AZW files are mainly used by the Amazon Kindle e-book reader and supported by applications for mobile devices called Kindle. E-books are stored in AZW files. Their structure is typical for this type of files and may have markers of chapters, subchapters, table of contents, search system, etc. AZW files can be downloaded, for example, from Amazon Marketplace or loaded to the device via a USB cable from a computer.

A large part of AZW files is protected with the DRM system. This allows publishers to protect their publications from unauthorized access to their content.