Answers.Body: <p>Every Kindle has a menu option "Reset to Factory Defaults", which does exactly what you want: It removes all user specific data from the device.</p>
  
  <p><a href="http://www.hard-reset.com/amazon-kindle-hard-reset.html">Step by step instructions for factory resets on various Kindle devices</a></p>
  
  <p>For the paranoid: Most devices will not actually erase your data, but just mark it as "erased". For the user both are the same thing - if you sell your device, the new owner will not see your stuff. For anybody with sufficient knowledge and interest in that piece of information - such as crime scene investigators etc. - it usually is possible to restore data. I have not checked if a Kindle will actually overwrite your data or leave traces behind.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-02-23T20:20:16.973Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-02-23T20:20:16.973Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Hazzit
Answers.Body: <p>You can use <code>Reset to Factory Defaults</code> to reset your Kindle:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>Menu button &gt; Settings &gt; Menu button &gt; Reset to Factory Defaults</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>If for some reason the <code>Reset to Factory Defaults</code> option is not working for you (I had a hard time accessing it with a partially broken screen), you can also reset the kindle from the <code>Device Password</code> lockscreen prompt:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>Menu button &gt; Settings &gt; Device Password &gt; Set <em>any</em> password (&quot;abc&quot;)</p>
  <p>Press power button to sleep, then again to wake.</p>
  <p>At the lockscreen password prompt, type <code>resetmykindle</code> as your password.</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>The &quot;password&quot; <code>resetmykindle</code> initiates the <code>Reset to Factory Defaults</code> feature.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-02-03T21:26:50.220Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-02-03T21:26:50.220Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2020-06-18T08:36:04.683Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: pkamb
Answers.Body: <p>This is not 100% correct</p>
  
  <pre><code>dd if=/dev/zero of=/path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>You should replace the data with random numbers, not zeroes.</p>
  
  <pre><code>dd if=/dev/urandom of=/path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  </code></pre>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2016-11-26T22:09:33.993Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2016-11-26T22:09:33.993Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: user2214046
Answers.Body: <p>After deregistering the device and executing factory reset  the Kindle looks empty. It shows none of my earlier books.</p>
  
  <p>I've connected the Kindle to a Linux computer and copied all the information to a huge (3.2GB) file:</p>
  
  <p><code>dd if=/dev/sdc1 of=afterfactoryreset.dat bs=1M</code></p>
  
  <p>One of the books I've read on this device is Zendegi ( by Greg Egan ) so I've searched for the string zendegi which appears quite a few times:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$ strings afterfactoryreset.dat | grep -i zendegi
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwt
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwt
  Zendegi
  Zendegi
  LAST_BOOK_READ=/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azw
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwsq
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.mbpsr
  &lt;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.apnxsq
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwsq
  ...
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It was very easy to create a script which lists most of the books previously installed on the device:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$ strings afterfactoryreset.dat | grep -i '^mnt/us/documents' | rev | cut -d "." -f2- | rev | sort | uniq
  mnt/us/documents/A Clash of Kings A Song of Ice a-asin_B000FC1HBY-type_EBOK-v_0
  ...
  mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It's not a perfect list but clearly shows that factory reset does not erase all the information.</p>
  
  <p>There are <a href="https://superuser.com/q/19326/8240">several ways</a> to wipe the empty space of the filesystem. A very simple (not that secure) way is to create a huge files filled with zeroes and delete it:</p>
  
  <pre><code>dd if=/dev/zero of=/path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  sync
  rm /path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>After that the script does not list the previously installed books.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-01-08T22:47:52.360Z
Answers.Text: Excellent research.  Bravo.
Answers.UserDisplayName: PRB
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2014-03-29T16:23:55.617Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2014-03-29T21:11:12.873Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2017-03-20T10:18:34.410Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: asalamon74
Body: <p>I plan to sell my old Kindle Keyboard and I want to erase all the Kindle's data ( my books, my personal info, wi-fi passwords...) before. Is it enough to deregister the Kindle and execute a factory reset? Would it completely erase everything?</p>
  
Tags: <kindle><security>
Title: How to erase data before selling a Kindle?
UserDisplayName: asalamon74
ThreadText: # How to erase data before selling a Kindle?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2014-02-23)
  
  I plan to sell my old Kindle Keyboard and I want to erase all the Kindle's data ( my books, my personal info, wi-fi passwords...) before. Is it enough to deregister the Kindle and execute a factory reset? Would it completely erase everything?
  
  **Tags:** kindle, security
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 4 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_0 on 2014-03-29. Score: 8 | Accepted answer
  
  After deregistering the device and executing factory reset the Kindle looks empty. It shows none of my earlier books.
  
  I've connected the Kindle to a Linux computer and copied all the information to a huge (3.2GB) file:
  
  `dd if=/dev/sdc1 of=afterfactoryreset.dat bs=1M`
  
  One of the books I've read on this device is Zendegi ( by Greg Egan ) so I've searched for the string zendegi which appears quite a few times:
  
  ```
  $ strings afterfactoryreset.dat | grep -i zendegi
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwt
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwt
  Zendegi
  Zendegi
  LAST_BOOK_READ=/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azw
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwsq
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.mbpsr
  </mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.apnxsq
  ;/mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0.azwsq
  ...
  
  ```
  
  It was very easy to create a script which lists most of the books previously installed on the device:
  
  ```
  $ strings afterfactoryreset.dat | grep -i '^mnt/us/documents' | rev | cut -d "." -f2- | rev | sort | uniq
  mnt/us/documents/A Clash of Kings A Song of Ice a-asin_B000FC1HBY-type_EBOK-v_0
  ...
  mnt/us/documents/Zendegi-asin_B003NE5TVU-type_EBOK-v_0
  
  ```
  
  It's not a perfect list but clearly shows that factory reset does not erase all the information.
  
  There are [several ways](https://superuser.com/q/19326/8240) to wipe the empty space of the filesystem. A very simple (not that secure) way is to create a huge files filled with zeroes and delete it:
  
  ```
  dd if=/dev/zero of=/path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  sync
  rm /path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  
  ```
  
  After that the script does not list the previously installed books.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_4**: Excellent research.  Bravo.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2014-02-23. Score: 9
  
  Every Kindle has a menu option "Reset to Factory Defaults", which does exactly what you want: It removes all user specific data from the device.
  
  [Step by step instructions for factory resets on various Kindle devices](http://www.hard-reset.com/amazon-kindle-hard-reset.html)
  
  For the paranoid: Most devices will not actually erase your data, but just mark it as "erased". For the user both are the same thing - if you sell your device, the new owner will not see your stuff. For anybody with sufficient knowledge and interest in that piece of information - such as crime scene investigators etc. - it usually is possible to restore data. I have not checked if a Kindle will actually overwrite your data or leave traces behind.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2015-02-03. Score: 2
  
  You can use `Reset to Factory Defaults` to reset your Kindle:
  
  > Menu button > Settings > Menu button > Reset to Factory Defaults
  
  If for some reason the `Reset to Factory Defaults` option is not working for you (I had a hard time accessing it with a partially broken screen), you can also reset the kindle from the `Device Password` lockscreen prompt:
  
  > Menu button > Settings > Device Password > Set *any* password ("abc")
  >
  > Press power button to sleep, then again to wake.
  >
  > At the lockscreen password prompt, type `resetmykindle` as your password.
  
  The "password" `resetmykindle` initiates the `Reset to Factory Defaults` feature.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2016-11-26. Score: 1
  
  This is not 100% correct
  
  ```
  dd if=/dev/zero of=/path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  
  ```
  
  You should replace the data with random numbers, not zeroes.
  
  ```
  dd if=/dev/urandom of=/path/to/mounted/kindle/hugefile.dat
  
  ```
  
  
  ---
  
  