Guide to Expand the Storage of Your Android TV
Android TV is an excellent smart TV that can be connected with various tools and devices. These have become one of the most reliable smart TVs in the market. Every Android TV comes with a different level of storage which is useful for installing and storing different apps. Since every TV has its capacities and limitations, one might not be able to enjoy unlimited downloads. But you can certainly increase the storage space of your TV. Follow the guide to know all the basics and setup procedures.
To increase the storage of your Android TV, you can either add external storage to it or optimize its internal storage space. The easiest option is to delete unused apps and games from your TV. It will create more space for the things you want on your device. If your device is running on an Android TV operating system, follow the instructions given below:
- Switch on your Android TV and wait for the home screen to display.
- Now, go to the Settings menu appearing as a gear icon.
- Scroll down the page to go to the General Settings sub-section.
- Select Apps and click on See all apps.
- A list of all the apps will appear on your screen from where you can highlight and select the apps you want to remove.
- Then, click on Uninstall and hit the OK option.
Make sure you only uninstall the apps listed in the Installed Apps section. Removing any system apps can lead to more problems on your TV. Also, do not remove or disable any pre-installed apps. These steps will free up some space from the internal storage.
Guide to External Storage
It is relatively uncommon to know that an Android TV also supports all forms of File Allocation Table (FAT) external storage, including USB flash drives, external hard drives, and SD cards. The forms of external storage you can use is based on the device you use. Since all Android TV sticks do not include the necessary ports, you have to make sure that you check the ports of your device and then decide the type of Android TV storage you’d want to use. Feel free to use an adaptor or dongle to convert the ports according to your requirements.
External storage is formatted like internal storage to make it a part of your Android TV. It will enable you to store apps and games, but you cannot use external storage with any other device. Removing it will not prevent the apps and games from working. You can format the external storage as removable storage as well, but it is useful only if you install a lot of sideloaded apps. To use your external storage device as removable storage, you have to plug and eject it as required. But you have to use the following steps if you want to use the external storage as internal Android TV storage:
- Connect the external drive to your Android TV box and turn it on, if required.
- Open the Android TV Settings menu, and select Device Preferences using your remote.
- In the next menu, select Storage and find the name of your external storage drive that you recently connected to your Android TV device. After locating it, hit the Select button.
- Then, choose Set Up as Internal Storage and press Select on your remote.
- Wait for the procedure to complete.
Please note that despite having multiple USB/SD card ports on your box, most Android TV devices only allow you to format one external drive as internal storage. Also, you can use the first three steps only when your Android TV device fails to recognize the storage after plugging it.
Move Android TV Apps to An External Drive
After setting up the external storage, use the following steps to move apps and games to the new drive:
- Go to Settings and select General Settings. Navigate to Apps followed by [App Name] and select the Storage used.
- Now, select the desired new storage location from the list.
Note that some apps cannot be moved to external storage due to the coding of the app. If you’re determined to move those apps, we would recommend you to contact the app’s developer.
If you are formatting the external storage as removable storage, then you should also install a reliable file explorer for your TV. You can find some of the good ones in the Google Play Store. This guide will help you use external storage efficiently, and you can fix everything according to your preferences.
