Solved: Samsung TV Memory Full (7 Best Fixes In 2023)

So many apps to choose from.

So little internal memory storage capacity.

That’s a problem you may be facing with your Samsung TV.

Good thing you can easily clear its memory.

And even expand it if you want. 

Not sure how? 

Worry not. I’m here to guide you.

Continue reading to discover:

• 7 easy ways to clear up your Samsung TV’s memory.
• One workaround to delete your Samsung TV’s preinstalled apps.
• External devices you can use to get more memory on your Samsung TV.
• And a lot more…

Why does my Samsung TV say memory full?

Your Samsung TV says memory full because it has reached its capacity. Your TV’s memory stores various types of files. These include apps, cache and data, and OS updates. To clear its memory, uninstall the apps that you’re not using. You may also expand its memory via an external storage device.

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Samsung TV memory full: 7 fixes

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#1: Uninstall the apps that you’re not using

So you encountered Samsung’s “Insufficient storage space” error.

And that brings you here…

Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’d be more than happy to help.

And let me tell you the first thing you need to do…

Uninstall the apps that you’re no longer using. 

Because let’s face it. You’re probably not using most of the apps on your Samsung TV.

And Samsung TVs generally have a limited capacity. Their TVs only have around 2 to 8 GB of storage on average.

The process of deleting apps is simple. But it’ll vary per TV model.

So I included guides for Samsung TVs from 2015 to 2022.

2017 to 2022 Samsung TV models

1. Press the Home button on your Samsung TV remote.
2. Select Apps. It’s the one with 4 small circles.
3. On the Apps page, select Settings.
4. Highlight the app that you’d like to uninstall.
5. Select Delete.

Then repeat steps 4 and 5 for all the apps that you’d like to remove.

2016 Samsung TV models

1. Click your Samsung TV remote’s Home button.
2. Select Apps.
3. Select My apps.
4. Scroll down to Options and click it.
5. Click the Delete option.
6. Select the app that you’d like to delete.
7. Select Delete.

2015 Samsung TV models

1. Press your remote’s Smart Hub button.
2. Click Apps.
3. Select My apps.
4. Highlight the app that you want to remove.
5. Press and hold your remote’s Enter button.
6. Select Delete.

#2: Delete your Samsung TV’s preinstalled apps

“I tried uninstalling an app, but the delete button is grayed out.”

That’s because you’re trying to delete a preinstalled app. 

These are apps that came with your Samsung TV.

Examples include:

• Netflix.
• Youtube TV.
• Prime Video.

Plus a handful of Samsung-made apps for viewing photos and videos. As well as browsing the web.

Samsung generates income from these apps. And that’s why they’d prefer if users don’t delete them.

However, there’s a workaround. But it’ll require you to go to Samsung’s developer mode.

How to switch to Samsung TV’s developer mode

1. Grab your Samsung TV remote and click Home.
2. Navigate to Apps and select it.
3. Press the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 on your remote.
4. Toggle the Developer mode to On.
5. Click OK.

You’ll see a message box confirming that your TV’s on developer mode. It’ll then ask you to restart. So just press and hold your remote’s Power button.

After your Samsung TV restarts, you can now delete the preinstalled apps.

How to delete preinstalled apps on Samsung TV

1. From the home screen, select Apps.
2. Ensure that you see “Develop Mode” at the top of your screen.
3. Select Settings.
4. Highlight the app that you want to delete.
5. Scroll down to Deep Link Test and click it.
6. On the message box that pops up, click Cancel.
7. Scroll up and click Delete.
8. Click Delete again to confirm.

And then repeat steps 4 to 8 to delete more apps.

Now I know the steps can be a bit tricky.

So here’s a video guide to help you further:

#3: Clear your Samsung TV’s app cache

All of your Samsung TV apps store temporary files called cache.

These files help your apps load faster. 

With Netflix, for instance, cached files include:

• Your search history.
• Recently watched videos.
• Titles or genres that you’ve browsed.

But while cache can definitely help minimize loading time…

Those files also occupy space in your Samsung TV’s internal memory.

So you should clear them from time to time.

Note: Only Samsung TV models from 2020 to  2022 have the option to delete the app cache.

Here are the steps to delete the app cache:

1. Click the Home button on your Samsung TV remote.
2. Select Settings.
3. Navigate to Support and click it.
4. Select the Device Care option.
5. Select Manage Storage.
6. Highlight an app and click View Details.
7. Select Clear Cache.
8. Click Close.

Repeat steps 6 to 8 for all other apps.

Further reading: 5 Easy Ways To Clear Cache On Samsung TV

#4: Delete your Samsung TV’s app data

Are you still short on memory even after deleting the app cache?

Then consider deleting all app data as well.

The difference is that app data includes permanent files.

For streaming apps, these include your downloaded videos for offline viewing.

App data also include your account information. As well as all the software updates you installed.

Deleting the data is essentially resetting your apps. They’ll revert to what they were when you first installed them.

The steps are actually similar to deleting the app cache:

1. Press your Samsung TV remote’s Home button.
2. Go to Settings and click it.
3. Scroll down to Support and select it.
4. Click Device Care.
5. Click the Manage Storage button.
6. Select an app and click the View Details option.
7. Click Clear Data.
8. Click the Close button.

#5: Use an external storage device

With laptops, you can easily expand their storage by replacing their HDD or SSD.

Unfortunately, that’s not possible with your Samsung TV.

You’ll have to use external storage devices such as flash drives instead.

What’s great about those devices is that you can just plug them in. Samsung TVs generally have several USB ports.

And they’re relatively cheap. Their price usually ranges from $15 to $50. Depending on their capacity.

Some examples of flash drives you can use with your Samsung TV include:

• iDiskk 128GB.
• Vansuny 64GB.
• SanDisk 128GB.

Now if you’re going to use a flash drive, ensure that you format it. 

You may do it through your Samsung TV:

1. Plug your flash drive into one of your Samsung TV’s USB ports.
2. Press your Samsung TV remote’s Home button.
3. Select Settings.
4. Scroll down to Storage and Reset and click it.
5. Select your flash drive from the list.
6. Click the Format as Device Storage option.

#6: Use a 3rd party streaming player

Aside from external storage devices, you may also consider using streaming players.

For example, you can use a Roku box on smart TVs like Samsung. And it’s one of the best streaming players out there.

Roku players also have a storage of up to 1 GB. And that’s why they can store over 100 channels.

Some of the best Roku players for Samsung TVs include:

• Roku Ultra.
• Roku Express.
• Roku Streambar.
• Roku Express 4K+.
• Roku Streaming Stick.

You may also consider Amazon’s Fire TV Stick as an alternative to Roku.

Here are some of the versions compatible with Samsung TVs:

• Fire TV Stick.
• Fire TV Stick Lite.
• Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

These streaming players are all affordable. With their prices going from $30 to $99.

They’re also very easy to set up. Just plug them into your Samsung TV’s HDMI port. And then connect them to a power outlet.

And if you’re struggling to decide?

Get both. You may use Roku and Firestick at the same time.

#7: Reset your Samsung TV’s Smart Hub

Another way to free up memory space is to reset the Smart Hub.

Smart Hub is Samsung’s intelligent and easy-to-navigate menu system. It’s what allows you to access apps and games easily. And even browse the web.

Resetting the Smart Hub means resetting the following:

• Smart Hub settings.
• Stored accounts on your TV.
• Preinstalled and downloaded apps.

Now the reset process would slightly differ depending on your Samsung TV model.

2020 to 2022 Samsung TV models

1. Click Home on your remote.
2. Scroll down to Support and click it.
3. Select Device Care.
4. Click the Self Diagnosis option.
5. Navigate to Reset Smart Hub and select it.
6. Type in your TV’s PIN. If none, type 0000.

2016 to 2019 Samsung TV models

1. Press your Samsung remote’s Home button.
2. Click the Settings icon.
3. Select Support.
4. Navigate to Self Diagnosis and select it.
5. Look for Reset Smart Hub and click it.
6. Enter your PIN or 0000.

2015 Samsung TV models

1. Press the Menu button on your remote.
2. Navigate to Smart Hub and then click it.
3. Click the Reset Smart Hub option.

Bonus: Factory reset your Samsung TV

If you’re still getting a memory full error after resetting the Smart Hub…

Then perhaps you should perform a factory reset on your Samsung TV.

Doing this will wipe out your entire TV settings. This will also unlink the TV from your Samsung account.

And it’s why a factory reset is always the last option. 

Again, I’ll be providing the steps for different Samsung TVs.

2017 to 2022 Samsung TV models

1. Press Home on the TV remote.
2. Click the Settings icon.
3. Select General.
4. Scroll down and click Reset.
5. Enter your TV’s PIN or 0000.

2016 Samsung TV models

1. Click the Home button on the remote.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Support.
4. Navigate to Self Diagnosis and click it.
5. Select Reset.
6. Enter your PIN. If none, enter 0000.
7. Select Yes to confirm the reset.

2015 Samsung TV models

1. Click the Menu button on your remote.
2. Scroll down to Support and select it.
3. Select Self Diagnosis.
4. Click Reset.
5. If you have a PIN, enter it. If none, press 0000.

Click the Yes button to proceed with resetting.