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
- After you sign into Amazon and choose the Kindle store to search in
- Type “-domain” (no quotes) into the search field.
- This will give you a list of free books offered by Amazon!
Helpful Shortcuts
- Bookmark: Alt-B. Alternate: Press 5-way up or down to go to cursor mode, and then press 5-way twice.
- Kindle Store: Alt-Home.
- 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).
- Screenshots: Alt+Shift+G. Hold down Alt and Shift buttons and then press G.
- MineSweeper: Alt+Shift+M.
- Refresh Screen: Alt-G to refresh the screen and eliminate Ghosting.
- Reload in Web Mode: Alt+R = reload when in web mode
Restart Kindle 2 in Two Seconds
- Go to the Home Page.
- Press the Menu button to go to the Menu.
- Navigate to Settings and press 5-way to go to Settings.
- Press Menu button Again.
- Navigate to the Restart option, and press 5-way to select it.
Navigate within Magazines and Newspapers
- 5-way controller to the left = previous article.
- 5-way controller to the right = next article.
- Press the 5-way = A list of sections within the periodical will appear.
- 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:
- Shift + Sym button to start and to stop TTS. You have to keep Shift pressed down and then press Sym.
- While TTS is on – Use Shift button to Pause or Resume it. Note: this might be Space (spacebar).
- 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.
- To start TTS at a particular place on a page, move the cursor to the spot BEFORE starting TTS.
Mp3 Player Shortcuts
- Alt+Space = play or stop background audio.
- Alt-F = skip to the next audio track.
- 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.
- Press down the Alt and Shift buttons.
- 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
- Press the Menu button to go to the Kindle 2 Home Page.
- Use the 5-way to go to the item you want to delete.
- Press Left on the 5-way to bring up the Delete selection.
- 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
- Connect Kindle 2 via USB to your PC.
- Go to the Kindle 2.
- Create pictures folder on your Kindle 2.
- Now create sub-folders for your photo albums.
- Put in images into these sub-folders.
- The images that you put into a sub-folder will become part of the photo album.
- Unplug your Kindle 2 and go to the Home Page.
- Press Alt-Z on home page to see photo albums among books.
- 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:
- Zoom In on the Picture = Q key.
- Zoom Out = W key.
- Reset Zoom Level for the Image = E key.
- Toggle Picture to Actual Size = C key.
- Toggle Picture to Full Screen Mode = F key.
- Pan Photo if its larger than the Kindle 2s screen with 5-way controller.
- 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.
- First, press the Home button to go to the Home Page.
- Press the Menu button.
- Move the 5-way to underline Settings and press 5-way to select.
- Press the Menu button.
- Move the 5-way to underline Change Primary Dictionary and press 5-way to select.
- 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
- Jump to page x on the Home Screen Press the number x on the keypad and then press the 5-way.
- 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%
- 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.
- 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.
- 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%).
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! 😉
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.
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