In this post, we will look at how to fix Firestick low storage issues. Being a Firestick or Fire TV owner, you’re probably already aware of the space limitations. Maybe you’re getting buffering, lag, or a constant message on the screen that you’re critically low on storage. If you are experiencing any of these issues, look at this guide for some hints, tips and tricks to resolve them.
Table of Contents
Most Firestick and Fire TV devices, including the most popular model, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, only have 8 GB of internal storage. Unfortunately, however, only about 5.5 GB are usable. Operating system software takes up the remaining space.
Why You Need to Free Up Space on Firestick
Low storage issues on Firesticks can lead to and create many problems, such as:
- Lag, buffering and glitches when navigating your Firestick or streaming videos.
- Apps not operating correctly or taking a long time to load.
- Random restarts of your Firestick.
- Problems updating the operating software to the latest version.
- Installation errors when downloading new apps from the App Store or sideloading your jailbroken Firestick. There needs to be enough storage space to complete the installation.
If you’re experiencing any of these issues, you could need to free up space. Keep reading to find out how.
Check Remaining Firestick Storage
To determine if low Firestick storage is an issue, check how much storage space you have left.
Go into your Firestick Settings > My Fire TV > About > Storage.
The amount of internal storage space available will be displayed on the screen’s right side. Ideally, you should ensure that your Firestick always has at least 500 MB of space available to avoid running into problems.
Video - Fix Firestick Low Storage
If you’d prefer to follow the video tutorial, then look at the video.
Or, keep reading to follow a step-by-step written guide instead.
#1 - Fix Firestick Low Storage
Uninstall Apps
We can first look at uninstalling apps you no longer need or use. I know this one seems obvious, but you may have apps you’ve installed and forgotten about, and it’s super easy to check and uninstall them.
When you go into your apps screen, you expect ALL installed applications to be shown here. But this is not always the case, especially if you have sideloaded apps. Plus, you might have apps with a greyed-out icon, and you can’t remember what they are or if you still need them.
The best way to look at all your installed apps is to go into your Firestick Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications.
From there, you can carefully review each installed app and decide whether to keep it. You may be surprised at what apps you had installed that you forgot about and want to uninstall. Tap the play/pause button on your remote to uninstall the app. Repeat this for all apps that you no longer use or need.
#2 - Fix Firestick Low Storage
Clean Up Your Firestick
The second thing to try is to use a multi-utility tool to have a good cleanup of your Firestick, such as DefSquid.
DefSquid features a cleaner that will scan your Firestick for junk files, remove them, and boost your device by analysing and improving system resources.
You can also use DefSquid to force close apps that are open and running in the background.
And you can run a deep scan and virus check of your Firestick to check for any malicious or suspicious apps that may be using system resources and causing it to run slowly.
However, one thing that DefSquid does not do is clear the cache, as permissions to do this on Firesticks cannot be accessed by other apps. The cache can only be cleared on Firesticks manually.
What is Cache?
Cache is created to temporarily save data when you use apps or browsers and is junk taking up space on your firestick. However, some cache is good as it helps your Firestick run faster and open apps quicker. But in instances where the cache has built to a large amount, you may want to clear it, as it can affect your device performance if it starts to run low on storage.
In instances where the cache has built to a large amount, you may want to clear it, as it can affect your device performance if it starts to run low on storage.
To clear cache from your apps, go into your Firestick Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications. Select an app, then tap the rewind button on your remote. As storage is quite limited on the Firestick, I recommend clearing any cache larger than 100 MB if you’re running low on space.
#3 - Fix Firestick Low Storage
Check Your Firestick Folders
The third thing to try is to use a file explorer app to check folders on your Firestick. You may have used apps to download something, record a show, or transferred photos or video files to your Firestick.
And, sometimes, when uninstalling an app, some files and folders can remain, hiding and taking up valuable storage space.
I prefer to use an app called X-plore which you can get from the Amazon App Store or my Downloads page.
With X-Plore open, you can look through your Firestick Internal Shared Storage. You can delete anything that shouldn’t be there and look inside folders to find hidden or forgotten files.
If you have a Download or Downloader folder, look inside these to check if anything can be removed. Press and hold the select button on your remote when highlighted over the folder or file you want to remove and choose DELETE.
#4 - Fix Firestick Low Storage
Expand Your Firestick Storage
If you want to expand your Firestick storage, you can add a USB port. You can then attach a USB storage drive to share and access video files or save downloaded files, so you don’t take up space on your Firestick.
Extra storage can be added to any Firestick, Fire Cube or Fire TV running software version Fire OS 5 and above. If you would like more information on how to add storage, please refer to the guide below.
#5 - Fix Firestick Low Storage
Factory Reset Your Firestick
If all else fails and you still suffer from storage and slow performance issues with your Firestick, then your only solution may be to perform a factory reset. This will completely wipe everything on your Firestick and restore it to factory defaults so it will revert to exactly how it was when you first took it out of the box.
To perform a factory reset, go into your Firestick Settings > My Fire TV > Reset to Factory Defaults.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, these hints and tips have helped resolve any low storage issues you may have with your Firestick, Fire Cube or Fire TV. So, check them out and let me know which tips helped you the most by leaving a comment below. Also, if something needs to be added to this guide, share your suggestions below.
