How-to Unfreeze a Frozen Kindle

You just got your new Kindle and have loaded it up with e-books and audio books. After playing a while you decide to make a few phone calls. When you come back, you find your Kindle screen is frozen! Unresponsive. The Next Page and Previous Page buttons don't work. The ALT (AAA) doesn't "wake it up." Nothing seems to bring your Kindle back to life. That old-school screen saver just stares back at you.

First of all - don't panic. As with any other electronic device, the Kindle occasionally has a few hiccups. There are a few things you can do to get your Kindle running again good as new.

1. Plug-in your charger. Sometimes the Kindle battery can get run-down enough so that it will "freeze." Plugging the charger in and giving your Kindle battery some much needed power often will un-freeze the screen.

2. If that doesn't work, try what is called a "soft reset." To do a soft reset on your Kindle press the ALT,Shift and R keys simultaneously. Your Kindle screen should go blank or dark and then slowly come back to life.

3. You also can do a soft reset by going to your Kindle menu and selecting "Settings." Then select "Menu" again and you will see the reset command. Click that and your Kindle will go blank or dark then slowly come back to life.

4. When doing a soft reset doesn't work, you will occasionally have to do a "hard reset." To do a hard reset -

 - Make sure your Kindle's battery is charged (about an hour of charging time should do it)

- Remove the charger cord from your Kindle

- Open the back of your Kindle

- Locate the small hole under the word "Reset"

- Open a small paper clip

- Insert the paper clip end into the hole and press GENTLY for about 10 seconds

- Your Kindle screen should go blank (or black) and then the Kindle should re-start

5. When a hard reset doesn't work you can try to remove and replace the battery in your Kindle. This is a bit more complex but not too difficult

- Turn your Kindle off

- Remove the charger cord from your Kindle

- Open the back of your Kindle

- Locate the gray battery, and the finger-notch for removing the battery

- Gently press the battery toward the back of its compartment, then lift the battery out

- Locate the connector that attaches the battery to the Kindle

- GENTLY pull the battery connector out of the Kindle

- With the battery out of the Kindle turn it on for about 5 seconds

- Replace the battery and close the back cover of your Kindle

- Turn the Kindle on

If your Kindle is still "frozen" after completing the steps above, your next move is to contact the Amazon Kindle support team. Go to your Amazon account page - select "Manage my Kindle" and contact the support team from there. You can find the link at the top of the "Manage my Kindle" page on the far right side.

There is a good chance, however, that the steps above will get your Kindle un-frozen and by now you'll be back enjoying your favorite e-book or audio book.

Congratulations! You've now learned how to do a soft and hard reset on your Amazon Kindle wireless reading device.