Kindle 2 Tips & Tricks

Posted by Jim Swanson On May - 26 - 2009

For you Amazon Kindle 2 owners, here’s a list of many tips & tricks that you should find useful. These were compiled from many sources – let us know if any of them aren’t as helpful as we think!

Access Free eBooks @ Amazon

  1. After you sign into Amazon and choose the Kindle store to search in
  2. Type “-domain” (no quotes) into the search field.
  3. This will give you a list of free books offered by Amazon!

Helpful Shortcuts

  1. Bookmark: Alt-B. Alternate: Press 5-way up or down to go to cursor mode, and then press 5-way twice.
  2. Kindle Store: Alt-Home.
  3. Top Screen Icons: Press Menu button to see Wireless Network on top of the screen (top right), Time on top of the screen (top center) and Memory Remaining on your Kindle 2 on Top of the screen (top left).
  4. Screenshots: Alt+Shift+G. Hold down Alt and Shift buttons and then press G.
  5. MineSweeper: Alt+Shift+M.
  6. Refresh Screen: Alt-G to refresh the screen and eliminate Ghosting.
  7. Reload in Web Mode: Alt+R = reload when in web mode

Restart Kindle 2 in Two Seconds

  1. Go to the Home Page.
  2. Press the Menu button to go to the Menu.
  3. Navigate to Settings and press 5-way to go to Settings.
  4. Press Menu button Again.
  5. Navigate to the Restart option, and press 5-way to select it.

Navigate within Magazines and Newspapers

  1. 5-way controller to the left = previous article.
  2. 5-way controller to the right = next article.
  3. Press the 5-way = A list of sections within the periodical will appear.
  4. On this Sections List page = Selecting the Number to the right of the Section Title will take you to a list of Articles within a section.

Read-To-Me Shortcuts

There shortcuts can be used with the “Text To Speech” functionality:

  1. Shift + Sym button to start and to stop TTS. You have to keep Shift pressed down and then press Sym.
  2. While TTS is on – Use Shift button to Pause or Resume it. Note: this might be Space (spacebar).
  3. While TTS is on – you can switch between male and female voices, and change voice speed by using Alt + Aa keys and then using the 5 way controller.
  4. To start TTS at a particular place on a page, move the cursor to the spot BEFORE starting TTS.

Mp3 Player Shortcuts

  1. Alt+Space = play or stop background audio.
  2. Alt-F = skip to the next audio track.
  3. Space – starts or pauses an audio book

Change Spacing & Number of Lines Per Page

By using the Alt+Shift+ numbers 1 through 9 buttons you can change the spacing between the lines on the Kindle 2 and also the number of lines per page.

  1. Press down the Alt and Shift buttons.
  2. Keeping Alt+Shift pressed, Press a number button like 1, or 2, right up to 9 to cycle through the various spacing options.

Delete an Item or Book from Your Kindle 2

  1. Press the Menu button to go to the Kindle 2 Home Page.
  2. Use the 5-way to go to the item you want to delete.
  3. Press Left on the 5-way to bring up the Delete selection.
  4. Press the 5-way to confirm that you want to delete the item.

Note: Books you have purchased are still available in the Archive selection even after deletion you can reload them!

Load Pictures onto your Kindle 2

  1. Connect Kindle 2 via USB to your PC.
  2. Go to the Kindle 2.
  3. Create pictures folder on your Kindle 2.
  4. Now create sub-folders for your photo albums.
  5. Put in images into these sub-folders.
  6. The images that you put into a sub-folder will become part of the photo album.
  7. Unplug your Kindle 2 and go to the Home Page.
  8. Press Alt-Z on home page to see photo albums among books.
  9. When you select one of these photo albums, the experimental Image Viewer starts.

Picture Viewing Tips

While you are viewing pictures in the Image Viewer:

  1. Zoom In on the Picture = Q key.
  2. Zoom Out = W key.
  3. Reset Zoom Level for the Image = E key.
  4. Toggle Picture to Actual Size = C key.
  5. Toggle Picture to Full Screen Mode = F key.
  6. Pan Photo if its larger than the Kindle 2s screen with 5-way controller.
  7. Rotate the Image = R key.

Text Entry Shortcuts

These are helpful shortcuts when entering Text –

  • Alt-6 for question mark ?
  • Alt-7 for comma ,
  • Alt-8 for colon :
  • Alt-9 for quotation marks
  • Alt-0 for single quotation marks

Change the Default Dictionary

You can change the default dictionary used by Kindle 2 from the New Oxford American Dictionary to another Kindle 2 supported dictionary, such as the Merriam Webster. Please check before buying any other dictionary as it might not be supported.

  1. First, press the Home button to go to the Home Page.
  2. Press the Menu button.
  3. Move the 5-way to underline Settings and press 5-way to select.
  4. Press the Menu button.
  5. Move the 5-way to underline Change Primary Dictionary and press 5-way to select.
  6. Move 5-way to select the dictionary you want as your primary dictionary, when its underlined press 5-way to select it.

Navigate Through the Home Screens Pages

  1. Jump to page x on the Home Screen Press the number x on the keypad and then press the 5-way.
  2. Also you can use the Next Page and Previous Page buttons to circle through the pages.

Search Shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used while using search (simply enter @help in the search box) –

  • @help will show a list of supported commands.
  • Instead of pressing your 5-way on find you can move the 5-way right to bring up other search options i.e. Kindle Store, Wikipedia, Google, Dictionary, etc.
  • @author Narrow a search in the kindle store to a particular author by using the authors name.

Recharge your Kindle Battery when it’s at 20%

  1. You can re-charge your Kindle 2 battery at any time, without using up its life. There is no memory and there is no let it drain completely before charging rule.
  2. You should maximize by re-charging your Kindle 2’s battery when it’s at 20% charge left. The worst thing you can do is let the battery completely drain out.
  3. Do not recharge it to full every day. The battery is happiest in the >20% charge, <80% charge range (close to 80% is better than close to 20%).

3 Responses to “Kindle 2 Tips & Tricks”

  1. Jeremy Hilland says:

    Are you sure about keeping your battery charged between 20-80%? I thought it was always better to let it drain completely? But I don’t know a whole lot about electronics so I’m probably wrong! 😉

  2. Jim Swanson says:

    Yes Jeremy, the Kindles come with a lithium polymer battery which unlike the old nickel cadmium batteries used by many electronics, they do not have a “memory” so do not need to be fully discharged between uses.

  3. diana says:

    were is the shift key on kindell2

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