The second-generation Amazon Fire TV was a minor update to the first-generation product, but what it added, a microSD card slot, was a pretty nice upgrade feature. The microSD card slot is almost essential if you want to download a lot of apps and games to use on your Fire TV (2nd Gen). With only 8GB of internal storage and much less than that available to use, you could soon wipe that out with a few large games.
Products used in this guide
- Never run out of space: SanDisk 200GB Ultra Micro SDXC UHS-I Memory Card (opens in new tab) ($27 at Amazon)
- Record and save in the cloud: Amazon Fire TV Recast (opens in new tab) ($230 at Amazon)
How to move your Fire TV (2nd Gen) apps to a microSD card
The first thing you need to do is to snag a microSD card. Amazon has a huge offering at often ridiculous prices, so use the link below to help find something suitable.
When you've got a microSD card installed it will just work and new content will automatically use it as the default storage location. If you started using the Fire TV before you put a microSD card in then you might need to move stuff over yourself.
Here's how you do it.
- First, ensure you've inserted the microSD card correctly in the slot on the rear of the Fire TV.
- Scroll down all the way to the bottom of the home screen until you get to Settings.
- Then, scroll across until you see Applications.
- At the bottom of the list, you now want to select the option labeled Manage installed applications.
- Select the app you want to move to the SD card.
- Select Move to SD card and let the Fire TV do its thing.
That's all there is to it. Not all the data will move to the microSD card; some still needs to remain on the Fire TV internal storage. However, it'll seriously relieve the pressure on the 5.5GB or so of storage you have available out of the total 8GB. New apps should automatically start to download to the card, but if not you can always move them across using the steps here.
Our top equipment picks
Get yourself a beefy microSD card and an Amazon Fire TV Recast to make sure you have all of your apps and content backed up on your Fire TV (2nd Gen).
Get all the memory you need
Snag this Class 10 A1 microSD card for under $30 from Amazon. It offers read speeds up to 100MB/s and comes with a 10-year limited warranty.
Prices on microSD cards continue to fall, and SanDisk makes some of the best in the business. You can always find great deals on cards of various capacities here on Android Central or at Thrifter.com.
Additional Equipment
One way to save some hard drive space is to store your shows in the cloud. With a Fire TV Recast, you can record live TV and watch it on any compatible Fire TV or Echo Show device, as well as Fire Tablets, and the Fire TV app.
Fire TV Recast (opens in new tab) ($230 at Amazon)
This next-generation DVR allows you to watch and record live TV via your Fire TV, Fire Tablet, or Echo Show devices whenever you want.
