When it comes to the convenience of streaming, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick is one of the most popular and practical choices. It offers an array of premium channels and all you really need is a solid internet connection.
Whether you want to download more channels or just make sure that your content runs uninterrupted, without a hitch, you should always be certain to have enough space on your Fire Stick. So, what do you have to do to ensure that your Fire Stick runs smoothly?
Clear Cache
Fire TV Stick, just like any other streaming device, must have enough processing memory to stream the videos you watch. Some of them can stream in 4K as well. But, if you’re experiencing issues like lagging, and apps crashing, perhaps it’s time to clear the cache. Often, this relatively simple procedure does the trick and you can resume streaming without issues.
Cache is the data apps temporarily store on your device, like Fire Stick, while it’s working. The good news is that you can clear cache from your Fire Stick, but the bad news you can’t do it all at once. You need to go through each app and clear cache separately. This is what you need to do to clear cache on your Fire Stick:
- Click on the Home button and go to Settings.
- Find “Applications” and then select “Manage Installed Applications”.
- Select each app you want, and then select “Clear cache”.
- To go back and repeat the process with the different app, just press back button on your remote and start again.
If an app still isn’t working right after you’ve cleared cache, you can go back and clear data. This will free even more space from your Fire Stick, but will simultaneously erase all your personal data and return the app to its default state.
Delete Apps
Sometimes just clearing cache isn’t enough. You require more space for your Fire Stick to download more apps. Or just to make sure the apps you do have are working optimally. Well, the trick to downloading more apps is to delete any unused apps.
There’s a chance that an app you’ve never used and have no intention of using, is taking up a lot of space on your Fire Stick. If you want to check how big each app is, this is what you need to do:
- Go to Home on your remote and follow the route Settings>Applications>Manage Applications.
- Go up and down with your remote and check each installed app. You’ll be able to see its size and the data it holds.
- To remove the app, simply select the one you want and select “Uninstall”. Then confirm, just select “Uninstall” again.
In case you find yourself frustrated because you can’t uninstall a certain app, unfortunately, that’s just how it is. Fire Stick comes with a certain number of pre-installed apps that you can’t get rid of.
Factory Reset
No one’s favorite solution, but it usually solves the issue that can’t be solved otherwise. You might have freed up a lot of space on your Fire Stick by clearing cache and removing unused apps. But you could still experience troubles adding more apps to your Fire Stick. Or the device is just not performing as it should. In cases like these, returning the Fire Stick to its default settings can be immensely helpful. To go through this process, this is what you need to do:
- Press the Home button on your Fire Stick remote.
- Find Settings and then “My Fire TV”.
- Select “Reset to Factory Defaults”. And then continue to select “Reset”.
Now all you have to do is wait for your Fire TV Stick to perform the factory reset. Once it’s done, you’ll be able to go through the setup and download all the apps you want.
Plenty of Space for Entertainment
An Amazon Fire TV Stick comes with limited storage. For the most part, you probably won’t have any issues with free space. But people who stream a lot can accumulate a lot of cache. This can clog the streaming process and make your Fire Stick lag. It can also prevent you from downloading more apps.
So, make sure you clear cache, delete the unused apps, and if all else fails, perform the factory reset.
Let us know what you think about freeing up space on the Fire Stick in the comments section below.
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7 thoughts on “How to Free Up Space on Your Amazon Fire Stick”
This happens EVERY Christmas. Amazon loads our devices with ads and other things (forgive that “other things” would be too lengthy to list… when we purchased Fire products we didn’t realize we were purchasing a box of ads).
I’ve been dealing with this issue for 4 years now and every year it’s gotten worse. This year it’s to the point that I can barely run ONE Add-on after deleting 9 others. NINE! That shows how much crap amazon puts in while you’re not looking.
For reference:
Hardware:
CURRENTLY have six 2nd generation FireTVs with 64 to 128 GB SD cards. I also have one 3rd generation (piece of crap).
Subscriptions:
Real-Debrid
TraktTV
ExpressVPN
As mentioned, every single Christmas all of the 2nd Generation FTVs have issues. It’s ALWAYS the same…too much data. I cleared all but three add-ons to no resolution.
Out of nowhere the boxes only work well with amazon programming.
I’m done. I doubt there’s a solution to the issue. I’ve tried for 4 years to resolve and nothing works.
I’m going to try alternative boxes. Amazon has just gotten WAY too far up our antenna.
There’s a veritable sea of alternative boxes out there.
It WAS an amazing product but this Christmas Amazon stuffed all of my FireTVs full of so much bloatware & nonsense. Can’t even run ONE of my own add-ons efficiently.
Truth be told… The Fire products are just advertisements in a box that we were stupid enough to actually pay for.
I’m investigating alternative boxes. Seems there are LOTS of them but most run stock. Xaomi runs tv adaptable. I’ll start there.
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