Why Is My FireStick So Slow? Here's How to Speed Up (2024)

If your FireStick is slow, this guide will show you how to speed it up. The tips and tricks mentioned here also work on other Amazon Fire TV products, like the Fire TV Cube, FireStick 4K, New FireStick 4K, New FireStick 4K Max, and FireStick Lite.

Amazon Fire TVs are plug-and-play streaming devices that are portable, affordable, versatile, and compatible with any monitor or TV with an HDMI port. But like any other electronic device, they are prone to slowing down and causing glitches and malfunctions, destroying your streaming experience.

However, you can apply a few fixes to ensure your FireStick device runs smoothly.

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Here are reasons why using a VPN at all times is essential.

Read: How to Install and Use Best VPN for FireStick

Why Is My FireStick So Slow?

Here are the most common reasons why your FireStick is slow like a turtle:

Multiple apps running in the background
Outdated Fire OS
Too much cache accumulated by several apps
Apps set to automatic updates in the background
Device running low on storage
USB power source
Apps collecting data

How to Speed Up a Slow FireStick

Now that you know the possible causes of slowing down your FireStick, let’s explore the 9 ways to fix your streaming device.

1. Restart/Reboot Your FireStick

Restarting your FireStick usually fixes issues like lagging, freezing, app crashes, etc. It will also kill unnecessary background apps and refresh the OS.

This will hopefully solve the majority of your issues. You can also use apps like Task Killer and Background Apps & Processes to close apps occupying your device’s limited RAM.

2. Remove Unwanted Apps

Having sufficient storage and memory space in your device is essential to the smooth running of any Fire TV device. The device requires bandwidth to open, run apps, and stream content.

Too many unnecessary apps occupy the storage space, leaving the device without enough bandwidth to operate optimally, leading to lag.

If you believe low storage is why your FireStick is slow, try deleting some apps you don’t need, offloading them instead, or adding external storage to the device.

3. Clear App Cache

FireStick apps store cache to serve data faster in the future. However, a lot of accumulated cache can cause your FireStick to run low on storage, compromising its overall speed. So, it’s wise to clear the cache of apps you regularly use.

4. Keep Your FireStick Up to Date

It is crucial to keep your device updated to optimize its performance and avoid security loopholes, malware threats, and other bugs that can slow down your device.

Ensuring your FireStick runs on the latest software version can improve its speed.

5. Disable Automatic App Updates

FireStick and Fire TV devices allow you to update the official apps automatically, so you don’t have to manually update them individually.

While this feature is convenient, it may cause your FireStick to slow down during updates.

Note: I don’t recommend turning off automatic updates. If it is the reason why your FireStick is slow, once the update is over, your device will resume normal speed. The updates usually take only a few minutes.

However, if you still want to turn off automatic updates, here are the steps:

1. Launch your FireStick. From your home screen, locate and choose Settings on the far right.

2. Select the Applications tile.

3. Select Appstore.

4. Click Automatic Updates to turn the option OFF.

6. Turn Off Collect App Usage Data

The Data collection option may consume system resources and slow down your FireStick. Therefore, by disabling features that don’t benefit you, you can improve the device’s performance.

Amazon collects data about your app usage by default, but you can turn it off to maintain privacy. According to Amazon, the company collects information to improve its apps and enhance the user experience.

If you’re uncomfortable 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. Check your Internet Connection

An unstable or poor internet connection can also affect a FireStick’s speed and performance. If the connection is poor, apps take longer to load, and you may experience freezing when streaming. You can easily test internet connection speed on FireStick.

Your internet connection may be unstable because there are too many connected devices. You can fix this by reducing the number of devices connected to your home network.

Another way to fix a poor internet connection is to quickly reset your router by turning it off and on again. After that, reconnect the FireStick and see if the speed improves.

If the Fire TV is still slow, you may be experiencing signal interference from having too many barriers between the FireStick device and the router. Having your router in a central location with minimal distractions is crucial to ensuring the signal is distributed evenly within your house.

If no barriers interfere with the connection but it’s still unstable, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may be throttling your speed and causing your FireStick to slow down. In such a case, your best bet is to use a VPN or change your ISP.

8. Check for Overheating

FireSticks are tiny devices with almost no room for ventilation, which makes them prone to overheating. So, if your Fire TV runs for a long time or under a heavy load, it might be thermal throttling – slowing down to ensure the device returns to working temperature.

Inspect your FireStick and check if it’s getting hot. Then, switch off your device and disconnect it from your TV. Let your Fire TV cool down, reconnect it to your TV and power.

9. 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. This should help boost performance. However, this will restore your device to the condition the manufacturer shipped it in, and you’ll lose all your data in the process.

Ensure you know your Amazon account login and Wi-Fi password to re-enter them after the reset. Here’s how to reset your FireStick to factory defaults.

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 follow and don’t require any technical knowledge beyond the instructions I provided. If you have any other tips for speeding up a FireStick, do let us know in the comment section below.

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