If your Amazon Fire TV Stick has been slow or unresponsive or is freezing too often lately, it is time for the FireStick to be reset to factory defaults.
To reset an Amazon FireStick is an absolutely simple and easy task. It does not make a difference as to which model of the FireStick you own. Suppose you have FireStick 2nd Gen, FireStick 4K, Fire TV Cube, or any of the Old Firestick models, in that case, the methods and options below will work for your device and ensure it’s better and smoother functioning resulting in an uninterrupted watch experience for you.
What is the Need to Reset FireStick?
What ‘reset to factory defaults’ simply means is to go back to square one, i.e., your FireStick would become like a new one just as it was when you first bought your Fire TV Stick. Sometimes when your FireStick begins to give trouble, resetting the device to factory defaults is the only and the best option left.
Now, how would you know if your FireStick requires to go back to factory defaults? If your Amazon FireStick faces any of the following problems, you should try bringing it to factory defaults to restore your Fire Stick to its normal functioning.
Running out of storage
Out of the few shortcomings the Fire TV Stick has, storage is a prominent one. The FireStick 2nd Gen and FireStick 4K gives you a storage space of 8 GB each, while the Fire TV Cube offers you a 16 GB storage capacity.
However, a good 30% of the space is occupied by the OS and system files, which leave you with about 5 GB of space for your favorite apps in case of the FireStick 2nd Gen and Fire TV Stick 4K and about 11 GB of free space if you own a Fire TV Cube for you to install and browse your genre of entertainment material.
A lot of space is also blocked by the cache and residual junk, which are hidden factors that block space on your device. The users often overlook these factors as they are not prominently visible but end up blocking a bulk amount of space on your FireStick, leading to slow performance and hindering you from accessing more amazing shows, movies, music, games, and more.
So, when you do not find a way to free up space for more apps and entertainment, a factory reset should be the best choice for you. The reset will help you not miss a lot of amazing stuff to experience!
Slow Performance
Has your FireStick become slow and does not give as smooth and powerful a performance as it did before? If this is the case, your Fire TV Stick needs to be refreshed.
Suppose you have tried restarting/rebooting your FireStick, but the device still has not shown significant improvement in its performance, again. In that case, a reset to factory settings will give your FireStick device a great performance boost and, in turn, give you a smoother and uninterrupted experience. You will not have to struggle with your device by restarting it now and then.
Frozen/Unresponsive FireStick
Whenever your FireStick freezes while watching a show or becomes unresponsive and does not respond to your FireStick remote, you might have tried unplugging or restarting/rebooting your FireStick, none of which helps at times. The interruption becomes extremely annoying if you’re in the middle of a climax scene, and there your FireStick freezes.
Again, in such a case, you must try restoring your Fire TV to its factory settings, which will make your device faster and free of unnecessary interruption.
Now that you know when to reset your device, you must be thinking this might be a cumbersome task; but just so you know, it is not, and we will guide you through this.
How to Reset FireStick?
Primarily, there are two ways by which you could bring your device to factory defaults.
- Using the FireStick Settings
- With the help of FireStick Remote
Let us guide you through the steps involved in each method.
Method 1: Reset FireStick from Settings
The Settings menu on the home screen of your Firestick has all the information and control of your device; the reset option is one of them.
To change the factory settings of your FireStick, follow the below guide:
- You first need to go to the home screen of the FireStick device.
- Next, you see several options at the upper left corner of the home screen, including Home, Movies, Shows, Apps, and Settings. So, you need to click the right button on the ‘Settings’ tab.
- After you click on Settings, you need to scroll to the right on your screen, where you will see the My Fire TV option among the several options. Click on the My Fire TV option. You will then see a set of certain options. Now, you need to scroll to the bottom and click Reset to Factory Defaults.
- Next, you will see a pop-up window on your screen where you are asked for confirmation because a factory reset removes all your personal preferences and information. Click Reset to continue.
This is all you need to do to factory reset your FireStick. After you click Reset, your FireStick begins to reset. It may take a few minutes for the process to complete. You need to make sure that you do not unplug the FireStick or disturb the process.
Now, you must be pondering how to reset your FireStick if your device is frozen or is unresponsive. Well, we have a way for that too. Read the below guide and follow the steps to reset your device.
Method 2: Reset FireStick directly with the remote
If your Firestick is frozen or unresponsive, you cannot go on to navigate the home screen and take the above way.
Hence, as an alternative, you can also reset your FireStick with the remote. Read the short guide below to know what to do.
First, you obviously need to make sure that your remote has charged batteries.
Next, you need to hold down the Right Button and the Back Button on your remote navigation ring together.
The buttons on your remote should be kept pressed for at least 10 seconds(or more at times) to begin the reset.
After a few seconds, you will see the reset notification on your screen.
What to do next after the Reset?
After you have reset the factory settings of your Firestick, your fire TV becomes like the one you had bought for the first time. You can install your favorite apps again to watch your preferred content, jailbreak your Firestick, reinstall the VPN.
You will need to set up your Firestick like you did when you first bought it to start using it.
Let’s guide you through what you would have to do after the reset.
1.Set up your FireStick
As mentioned, you will be required to set up your Firestick as you did initially. To know what exactly is needed to be done, read on.
- First, plug the Firestick into your television’s HDMI port, or you could use the HDMI extender to connect it to your television.
- Turn your television ON and open the corresponding HDMI input channel.
- Next, you need to connect your Firestick to the power source.
- Finally, wait for the Firestick to power up.
Note that there should be a strong Wi-Fi connection within the firestick range during the setup.
2.Reinstall the VPN
If you were using third-party APKs for streaming free content and apps, you would be needed to first reinstall the VPN app and connect to a server.
If you do not have a VPN already, you could check out the several third-party apps listed below:
- ExpressVPN
- Cinema APK
- CyberFlixTV
- TyphoonTV
- UnlockMyTV
- BeeTV
- TitaniumTV
However, you are recommended to try the ExpressVPN site to ensure utmost privacy and safety. You could try it for the first 30 days to ensure a risk-free experience.
3.Jailbreak your Firestick
“Jailbreak” is something you cannot miss after you have reset the FireTV if you want to avail yourself the benefit of using free streaming apps and watch free material like sports, news, movies, shows, etc., on your screen.
If the term sounds technical and complicated to you, do not worry because jailbreaking does not require any technical knowledge or expertise. It simply means to install the free streaming apps or third-party APKs that will have rights reserved for you to browse free material.
Jailbreaking will not harm your device at any point whatsoever.
4.Get your favorite apps back
Now that you have set up your Firestick after the reset procedure and installed all the required apps to begin streaming your favorite shows and your favorite app, you will have to install the app of the choice of your desired genre.
For cinema and movies, you could use Cinema HD APK, Titanium TV, Cyberflix TV. Redbox TV, Mobdro for Live TV and sports, and apps like File Linked and Mouse Toggle if you want utility apps.
Now, if none of the methods of how to reset Firestick works for you, or if you cannot use your Firestick remote for the factory settings for some reason, we have an alternative for you.
To know how to reset a firestick, read below.
How to reset FireStick without Remote
As said, if you are unable to use your remote, you can use my Fire TV app available for both Android and iOS. It is also available for all Kindle handled devices.
Still, you will have to reset your Firestick using the physical remote at a later stage, so if your remote is damaged or is not working anymore, you are requested to manage a remote as its a necessity. You could either buy a new one or borrow one from someone you know would possess one.
Final Words
Conclusively, if you’re struggling with your Firestick in terms of speed or performance, resetting your Firestick factory settings is the best and easiest way to increase the efficiency and speed of your Firestick substantially.
If you have been trying to find a solution to your Firestick problems and have been navigating from site to site in search of a substantial solution or a proven method that would work for your Firestick, or if you were searching for how to reset Firestick, your search ends here.
A reset will make your streaming experience more cinematic and lively, and the Dolby Atmos sound system you Firestick gives you will make your experience even better after a reset. Thus, we suggest that you should consider a reset in case your Firestick is troubling you.