How to Identify Your Kindle Model (and Pick the Right Case)
Your Kindle's model is printed as a short technical code on the back panel -- something like DP75SDI or PQ94WIF -- and the same information appears on the device under Settings > Account & Settings, or Options > Device Information on older firmware. If the print has worn off, sign in to Amazon and open Content & Devices > Devices: every Kindle registered to your account is listed there by name, type and software version, which is also how you check a model you are buying a gift for. Use that code, not the year and not the word "Paperwhite", against the compatible-model list on the case page before you order. Cases are cut per generation, and two readers with the same 6-inch screen can still differ in corner radius, charging-port position and where the sleep/wake magnet sits -- which is why a case that "almost fits" still fails to close the cover properly or drains the battery. See our Kindle cases by model to match the code to a case.
How do I find out which Kindle model I have?
Three checks, in the order that costs least time. Any one of them is enough; if two disagree, trust the printed code.
- Read the back panel. Flip the Kindle over. A short technical model number -- two letters and a mix of digits and letters, for example
J9G29R,PQ94WIForRS23CV-- is printed near the hinge edge, sometimes in small grey type that is easy to miss under room light. Tilt it under a lamp rather than trying to read it flat. - Read it on the screen. Tap the top of the display to open the menu, then go to Settings > Account & Settings and look for Device Info (older firmware puts the same details under Options > Device Information). This gives you the marketing name and the serial number, and it works when the printing on the back has faded.
- Look it up in your Amazon account. Open Content & Devices in a browser, switch to the Devices tab, and every Kindle that has ever registered to your account is listed by name and type. This is the only method that works for a reader sitting in a drawer, a second-hand purchase you have not switched on, or a gift.
If none of those gives you something you can act on -- a worn code, a grey-market device with a different label -- send us the string you can read and we will tell you which of our cuts matches before you order.
Where is the model number on a Kindle?
On the back panel, printed small, usually along the long edge opposite the charging port. It is a technical model code, not the box name: the same device can be sold as "Kindle Paperwhite" while the back says PQ94WIF.
Do not confuse it with the serial number. Serials identify one individual unit -- they encode factory and production batch, not the product line -- so a serial cannot be looked up to find a case size. The technical model code can, and that is the one our compatibility lists are keyed on.
What is the difference between Kindle Paperwhite 4 and Paperwhite 10th generation?
Nothing. They are the same 6-inch, 2018 device. Amazon restarted its generation counting in 2019, so the model that launched as "Paperwhite 4" became "Paperwhite 10th generation" in the same listing convention that renamed the basic Kindle from "10th" to "11th". Two names, one device, one case size.
This is the single most common reason a case is ordered wrongly at our shop, because "I have a Paperwhite 4" and "I have a Paperwhite 10th gen" look like different answers. They are not. What actually separates sizes is the physical set: 6-inch with a recessed screen and micro-USB (2018 and older), 6.8-inch with flat edge-to-edge glass and USB-C (2021), and 7-inch with a warmer colour tone (2024 and later).
How do I tell Kindle generations apart by look and feel?
- Basic Kindle (no front light buttons on the bezel, small built-in keys along the bottom edge). From the 11th generation onward the front glass is flush and the port is USB-C; the 2019 model sits slightly recessed and uses micro-USB.
- Paperwhite. Flat, buttonless front with an all-glass face. 6-inch and older-feeling with micro-USB up to 2018; 6.8-inch with USB-C from 2021; 7-inch and, on colour models, a visibly coloured screen from 2024.
- Oasis. Unmistakable: an asymmetric metal hand grip and physical page-turn buttons. If it feels like it has a handle, it is an Oasis, and no flat-front case will fit it.
- Scribe. The large 10.2-inch (11-inch on the 2025 refresh) model that ships with a stylus. It needs a sleeve of its own, not a reader case sized for a 6 or 7-inch device.
Can I check my Kindle model without turning it on?
Yes, three ways. The back panel print works on a dead device. The box, the sales receipt and the original delivery email all name the product line. And Content & Devices lists every Kindle that has ever been registered to your Amazon account, switched on or not -- which is the practical answer when you are buying a case for a family member's reader.
Which Kindle case fits my model?
Pick the entry that matches your device; each one opens the designs cut for it.
- Kindle Paperwhite 12th 7 inch -- also fits Coloursoft 2024 bodies of the same shell
- Kindle Paperwhite 11th 6.8 inch
- Kindle Paperwhite 10th 6 inch -- the 2018 model, sold as Paperwhite 4
- Kindle Paperwhite 7th 6 inch -- the older curved-back Paperwhites
- Kindle Basic 11th 6 inch
- Kindle 10th 6 inch
- Kindle Coloursoft 7 inch
- Kindle Oasis 2 and 3
- Kobo Clara Colour, Clara 2E and Clara BW
- Kobo Libra Colour and Libra 2
Kobo readers are a separate shell from Kindle even where the screen size is identical, so match the brand as well as the size.
What happens if I order the wrong model?
A plain case can be returned under our Shipping & Returns policy. A case personalised with a name or initials cannot be resold, so it is not returnable -- which is exactly why the model check is worth doing before you order rather than after. If the device you are buying for is someone else's, the account method above takes about a minute and removes the guesswork entirely.