In this guide, I will teach you how to speed up a slow FireStick that has become inconvenient to use. The tips and tricks mentioned here also work on other Amazon Fire TV products, like the Fire TV Cube, FireStick 4K, and FireStick Lite.
Amazon FireStick devices are undoubtedly the best in the streaming business. But like other electronic devices, FireSticks are far from being perfect. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a great device! However, your FireStick will inevitably start to show its age.
Trying to stream with a slow FireStick can be seriously frustrating. But if you’re already thinking of trading in your FireStick, I suggest you hold your horses.
Why Is My FireStick So Slow?
If your FireStick slows down or lags, it could be due to various reasons, like multiple apps running in the background, old firmware, cache, or automatic app updates.
If it sounds too technical for you, trust me, it’s not!
Moreover, I’m here to help you resolve your issue. With a few tweaks and tinkering, you can get your old FireStick device back to normal.
Attention, FireStick Users!
Governments and ISPs constantly monitor your online activity, and accessing copyrighted content on your Fire TV Stick could lead to serious trouble. Currently, your IP is visible to everyone. I strongly recommend getting the best FireStick VPN to mask your IP address and securely stream your favorites.
I personally use ExpressVPN, the fastest and most secure VPN available. Not only is it easy to install on any device, it comes with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus, if you're not 100% satisfied, you can always get a refund. ExpressVPN is currently also offering a whopping 3 extra months free on their annual plan!
Read: How to Install and Use Best VPN for FireStick
How to Speed Up a Slow FireStick
If your FireStick has slowed down over time, follow the steps below to make it run faster.
1. Restart/Reboot Your FireStick
Restarting/rebooting your FireStick is the most common method when it comes to troubleshooting Fire TV devices. Apps running in the background can decrease your FireStick’s speed and cause other performance issues, like lagging and crashing. Restarting the device could resolve many of those issues.
Once your device is back to normal, you should still perform a reboot once in a while to make sure it keeps running without performance issues.
Here’s a guide that covers step-by-step instructions to reboot FireStick.
2. Remove Unwanted Apps
Deleting unused apps is the first and best way to speed up your FireStick device. Why? These apps occupy some part of your device’s storage (ROM) unnecessarily. And if the apps get updates regularly, the system will download and install them automatically. On top of that, these apps keep running in the background, resulting in the consumption of RAM. All these could slow down your device.
Here’s how you can delete/uninstall apps from FireStick.
3. Clear Cache of Apps
After removing the unnecessary apps, you will be left with only apps that you will be using frequently. These apps might have built up a lot of cache with time and contributed to the poor performance of the device. I would suggest clearing the cache of all the leftover apps on your FireStick.
4. Keep Your FireStick Up to Date
It is crucial to keep your device updated not only to optimize its performance but to keep away the security loopholes, malware threats, and other bugs that can slow down your device. Making sure your FireStick is running on the latest software version can improve its speed.
Check out my guide to learn how to update FireStick OS to its latest version.
Now that you have the latest firmware, see if your FireStick is any faster!
5. Disable Automatic App Updates
Most apps, both official and third-party, are updated from time to time. To make things easier for you, devices these days come with the option to update apps automatically. Even though it is convenient, you may want to disable the option for various reasons, such as your FireStick slowing down. You can turn off automatic app updates by following the steps below.
1. Launch your FireStick.
2. From your home screen, locate and choose Settings on the far right.
3. Select the Applications tile.
4. Select Appstore.
5. Click Automatic Updates to turn the option OFF.
6. Turn Off Collect App Usage Data
This may not seem directly related to speeding up your FireStick, but anything your FireStick does will consume system resources. Therefore, disabling features that don’t benefit you can improve the functionality of your FireStick.
Plus, as a FireStick user, everyone should know about this setting. By default, Amazon collects data about your app usage, but you can turn it off to maintain privacy. According to Amazon, the company collects information in order to improve its apps and enhance the user experience. If you are generous enough, let the setting be. If you’re not comfortable with it and want to see if disabling it will speed up your device, follow the steps below.
1. From the FireStick home screen, go to Settings.
2. Select the Preferences tile.
3. Click on Privacy Settings.
4. If the Collect App Usage Data setting is ON, click on it to turn it off.
5. Click Turn Off.
6. Make sure the setting is now OFF.
7. The Last Resort — Factory Reset
If you’ve tried the methods above and your FireStick is still lagging, you may need to perform a factory reset. Yes, you heard me right. This is the last resort! Factory resetting the device should help boost performance. However, this will restore your device to the condition the manufacturer shipped it in. You’ll lose all your data in the process. Make sure you know your Amazon account login and Wi-Fi password so you can re-enter them after the reset.
Here’s how to reset your FireStick to factory defaults.
Highly recommended if streaming with free or low-cost services 👇
How to Stream on FireStick Anonymously
As soon as you install the right apps, your FireStick is all ready to stream your favorite content. However, before you start, I would like to warn you that everything you stream online is visible to your ISP and Government. This means, streaming free movies, TV shows, Sports might get you into legal trouble.
Thankfully, there is a foolproof way to keep all your streaming activities hidden from your ISP and the Government. All you need is a good VPN for Fire Stick. A VPN will mask your original IP which is and will help you bypass Online Surveillance, ISP throttling, and content geo-restrictions.
I personally use and recommend ExpressVPN, which is the fastest and most secure VPN. It is compatible with all kinds of streaming apps and is very easy to install on Fire TV / Stick.
We do not encourage the violation of copyright laws. But, what if you end up streaming content from an illegitimate source unintentionally? It is not always easy to tell the difference between a legit and illegal source.
So, before you start streaming on your Fire Stick / Fire TV, let’s see how to use ExpressVPN to keep your streaming activities hidden from prying eyes.
Step 1: Subscribe to ExpressVPN HERE. It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Meaning, you can use it free for the first 30-days and if you are not satisfied with the performance (which is highly unlikely), you can ask for a full refund.
Step 2: Power ON your Fire TV Stick and go to Find followed by Search option.
Step 3: Now type “Expressvpn” (without quotes) in the search bar and select ExpressVPN when it shows up in the search results.
Step 4: Click Download to install the ExpressVPN app on Fire TV / Stick.
Step 5: Open the app and enter the login credentials that you created while buying the ExpressVPN subscription. Click Sign in.
Step 6: Click the Power icon to connect to a VPN server. That’s all. Your connection is now secure with the fastest and best VPN for FireStick.
You can also read more detailed info on using ExpressVPN with Fire TV / Stick.
Wrapping Up
Buying a new FireStick every time it slows down isn’t reasonable. In this guide, I showed you how to speed up a slow FireStick device in various ways. These methods are easy to perform and don’t require any technical knowledge beyond the instructions I provided. If you have any tips for speeding up a FireStick, do let us know in the comment section below.
Related:
- How to Set up Amazon Fire TV Stick for the First Time
- How to Jailbreak Amazon FireStick for Free Movies, Shows, and Live Channels
- Best FireStick Ethernet Adapter & How to Set Up
- How to Stop Buffering on FireStick
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