It’s clear from sales and popularity alone that the vast majority of customers are extremely happy with Amazon’s range of digital streaming products, especially the newest Fire TV Stick 4K. Having said that, these devices certainly aren’t perfect. Various customers have pointed out a few ways that they could be improved. It’s mainly Amazon Fire TV not enough internal storage so you need to expand Fire TV Stick 4K internal storage.
Anyone who’s experienced with tech gadgets and devices will know that their advertised storage is often very different from their actual storage. The Fire TV Stick 4K external storage is no different. Although the device is advertised to have an internal storage of 8GB, due to its OS and pre-installed apps, users only have access to 5GB when using their Firestick.
That’s 40% less storage so you need to add storage to Firestick memory expansion! And worse yet, that 5GB becomes even less when you install a handful of go-to apps, such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, TV Player and more. But there’s a way around this.
Some users have found clever ways to expand Fire TV Stick 4K internal storage. They install applications on a separate Amazon Fire TV USB drive format that’s connected to the Fire TV Stick 4K. This is done as not to take up the Firestick’s own storage.
The following article will guide you through how this is done, and how you can increase Firestick storage to get the most out of it!
Choose a Good USB Drive
It’s worth noting, however, that this doesn’t work with all USB drives. Almost all USB 3.0 drivers worked just fine. But USB 2.0 and 1.0 had less of a success rate – though some of them did work.
Expand Fire TV Stick 4K Internal Storage
Here are the steps you should follow:
Before you continue to follow the step-by-step guide explained below, make sure to have enabled the apps from the unknown sources on your Firestick.
1. Launch FileLinked on your Firestick and enter the WebSafetyTips FileLinked code – 11111111(eight ones).
2. Scroll down until you find the Remote ADB Shell app. Click on it!
3. Go to INSTALL option.
6. Type 55555 in the indicated box, and select ‘Next’.
1. sm partition disk:8,0 mixed 50
If the name of the drive was ‘8,0’ then you can move to the next step with your Fire TV external hard drive. If not, you’ll be required to input the drive name before running the code. By choosing this method, you’ll be creating two partitions within your drive. For example, a 128GB 3.0 USB drive would be split equally, to make two partitions of 64GB each.
One of these partitions you will use for applications, whilst the other will store files. Many think this option is better suited (in comparison to ‘Option #2’ later in this article). There are a few reasons for that.
With this option, you can load both films, TV shows, and various other media from a computer. You play these files through one of the various media players available on the Firestick. You can move the media into the partition for storage so you can view it later. This is ideal for those with limited Internet access.
2. sm partition disk:8,0 private
In this case, you will format the entire disk for use as internal storage for running applications. This means you won’t be able to store media files for watching later. Whichever option you choose, type in the command you prefer, and select, ‘Run’.
What is the Location of the App Installation?
If all has worked correctly, each application that’s installed from now on should be stored within the ‘dm-2’ partition of your USB drive. But some users find that this doesn’t happen, and that various apps they install don’t run through the USB drive when they expand Fire TV Stick 4K internal storage.
In order to find out exactly which applications are running from within the USB drive, go to: ‘Settings’, and then select, ‘Applications’. Select ‘Manage Installed Applications’, and whichever apps are running from the USB drive will be indicated by a USB icon to the side of them.
If the author or creator of the application doesn’t specifically support the app to be run from Fire TV Stick external storage source, then the app will by default run only from internal storage. In case you find an app you downloaded isn’t running from a Fire TV USB storage drive, this will mean that the app’s developer hasn’t done this from within their code.
There are some apps that definitely support Amazon Fire Stick external storage such as ES File Explorer, or Philo. Download and install these apps and see if the USB icon appears next to them. If there are still issues, it’s possible to use Remote ADB Shell to have these apps moved to a USB drive.
Troubleshooting Tips
How can I make my external storage show up?
- Make sure everything is plugged in properly
- See if you have entered the right IP address
- Check if you have enough power as large storage devices require more power
- Plug in the power supply of your external storage device it if has any
- Format the external storage in FAT32 format
How to Manually Format Your External Storage Device Using Your PC or Laptop?
Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Connect your external storage device with your computer via the USB port
- Search for the icon of the USB drive and right click on it
- Click “Format”
- Select “FAT32” for the File System
- Select “Default Allocation Size”
- Enter a name for the “Volume Label”
- Click “Quick Format”
- Hit “Start”
- Click “Ok” when the warning shows up
- Your device is now formatted in the FAT32 format
How to Move Apps to the External Storage Device?
You can’t use Windows to format your external storage device in FAT32 format if it’s bigger than 32GB. In this case, you can use the AOMEI Partition Assistant software.
Here’s the download link: https://firetvsticks.com/aomei
Please follow these steps:
- Open the AOMEI Partition Assistant app on your PC or laptop
- Connect your external storage device with your PC or laptop
- Click Yes when the external device comes up
- Now the device will show up on the list of drives
- Right click on it and select “Format Partition”
- Enter a name for the Partition Label
- Select FAT32 for the file system
- Choose Default for the cluster size
- Click OK
- Now you need to confirm all this by clicking Apply at the top bar
- Click Proceed and then Yes
- Wait for the format to finish
If you followed all the steps correctly and you’re still having issues then you need to restart your Fire TV device and disconnect it from the power supply for at least 30 seconds.
Then plug the device in and try again. If you have any questions with any of the steps above, please drop us a comment below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Although it might seem like a lot to get your head around, there are ways around Amazon’s restrictions. By utilizing one of these methods, you can expand Fire TV Stick 4K Internal Storage, so you can run all your favorite apps, media, and whatever else, with no limitations!
What’s your experience with the Firestick 4K? Drop a comment below to let us know!
