Is your Firestick device running out of storage? Fire TV Stick has a maximum of 8GB of storage, out of which you can use only up to 4.5GB of space for internal storage. It is one of the big disadvantages, as you can download only a few apps. If the storage space is full, you will find several issues on the Firestick device. But what if I said you can add or expand the storage space of your Fire TV Stick? Yes, you can extend the storage of your Fire TV, Firestick Lite, Firestick 4K Max, and other Fire OS devices by connecting an external USB 3.0 Flash Drive.
To add or extend the storage of your Fire TV, you need a USB with 128 GB or less storage space. Make sure that the USB is FAT-32 formatted for better organization of files. Once you have the FAT-32 formatted USB, go through this guide and learn how to increase the storage space of Firestick or Fire TV.
How to Add Storage Space on FireStick [FireOS 7 or Higher]
You must take three major steps to add storage space to Firestick or Fire TV.
Connect and Set Up a USB Drive with Firestick
1. Disconnect the Firestick or Fire TV from the power source.
2. Connect the micro USB end of the OTG cable to the Fire TV Stick.
3. Insert the power cable of the Fire TV Stick adaptor into the USB port of the OTG cable.
4. Now, get the USB Flash drive and insert it into the OTG Cable.
5. Connect the Firestick power adaptor to the wall outlet and turn it On.
Note: If you use a Fire TV, just plug the USB drive into the respective port on the TV.
Change USB Drive to Internal Storage
1. Turn on your Fire TV and head to the Firestick Settings.
2. Under the Settings section, choose the My Fire TV tile.
3. Go to the USB drive option.
4. You will now see the option: Format to Internal Storage. Tap it and click OK.
5. Now, the USB drive will be formatted, and it will be added as the Internal Storage space.
Move Firestick Apps to USB Drive
1. Go to the Firestick Settings and choose the Applications tile.
2. Tap the Manage Installed Applications option.
3. Click Show and choose the All Applications option to view all the installed apps on the Fire TV Stick.
4. Go back and pick the app you want to add to the USB storage space.
5. Scroll down on the app info page and select Move to USB Storage.
6. Now, the application will be added to the USB Storage space. Repeat the steps and add many apps to free up the storage space on Firestick or Fire TV.
Once done, navigate to the Show section and click the option USB Only to view all the apps stored on the USB drive.
How to Expand the Storage Space of Fire TV Stick [FireOS 5 & 6]
The above method for adding storage to your Fire TV will work only for the devices that run on FireOS 7 or higher. If you have a Fire TV that has FireOS 5 or 6, you will not be able to add storage to it as they do not have the storage expansion feature. In this case, you need the Remote ADB app to add storage to the Fire TV.
Before proceeding with the steps, connect the USB drive to the Firestick or Fire TV using the steps mentioned above.
1. Get the Downloader app on your Firestick from the Amazon App Store.
2. Go to Settings → Click My Fire TV → Tap Developer options → Enable ADB debugging. Then, enable the downloader to install unknown apps.
3. After doing it, note down the IP address on Firestick by navigating to the About section and selecting the option Network.
4. Launch the Downloader app and enter the Remote ADB APK URL in the search bar.
5. Click the Go button after entering the APK URL in the search bar.
6. The Remote ADB APK file will be downloaded on your Firestick. Tap the Install button to download the app.
Convert the USB Drive to Internal Storage
7. Open the Remote ADB app on your Firestick.
8. Now, the Remote ADB app will show a message saying New Pair Key Generated. Tap OK.
9. Enter the noted IP address in the required field and select Next.
10. Finally, tap Connect and click OK on the pop-up messages shown.
11. Now, you’ll be shown a command prompt. Click the Select button to enter the command.
12. Enter sm list-disks in the prompt and tap Run to return the disk’s ID.
13. Note down the disk name that is displayed on the screen.
14. To format the entire USB drive to internal storage, enter the command: sm partition disk:* private. If you want to format the USB drive for both internal and external storage, type in the command: sm partition disk:* mixed 50.
Move the Apps to USB Drive
15. Open the Remote ADB app and enter df -h to get the partition ID ( ID of the path where you want to move the app).
16. Note down the partition ID to choose the path to move the apps.
17. Note down the Android package name of the specific app that you want to move.
18. In the command box, enter the command in the format: pm move-package+Android package name+partition ID (Omit the plus symbol).
19. Now, you will see the success message indicating that the app has been moved to the USB.
FAQ
1. Is it possible to add storage on the Firestick 1st generation?
No, it is not possible to add storage on Firestick 1st generation.
2. How do you free up storage space on Firestick 4K?
Clear the app cache and delete the apps on your Firestick to free up the storage space.
