The KDP previewer is the last line of defence before your book reaches readers. It costs nothing and takes 20–30 minutes to use properly. Skipping or rushing it is the single most common source of avoidable post-publication problems — from formatting errors that generate one-star reviews to broken links that make your book unusable. For the full publishing guide, see our complete beginner’s guide to self-publishing on Amazon KDP.
How to Access the Previewer
The previewer launches automatically after KDP finishes processing your uploaded manuscript file. You can also return to it at any point by clicking “Launch Previewer” on the content tab of your title entry in the Bookshelf.
There are two previewer types:
- Online Previewer: Opens in your browser. Lets you switch between different device simulations — Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire tablet, phone, and desktop. Use this for initial review of the overall look and feel.
- Downloadable Previewer: A separate application you install on your computer. More detailed, faster to navigate, and allows you to see exactly how your book renders on different screen sizes. Recommended for a thorough final check.
For print books, the previewer shows a page-by-page view of your interior PDF rendered at the correct trim dimensions. This is your only way to verify the final printed appearance before the book goes live.
Previewing Your eBook: What to Look For
Work through every device type in the online previewer, checking the following on each:
- Title page: Does it display correctly at all font sizes? Is your title styled appropriately or has the converter applied unexpected formatting?
- Table of contents: Do all chapter links work? Click every entry in your TOC and confirm it navigates to the correct location.
- Chapter openings: Is the first page of each chapter clean? Are drop caps, chapter numbers, or any decorative elements rendering correctly?
- Body text: Is paragraph spacing consistent? Are first-line indents applying correctly? Any unexpected bold or italic text where it should not be?
- Images: Do all images display? Are they appropriately sized — not cut off at the edges, not blurry? On the phone view, are images scaling down correctly?
- End matter: Is your About the Author section present? Do any hyperlinks in your end matter (to your website, social profiles, or other books) work correctly?
Check each of these on at least three device types: a small e-reader simulation, a tablet, and a phone. Your book will be read on all three.
Previewing Your Print Book: What to Look For
The print previewer requires more systematic attention because errors in print cannot be fixed after the fact — they require a file resubmission and another review cycle, during which readers may order and receive the flawed version.
- Front matter: Check your title page, copyright page, dedication, and table of contents. Page numbers in the TOC must match the actual page locations in your final PDF.
- Margins: Is all text comfortably within the margins on every page? Pay particular attention to the gutter (inside) margin — text too close to the spine will be difficult to read on a bound book.
- Page numbers: Are they present, correctly positioned, and sequential? Do they start at the correct page?
- Chapter breaks: Does each new chapter start on a new page? Are chapter titles consistently positioned?
- Images and tables: Are all images present? Are they at acceptable quality in the previewer? Are tables fitting within the text area without overflowing the margins?
- Cover: Is the front cover image clean? Is the spine text centred and fully within the spine area? Is the back cover content positioned correctly?
The Full Pre-Publication Preview Checklist
- Title page displays correctly on all device types
- All TOC links navigate to the correct chapter
- Chapter breaks are clean with no orphaned headings
- Body text spacing and indents are consistent throughout
- All images display correctly at size, without blurring or cropping
- No unexpected formatting artefacts (random bold, large gaps, symbol errors)
- End matter is complete and all hyperlinks work
- Print: all text within safe margins on every page
- Print: page numbers correct and sequential
- Print: cover spine text centred and fully visible
- Print: no images or text within the bleed zone that should not be there
Common Issues Found in Preview
The most frequently discovered issues in the KDP previewer are:
- Broken TOC links — caused by using manually typed page numbers rather than auto-generated or hyperlinked references
- Oversized chapter openings — heading styles that display at an unexpectedly large size in the converted eBook
- Image quality problems — images that look fine on screen but appear pixelated at the previewer’s simulated print resolution
- Gutter encroachment — text in print files that is too close to the spine and will be obscured when the book is open flat
- Symbol encoding errors — special characters (em dashes, curly quotes, ellipses) that convert to question marks or boxes in certain Kindle font settings
Every issue found in preview is an issue that never reaches a reader. That is the entire point of this step — use it properly.
What to Do After Preview
If your preview looks clean across all views, you are ready to proceed to the pricing and rights section of your KDP setup. Your metadata — description, keywords, categories — should already be prepared before you reach this point. Preparing these in advance using a KDP optimisation tool like KDP Rank Fuel ensures you are not writing them under the pressure of the upload flow.
If your preview reveals problems, correct them in your source document and reupload. The previewer resets with each new upload. Do not proceed to publication until the preview is clean.
Even a clean preview cannot catch everything. Before you begin the upload process, prepare your metadata with a KDP optimisation tool like KDP Rank Fuel. And a thorough professional manuscript proofreading pass ensures the content itself is as clean as the formatting.
