Kobo won't open library book because eReader was previously deauthorized

[tmw5795]

I have a Kobo Glo and I am now getting the following error message "Your eReader is not authorized to open this book. Because you previously deauthorized your eReader, you need to reimport the book using ADE". I have tried reimporting the book, and even returning the book and then reborrowing it before reimporting it to my Kobo. I have tried deauthorizing the reader and then reauthorizing it before reimporting it to my Kobo. Deauthorizing and reauthorizing my Kobo worked a couple of times, but not any longer. I have uninstalled my version of ADE and downloaded and installed the latest version. I have contacted Adobe and they checked my Adobe account and authorizations and was told that I still have unused activations and my authorizations appear to be in order. I can read my books on my MacBook using ADE, and I can even read them using ADE when I click on my Kobo icon in ADE sidebar and open the book. ADE seems to be working as advertised, but my Kobo is not cooperating. I have contacted Kobo as well and they say it's an ADE issue and will not discuss it further. I have not done a factory reset on my Kobo as I don't want to lose all my purchased eBooks. I have checked out a few threads regarding similar issues, but none with my particular error message. Any suggestions are appreciated as I feel I have tried everything, save a Kobo reset, or trashing the Kobo altogether. Thanks

[Meryl0D4C]

Thank you so much.  Great clear instructions which worked for me.  So glad I trawled through pages and pages to find this solution.  

[default0hi39rkq6vc1]

Followed the steps exactly and YES.

[Carla5C34]

Right on!! Thank you so much, it solved my problem!

[Samuel5E2C]

Thank you so much. This comment solved hours of head scratching.

[defaultlzlyuj62zzkx]

You've saved me! Thank you, thank you, thank you

[defaultfc88eihqx60d]

THANK YOU

[Marita0D4C]

A quicker way seems to be to take out a book that you know will work in addition to the one you actually want to read. I've found all of Jean Plaidy's books work. First drag over the book you want and then drag over the other one to 'push ' it through. You should now be able to open the desired book on your Kobo.

[defaultmw2jkikd41a1]

i've tried this every which way and none of it works for me.  my kobo clara hd just says the eReader was previously deauthorized.  i now have like 10 random books to "return".

as others have said, overdrive works just fine. 

[default6txmjz4sxfx0]

i've been having the same problems for ages now but thanks to this, it's fixed. However, it isn't going to work if you use Chrome. You cannot use Chrome to download Adobe Digital Editions 3.0. So you have to go to your other browser (Safari/Bing etc.) and downlaord it off there. You can download your books from Chrome but you HAVE TO download ADE 3.0 from your other browser. 

[Caroll-Ann22402237mlqo]

Thank you!!! It worked! I was getting so sad.. I just got my ereader for Christmas and nothing was working!

[Paula227766206hbc]

I was close to tears and ready to throw my Kobo out the window but then I found this post and it worked! Thank you SO much for your helpful, step-by-step advice! This made my day!

[Ka23370668tmme]

Thank you, that really worked but not first time, grrr.  Adobe "quit unexpectedly" but as it does it almost every time I use it, that's not unexpected anymore.

Thanks so much for your help.

[Megan24245619p4jn]

THANK YOU!  I just bought a Kobo Libra 2 especially for reading library books.  The lack of access due to the "authorization" problem was making me crazy! This set of instructions worked like a charm.  Thanks again!

[eileen25095661zgbt]

THANK YOU!!! I have tried all of the tricks others suggested. This was so easy and it worked like a dream.  

[sznadobe]

I have also struggled with this problem for months... somehow something I did in the right order worked, but I couldn't tell what.  I will  save this and try this next time.  Thanl you.  This issue almost makes me hate my kobo!

[CVerm]

After factory resets, deleting and downloading ADE. Deauthorizing computer and ereader (Kobo Clara HD) and spending time on the phone and chat with Rakuten Kobo AND Overdrive assistance, this method actually worked.  I think the trick is the NEW Book part which PROMPTEd the computer to ask for authorization.  Some weird quirk.  I was ready to give up. So thank you Shannon!!!

[Marie-Josee280486345mdq]

I have also followed your steps and it worked!!! Finally! Thank you so much!

[Laurrrrrrrrrrra]

Just tried this on my new Kobo Clara. Only version 3 was available, not version 2. It worked automatically. The first time I dropped a library epub into the deuathorised ereader on ADE 3, it automatically authorized the device and added the book with no issue. I then dropped in the epub of the book I am actually trying to read, no issues now. 

Once the epub worked on my ereader, it showed up with an image of the book cover, rather than just a black box. 

[KaraMoose]

Things I tried which eventually worked (I'm not sure what the key bit was!): Deleting the book files from ADE and my kobo, and then looking for any more within file explorer - I found old files within the kobo folder as well as within the Adobe Digital Editions Folder. I deauthorised everything and then unplugged the ereader/closed ADE. Then plugged in the ereader and reauthroized the ereader, which automatically did the computer. I then downloaded an entirely new non-DRM book (one picked at random) from my library - I'm wondering if the non-protected nature was important? - and added it to ADE and then the ereader. I then re-downloaded the problem DRM books, and added those to ADE, then the ereader. It's worth noting I decided against flicking through the pages within ADE, just in case this had been causing problems (sometimes this has caused ADE to freeze for me). I then safely-removed the ereader, and voila! Even though the DRM books displayed black covers, the non-DRM was visible, and when I clicked, they opened, much to my surprise! Good luck!

[Sandra34]

Thank you for sharing - I had authorized/de-authorized my devices multiple times, deleted and downloaded books to no avail until I saw your point about a non-DRM book. I tried this and for some reason it works. Every time I want to copy a book onto my bookshelf, I copy this non-DRM book as well. Otherwise, it does not work.  It is not perfect but I am so happy to have this function working. Thank you so much! 

[Catherine5DC1]

I tried everything here, and your solution is what worked for me! I piggybacked the problematic DRM book with a non-DRM book, and voilà! Thank goodness for the reader community!

[default9pqelujsqe29]

Oh my goodness! I have quite literally spend over a week working on this. I bought a new Kobo (my original was over 10 years old!), spent hours on the phone to Kobo, tried asking Adobe (like many others was told my use of a free program didn't warrant them giving me any of their time) and have been scrolling community forums like this one for DAYS. Your solution to download a non-DRM book finally WORKED for me!!! I didn't really know how to find a non-DRM book in my library so used the filter options and selected a PDF book and now ALL the books I had been trying worked. I am so relieved and grateful that you spent the time to add this information to the forum. This has literally been the only thing to work for me. 

[Helen6C15]

Thank you for sharing.  I have spent hours trying different suggestions, but this one actually works.  I can now read my library book.  Again, thanks!!

[Martin Gerhold]

I have been tearing my hair (what hair?) out for literally hours on this: I did not fully read the above response (I was getting fed up), but had a look (with W10 file explorer) at the file structure on the Kobo when plugged in, and found a load of adobe-related folders with numerical names, and what looked like Adobe ID codes inside.  I deleted all ot these, and maybe other ones as well (they are now gone, and I didn't think to screen shot the contents before deletion - after all, nothing else so far had worked, so why should this?).  I then started ADE on the PC, authorised it, then inserted the Kobo and authorised that, then copied a 'new' book across - and it worked.  I went to bed, hapily reading a book I am fairly sure I read years ago (on paper) - oh well.

I shall attempt to upload an image of the current folder structure - it doesn't seem to conatin the same stuff that I deleted, but gives an idea.

If in doubt, delete every folder on the Kobo that is ADE-related!  If this ever happens again, I wil attempt to show what needs to be deleted more carefully.  For now I am happy.

PS This is certainly a Kobo issue, and they should fix it.  One can hardly expect Adobe to know what the Kobo stores inside itself.  They (Kobo) must have discovered the cure that I found, surely?

Good luck, Martin

[Martin Gerhold]

...and a few days ;ater, the fault was back - oh well, I tried.