How to extract images from a MOBI without uploading it
Every "free" online MOBI tool you've used uploads your book to a company server, extracts it there, and — in several documented cases — keeps a copy or a live download link for days, or limits free users to a few conversions a month. For books you bought, were sent in confidence, or simply wouldn't post publicly, that's an unnecessary risk. The safer approach is to extract the file where it already is: on your own device.
This tool does exactly that. When you drop a MOBI here, your browser:
- Checks the file is really a MOBI book — by its magic bytes, not its name — so a JPEG renamed .mobi is refused with a clear message, a CBZ or plain .zip renamed .mobi is refused with a pointer at the CBR tools, an EPUB renamed .mobi is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from EPUB tool, a PDF renamed .mobi is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from PDF tool, a DOCX renamed .mobi is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from DOCX tool, an XLSX renamed .mobi is refused with a pointer at the Extract Images from XLSX tool, a legacy .doc is refused with instructions to convert it in Calibre first, and plain text is refused with an explanation instead of a cryptic error. A real MOBI saved with the wrong extension still extracts.
- Reads the book's own records in record order — the PalmDB record list, record 0's PalmDOC and MOBI headers, and the EXTH header are parsed, then every record from the first image index onward whose bytes match image magic is pulled out. Duplicate pictures are listed once and skipped, metadata records (FLIS, FCIS, INDX) are skipped silently, and DRM-protected books (EXTH types 401/402) and PalmDOC-encrypted books are refused with a clear message instead of a cryptic error.
- Hands you the originals — download one image and it saves as image-01, image-02 and so on in record order; download the book as a ZIP and every image is renamed the same way. Nothing is re-encoded, rasterized or resized at any point: the bytes you download are the bytes that were stored in the book.
What makes this extractor different
Most pages that top the results for this search convert on a server, or handle one file at a time with no previews — instead of handing you the images themselves. The desktop options are installs, not browser tools. This page does the simpler job, and does it fully in the browser: no upload, no monthly cap, no account, no 10 MB limit, a batch of 20 books, record order, sequential names on every download, duplicate pictures listed once, KF8/AZW3 books supported, and a live network-request counter so you can verify the privacy claim yourself.
Honest limitations
Verbatim means verbatim — no quality recovery
JPEG throws away detail when it compresses, and extracting cannot put it back. But nothing is lost either: the source bytes download unchanged, in every format. There is no quality setting because there is nothing to re-encode.
Metadata stays in the files
Extraction copies the stored bytes, so EXIF and other metadata inside each image is kept — including location data, if the image has any. The book's own text and formatting are never touched, but the images themselves are untouched too. Strip metadata yourself before sharing an image publicly.
HEIC preview
HEIC images are extracted as-is, exactly as stored. Most browsers cannot display HEIC, so the page shows a note instead of a broken image in that case, with the format and size shown. The file itself still downloads byte-for-byte and opens in any viewer that supports the format.
DRM-protected and encrypted books
A book whose EXTH header marks it as DRM (types 401/402), or whose PalmDOC header says it is encrypted, cannot be extracted — the images are locked inside the book. Only DRM-free books extract here. Remove the DRM in Calibre first, if you own the book and your local law allows it.
No text, linked images or reading order
This tool pulls out images only: it does not extract the book's text, it does not download pictures linked from the web (only embedded images have bytes inside the file), and it cannot put the images in reading order — a MOBI book stores no image reading order, only records. The first image is usually the cover, but that is not promised.
Record order, not reading order
Record order comes from the records in the order they sit in the file, from the first image index onward. A MOBI book stores no image reading order, so there is no reading order to follow — a picture in an earlier record comes out before a picture in a later record, whatever page it would print on.
Duplicate pictures and KF8/AZW3
A book sometimes stores the same picture twice — once in the MOBI6 section and again in the KF8 section — so the second copy is listed as skipped instead of extracted twice. An AZW3 book usually carries both sections in one file; this page scans every record from the first image index onward, so images from both sections come out, in record order.