How To Force Close Apps on the Firestick

You might need to force an app closed manually on the Firestick if the app becomes frozen or is not responding. Force closing apps can also increase speed, free up available memory, and saves processing power. This can make other apps perform much better.

In this post, we’ll show you two methods you can use to easily force close apps on the Amazon Firestick.


Closing Apps on Fire TV/Firestick

  1. Press the Home button on the remote to get to the Home screen.
  2. Select Settings ⚙️.
  3. Choose Applications.
    FireTV Settings Applications Option
  4. Select Manage Installed Applications.
    FireTV Manage Installed Applications
  5. Choose the app you wish to close. In our example, we are using Netflix.
    Netflix App Selection in FireTV Settings
  6. Select Force stop. The app will be closed. No message will appear on the screen to confirm this, which can make this process confusing. Once you have selected Force stop, you’ll just have to trust that the app is closed.
    Force Closing App on FireTV

I hope these steps have helped you figure out how to force close apps on the Firestick, and the device is performing better than it has previously. Feel free to leave me a note in the comments if it did or didn’t work for you.


FAQ

How do I see the apps that are running in the background on Fire TV?

The Firestick doesn’t come with a way to view apps that are actively running on the device. You’ll need a third-party solution.

You can download and install the Background Apps and Process List app from the Amazon Appstore. This has been trusted by Android, Firestick, and Fire tablet users for years.

When you launch the Background Apps and Process List app, it displays list of apps that are running in the background on Fire TV. This interface makes it much easier to close multiple apps at once. You can select the apps you wish to close from the main screen, then select Force Stop just like the steps in Step 5 as shown in the above tutorial.

Apps Listed in Background Apps and Process List App FireTV

Unfortunately, there is no (one and done) type of button or feature to allow you to instantly force stop all apps at once.

5 thoughts on “How To Force Close Apps on the Firestick”

  1. How do I GET TO THE HOME SCREEN!?!?!?!?!?!?!

    It’s no good telling me what to do “from the home screen”. The problem is I CAN’T GET TO THE HOME SCREEN!!!!

    Reply
  2. I keep running out of space on my Toshiba Fire TV. I’ve uninstalled the apps I don’t use but the next day I get the same message. Not being tech savvy, I don’t understand how it works.
    1. Does Force Stop make sure the app is no longer running? If I switch from Hulu to Netflix, how do I know if Hulu has stopped running?

    2. What does Force Stop mean? It stops the app from running but I don’t lose anything? Is that what Clear Cache does? How do I keep space to stream new movies?

    3. Why aren’t there instructions explaining this for FireTV? I purchased, installed and formatted an external memory stick. How do I move apps to it? Very frustrating without knowing what to do.

    Reply
  3. New to Firestick. One side of screen has bookmarks. Lower right says web browser. Lower left says Apps Market.
    How do I remove those so I can have a full screen.
    Some kids did something to my tv.

    Reply
  4. Background list is currently not working. It says my date and time is not correct.
    You need to update the app.
    I have uninstall the app and re download app and still doesn’t work….. 01-22-2023

    Reply

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