It’s a surprisingly low number.
Smart TVs have become pretty common across buildings and households the world over, and by the end of 2026, over 50% of all households globally are expected to own one, up from 34% in 2020. Smart TVs are popular for many reasons, including voice assistants, regular software updates and easy internet access, which allows viewers to stream their favorite shows without using a dongle or external device. But such beloved features need an OS (operating system) to run. And an OS needs storage space to occupy and operate in. Yet, most smart TVs ship with surprisingly little storage.
Typically, new smart TVs ship with around 8GB of storage, and the OS alone takes a huge chunk of that. On Samsung TVs, for example, system files can take up to 20% of the total storage.
What uses storage on your smart TV
Aside from the TV’s OS, a number of things can also eat deep into your smart TV’s storage. One of the most common culprits is pre-installed apps (bloatware). Most smart TVs come with apps already loaded into the TV right from the factory. Typically, these apps are popular streaming services like YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video and so on. Then there are the apps you personally install, which take their own space on top of what’s pre-loaded.
Another silent storage eater on your smart TV is cache and temporary data. The apps on your smart TV tend to store temporary data to improve performance. For example, Netflix stores the thumbnails of shows you’ve recently viewed so it doesn’t have to redownload the image when you go back to your watchlist. This cache builds and takes up more storage over time, especially if you use a lot of different apps.
How to free up memory on your smart TV
First things first: Clear out the app cache and temporary data. On most smart TVs, you can do this in the settings — how easy it is depends on your exact model. Clearing out the app cache is safe and doesn’t remove the app itself. Do note that it’s not always a permanent solution because as you continue to use those apps, the deleted data will rebuild itself over time.
A permanent option is to uninstall apps. Start with the apps that you don’t use, especially the bloatware we mentioned above. Look through your app list, and any app you’ve not opened once in the last three months has probably fallen out of use and should be uninstalled. As for bloatware, depending on the TV’s model and manufacturer, uninstalling them isn’t always straightforward and is sometimes even disallowed by TV manufacturers. So you may need to look at your manual or use unconventional methods that we would never recommend but someone mentioned in a Reddit post seven years ago.
If all else fails or you don’t just want to deal with all the technical jargon, a neat shortcut is simply to use a separate streaming device like a Fire TV Stick, Roku or Google TV Streamer. These devices come with their own storage, OS, app ecosystem and internet connection. All you typically have to do to get one running is plug it into your TV, set it up, download your preferred apps and you’re good to binge.
