How to Clear Cache on a Firestick (2026)

A Firestick has very little storage, usually 8GB with far less actually free. As apps fill it with temporary files, everything slows down: menus lag, apps crash, and IPTV starts to stutter. Clearing the cache is the quickest fix, takes two minutes, and doesn't delete anything you need.

Cache vs data: know the difference first

• Clear cache removes temporary files. It is always safe. Your logins and settings stay.
• Clear data resets the app completely, as if newly installed. You'll need to enter your IPTV login again, and any favourites stored in the app will be lost.

Always try clear cache first. Only use clear data if an app is still misbehaving, and make sure you have your login details to hand.

How to clear an app's cache

1. From the home screen, open Settings (the gear icon)
2. Select Applications
3. Select Manage Installed Applications
4. Scroll to the app, for example your IPTV player, and select it
5. Choose Force stop
6. Choose Clear cache

The cache figure on the right should drop to zero. Repeat for other heavy apps. Streaming apps and browsers tend to build up the most.

Check how much storage is free

Go to Settings → My Fire TV → About → Storage. As a rule of thumb, a Firestick runs best with at least 1GB free. Below about 500MB, expect slowdowns and failed app updates.

Free up more space

• Uninstall apps you don't use. In Manage Installed Applications, select the app and choose Uninstall.
• Delete installer files. If you installed apps with Downloader, the installer files stay on the stick. Open Downloader, go to Files and delete them.
• Remove old recordings. If your IPTV app records to internal storage, clear out what you've watched.

Restart afterwards

A restart clears the memory as well as the storage. Go to Settings → My Fire TV → Restart. Or hold the Select and Play/Pause buttons together for about five seconds.

How often should you do it?

There's no need to do it daily. Once a month, or whenever the stick starts to feel slow, is plenty. A weekly restart does more good than constant cache clearing.

If IPTV is still slow afterwards

If clearing the cache and freeing storage doesn't help, the cause is probably elsewhere:

• Power the stick from the mains adapter, not the TV's USB port
• Check your Wi-Fi signal, or use an Ethernet adapter
• Run our IPTV speed check to confirm your connection is fast enough

Our guide to IPTV buffering on Firestick covers each of these in depth. If your stick is an older model that struggles even after a clean-up, the newer 4K models are noticeably faster and worth the upgrade.

New to IPTV on Firestick? Follow our Firestick setup guide, then start a 6-hour free trial to see it running on your own TV.