How to Remove Kobo DRM: A Guide to Unlocking Kobo eBooks

Digital Rights Management (DRM) functions primarily as an invisible lock preventing the distribution and alteration of copyrighted digital content. Kobo eBooks are encumbered with Kobo's proprietary DRM called KePub DRM or Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) DRM protection, limiting readers to read purchased books only on Kobo eReaders or devices that support ADE. If you want to read them on a Kindle or any other device that isn't equipped with ADE, you must remove the DRM from your Kobo eBooks. In some cases, you may also need to convert your purchased eBooks to other formats to get rid of them being locked into a single ecosystem.

Remove Kobo DRM with BookFab Kobo Converter

BookFab Kobo Converter

Remove DRM from Kobo eBooks and convert them to EPUB format

for full control and cross-device compatibility.

BookFab Kobo Converter is a professional-grade solution designed specifically for converting Kobo eBooks. This tool enables users to completely strip DRM from their purchased eBooks and effortlessly convert the original restricted format to DRM-free EPUB, without compromising quality and content. It gives users more control over their digital libraries, making it simple for eBooks management, backup, and conversion for a variety of devices and platforms.

Available on: Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 (32/64 bit)

How to remove DRM from Kobo eBooks with BookFab Kobo Converter?

Step 1: Download BookFab Kobo Converter for free on Windows and launch the software

Step 2: Use the built-in browser to log in to your Kobo account

Navigate to the sidebar and click "eBook Converter," then choose "Rakuten Kobo" platform. The built-in browser will automatically pop up the login interface of the Kobo official website. Use the integrated browser to smoothly check in to your personal Kobo account without switching between tools. 

Step 3: Parse your eBook

Locate the purchased eBook you wish to convert and click on it to access the detail page. Once the download button (bottom right corner) is activated, click it to initiate the parsing process.

Step 4: Download DRM-free eBooks and monitor the process

After parsing is complete, click "Download Now" to save the file locally. You can track progress via the "Download List". After downloading, you can get your Kobo books in DRM-free EPUB format. The file size will be shown. Now you can click the "folder" icon to open the output folder to freely move, share, or copy the converted EPUB file. If you want to convert the eBook into an audiobook, you can click the "e" icon. 

Remove Kobo DRM with Calibre

Calibre is a free, open-source eBook converter for customizing your eBook library. To carry out the DRM removal process with Calibre, you must first install additional plugins to this software.

How to remove DRM from Kobo eBooks with Calibre?

Step 1: Download Calibre, Kobo Desktop, and to-be-converted eBooks to your computer

Download Calibre version that is compatible with your computer from its official website. To prevent potential errors later, please install the Kobo Desktop app on your computer first. Before importing, ensure that your Kobo eBooks have been locally downloaded from Kobo Desktop as files to your computer; they shouldn't only be available via the Kobo app. 

Step 2: Download and install Obok_plugin to Calibre

To enable DRM removal, you need to install a third-party plugin such as Obok_plugin. To get Obok_plugin, you need to visit the official DeDRM GitHub repository, download the latest release, and extract the ZIP file. Then you'll see Obok_plugin.zip.

Launch Calibre, go to Preferences>Plugins, click "Load plugin from file" and select the Obok_plugin.zip file from the extracted folder.

Then restart Calibre for the plugin to take effect. You'll find Obok DeDRM displayed on the top menu bar.

Step 3: Decrypt DRM-protected Kobo eBooks

Select "Obok DeDRM" from the menu bar at the top. This will show you all of the DRM-protected Kobo eBooks you have downloaded. Select "Select All" and click "Ok" to confirm. After that, Calibre will import the chosen eBooks into its library and start the decryption process for your Kobo titles. Press the "OK" button to acknowledge the pop-up message after the process is finished. You have successfully stripped DRM from Kobo books and added them to the Calibre library.

Remove Kobo DRM with kobodl

Kobodl is a command line program forked from kobo-book-downloader to download and remove DRM protection from media legally purchased from Rakuten Kobo. Both kobodl and kobo-book-downloader are extremely complex and more suitable for tech geeks. Here we only introduce kobodl, as it is relatively simpler and does not involve the download and installation of Python.

How to remove DRM from Kobo eBooks with kobodl? 

Here, we take the operations on the Windows system as an example.

Step 1: Download the “kobodl-windows.exe” to your computer

To keep your operations consistent with this tutorial, download the file to the path:

“C:\Users\your_username\Downloads”.

Step 2: Open Command Prompt (CMD) or PowerShell

Press the “Win + R” keys, type “cmd” or “powershell”, and hit Enter.  

Step 3: Navigate to the directory containing kobodl-windows.exe and run the program

If you saved the .exe as instructed, use the following command (replace your_username with your actual Windows username):

cd C:\Users\your_username\Downloads

Then execute the following command in the terminal to launch the program:

.\kobodl-windows.exe

Step 4: Log into Your Kobo Account

Run the following command in the terminal to log in:  

.\kobodl-windows.exe user add

After running this command, you’ll receive a 6-digit activation code and an activation link (official Kobo website). Open the link, enter the activation code in the pop-up, and log in to your Kobo account if prompted. If you log in successfully, the terminal window will display "login success". The tool won’t require activation again after a successful login.  

Step 5: List the Revision IDs of all purchased eBooks in your account

Run the following command in the terminal:

.\kobodl-windows.exe book list

This will display all books linked to your account. Note the Revision Id for each book (e.g., 1234567890).

Step 6: Download eBooks

Run the following command to download a single book (replace “<RevisionId>” with the actual ID from Step 4): 

.\kobodl-windows.exe book get <RevisionId>

If you want to download all books you’ve purchased (use with caution, as it may take time), run the following command in the terminal: 

.\kobodl-windows.exe book get --get-all

By default, DRM-free books will be downloaded to a subfolder in the current directory. If you want to specify a download location (e.g., “D:\MyKoboBooks”), run the following command in the terminal: 

.\kobodl-windows.exe book get <RevisionId> --output D:\MyKoboBooks

Conclusion

Three techniques—BookFab Kobo Converter, Calibre, and kobodl—for extracting Kobo DRM from eBooks are described in detail in this article. It is evident that even while Calibre and kobodl are free, using them can be difficult for the majority of consumers who are not very tech-savvy. Therefore, BookFab Kobo Converter can be your go-to application if you want to save time and effort and your computer is running on Windows. It is recommended that you take more time to remove DRM protection using Calibre and kobodl if your computer is running other operating systems.