you format chapter headings?

Mark every chapter title with a heading style. A style is a saved set of formatting, such as a font size and an alignment. A heading style also tells the file that a line is a heading. Word builds its table of contents from these headings.

By default, Kindle spreads body text out to reach both edges of the screen. On a short line, such as a heading, this can leave wide gaps between words. KDP strongly recommends giving headings their own alignment, such as centered.

How to set heading styles in Word

1. Click in your first chapter title.
2. On the Home tab, click Heading 1 in the Styles section.
3. Also on the Home tab, click the Center button.
4. Repeat for every chapter title.

How to set heading styles in Google Docs

1. Select your first chapter title.
2. Open the Format menu and click Paragraph styles.
3. Click Heading 1. Then click Apply ‘Heading 1’.
4. Open the Format menu, point to Align & indent, and click Centered.
5. Repeat for every chapter title.

When you finish your book, open the File menu, point to Download, and click Microsoft Word (.docx). This saves a Word file you can upload to KDP.

How should you indent and space paragraphs?

Readers need to see where each new paragraph starts. KDP requires one of two ways to show it: a first-line indent or extra space between paragraphs. A first-line indent is a small gap at the start of a paragraph’s first line. KDP also says to avoid double spacing between paragraphs.

Don’t indent with the Tab key. KDP says tabs don’t carry over to Kindle. Instead, set the indent in Word’s Normal style. Normal is the style your body paragraphs use unless you pick another one.

1. On the Home tab, right-click the Normal style and choose Modify.
2. Click Format at the bottom of the window and choose Paragraph.
3. Under Indentation, set Special to First line. In the By box, enter 0.2 inches (5 millimeters).
4. Under Spacing, set Before and After to 0 pt. Set Line spacing to Single.
5. Click OK in both windows.

An indent of 0.2 inches is a fifth of an inch. A point (pt) is a small unit of measure, 1/72 of an inch. Setting Before and After to 0 pt means no extra space above or below each paragraph.

If you make an EPUB file, KDP recommends an indent no wider than 4 ems. An em is a unit that grows with the font size. One em equals the font size. At a 12-point font size, 4 ems is 48 points, or about 0.67 inches.

How do you start each chapter on a new page?

Put a page break after each chapter. A page break makes the next text start on a new page. On a Kindle, that means a new screen. KDP’s guidelines say to insert one after each new chapter or section.

• In Word, click at the end of the chapter. On the Insert tab, click Page Break.
• In Google Docs, click at the end of the chapter. Open the Insert menu, point to Break, and click Page break. If you don’t see it, open the File menu, click Page setup, and choose Pages.
• In Kindle Create, tag each chapter title with the Chapter Title element. An element is Kindle Create’s name for a label like this. Kindle Create then starts that chapter on a new screen.

Don’t put a page break in the middle of a chapter. KDP lists that as a formatting problem.

How do you make a linked table of contents?

A table of contents is the list of chapters near the start of a book. KDP’s steps give your ebook two of them. Both need working hyperlinks. A hyperlink is text you tap to jump to another place.

• The table of contents page sits near the start of the book. Each chapter title on it links to that chapter.
• The Kindle menu table of contents sits in the Kindle menu. Readers can open it from anywhere in the book.

KDP’s pages also call the menu version the Kindle Interactive TOC or the NCX. TOC is short for table of contents. NCX is the name of the ebook file that holds the menu version.

Put the table of contents page near the start of the book, not at the end. Make every entry a link. Leave out page numbers. Keep the entries in the same order as the chapters.

How to make a table of contents in Word

1. Apply Heading 1 to every chapter title.
2. Click where you want the table of contents.
3. On the References tab, click Table of Contents and choose Automatic Table 1.
4. Click Table of Contents again and choose Custom Table of Contents.
5. Clear Show Page Numbers, set Show levels to 1, and click OK.
6. When Word asks whether to replace the table of contents, click OK.
7. Select the title “Contents.” On the Insert tab, click Bookmark. Enter toc as the name and click Add.
8. Insert a page break after the table of contents.

These are KDP’s steps for Windows. On a Mac, choose Classic in step 3 and click Yes in step 6. In step 7, select the title “Table of Contents.”

In Kindle Create, check the chapter titles it finds and click Accept Selected. This builds the Kindle menu table of contents. To add the table of contents page, click your first chapter, click Insert, and choose Table of Contents.

How should you add images to an ebook?

KDP asks for the clearest version of each image. Its guidelines also give these tips.

• Photos should fill at least 60% of the screen width. That’s a bit more than half.
• Maps, charts, and other images with words should fill at least 80% of the screen width. That’s four fifths.
• Put most images on their own line, between paragraphs.
• Give every image alt text. Alt text is a short description of the image. Screen reader apps read it aloud to people who can’t see the image. If an image is only decoration, leave its alt text empty.
• Use the sRGB color profile, the standard color setting for screens.
• Don’t use TIFF files or animated GIFs, which are short moving images. Kindle doesn’t support them.
• Avoid see-through backgrounds. Kindle turns them white.

How to add an image in Word

1. Click on an empty line where the image should go.
2. On the Insert tab, click Pictures and choose the image file.
3. On the Home tab, click the Center button.

Don’t copy and paste images in. KDP’s quality guide also says to use JPEG files, a common photo format. That tip is for Word files. KDP’s EPUB guidelines don’t require JPEG.

Can you choose the font in a Kindle ebook?

For the most part, your readers choose it. Each reader picks a font and font size on their own device. KDP requires your body text, the main text of your chapters, to use the default font size and line spacing. Default means the settings each reader has chosen. When you upload, KDP resets most body text to the default font size.

You can still control a few things.

• Use bold and italics for emphasis. Don’t set the whole book in them.
• Give headings and special passages, such as letters, their own style.
• Add drop caps, the large first letters of a chapter. If you format in Word, KDP recommends adding them in Kindle Create.

You can also embed a font, which means putting the font file inside the ebook. KDP supports two kinds of font file, OTF and TTF. The font’s license must allow this. Readers can still turn your font off. KDP recommends Kindle’s own fonts unless your book needs a special one.

Don’t set a color for body text. It can become hard to read on a white or black background.

What front and back matter does an ebook need?

Front matter means the pages before your first chapter. KDP says your ebook should include a title page with your book title and author name. KDP’s formatting guide also lists a dedication page and a copyright page. A copyright page says who owns the rights to the book. Our free copyright page generator can write one for you.

Don’t put bonus content, such as a preview of another book, before your book’s main text. KDP calls this a critical issue, its most serious kind of problem. It removes the book from sale until you fix it.

Back matter means the pages after your last chapter. KDP names an About the Author page and a bibliography, a list of your sources. If you link to your other books, link to Amazon. KDP doesn’t allow links to other ebook stores.

Your file must also match your metadata, the book details you enter in KDP. That includes the title, subtitle, author name, and series information.

Should the cover go inside the ebook file?

You upload your cover separately on KDP. KDP’s pages disagree about whether the ebook file needs it too.

KDP’s eBook Manuscript Formatting Guide is written for Word files. It says to leave the cover out because KDP adds it for you. The Kindle Publishing Guidelines are written for EPUB files. They say an ebook must have a cover image inside it, at least 1,200 pixels wide or tall. A pixel is one tiny dot of color on a screen.

Either way, readers should see the cover only once.

Our guide to Kindle ebook cover size explains the size and rules for the cover you upload.

How do you check your ebook in Kindle Previewer?

Kindle Previewer is Amazon’s free app for Windows and Mac. It opens EPUB, Word, and KPF files and shows how they’ll look on Kindle e-readers, phones, and tablets. Word files work only for books in English.

1. Download Kindle Previewer from KDP’s Kindle Previewer page and install it.
2. Open your ebook file.
3. Under Preview Options, switch between tablet, phone, and Kindle E-reader. Try different fonts and font sizes.
4. Turn on Auto-Advance View, in the Navigation section, to flip through the whole book.

KDP’s preview checklist asks you to check these things.

• The page after the cover isn’t a second copy of the cover.
• Every link on the table of contents page works, and the page has no page numbers.
• The links in the Kindle menu table of contents work too.
• The text changes when you change the font and font size.
• The text is easy to read on all four Kindle backgrounds, which are white, black, mint, and sepia.

Kindle Previewer also shows whether your book supports Enhanced Typesetting. That’s Amazon’s improved layout for reflowable books. It spaces words more evenly and splits long words across lines more neatly. KDP turns it on automatically when it can. To check, open the View menu and choose Book Information. Next to Enhanced Typesetting, it should say Supported.

After you upload, KDP’s Online Previewer gives you one last look.

1. Go to your Bookshelf, the KDP page that lists your books.
2. Click the “…” button next to your book and choose Edit eBook content.
3. Scroll down to Kindle eBook Preview and click Launch Previewer.

How do you fix common ebook formatting problems?

Why did my spacing change after I uploaded?

Tabs can cause this because they don’t carry over to Kindle. Extra hard returns can cause it too. A hard return is the break you make by pressing Enter. To fix it, set your indent and spacing in the Normal style. Then delete any empty lines between paragraphs.

In Word, click the Show/Hide ¶ button on the Home tab to see your tabs and hard returns.

Why is a chapter missing from my table of contents?

In Word, give the chapter title the Heading 1 style. Then click the table of contents. On the References tab, click Update Table.

In Kindle Create, KDP says the missing chapter is probably inside the one before it. Find its title there and tag it with the Chapter Title element.

Why does my ebook have blank pages?

KDP’s ebook help pages don’t mention blank pages directly. They do warn about extra hard returns and about page breaks in the middle of a chapter. Either one can leave an empty screen. Delete any empty lines and extra page breaks around the blank screen.

Can Proselis export a Kindle ebook?

We make Proselis, a browser app for writing and formatting books. It exports your book as an EPUB file, which KDP accepts.

The EPUB starts each chapter on a new screen and marks the chapter title as a heading. The Kindle menu table of contents links to every chapter. If you add a Contents page, each entry on it links to its chapter too. Your theme sets either a first-line indent or space between paragraphs. Images keep their alt text.

Writing in Proselis is free. A one-time $20 Publish One Book pass unlocks EPUB export for one book. Proselis can’t yet export a print-ready PDF, the file a printer uses for a paperback. Whatever tool you use, check the finished file in Kindle Previewer before you upload it.