You know your LG TV is running out of space when it starts lagging, apps keep restarting, and an “Out of Memory” error appears out of nowhere. This is unfortunately a common problem with LG TVs. When this happens, it’s time to free up space on your TV.
There are several ways to do this, but you can always start with basic troubleshooting, including a firmware update. You’ll usually find the Software Update button under Support in the All Settings menu. Just check for updates and install them if available. If your LG TV has an option to enable auto-update, it’s best to do so to keep it in tip-top shape.
Restarting your TV usually does the trick too. This clears the memory and frees up space on your LG TV to make it work more smoothly again. To restart it, press the power button on your remote control to turn off the TV, remove it from the wall outlet, and plug it back in after about 30 seconds.
If an update and restart doesn’t fix the problem, here are three other ways to fix your slow LG TV.
Use the built-in memory optimizer
Memory Optimizer is one of the underrated smart TV features on your LG TV and it’s the one thing you should look for when you want to free up space. What it does is clear unnecessary data from memory and remove apps you no longer use to clean up storage.
To find this memory optimization tool, press and hold the gear button on your LG TV remote to open All Settings. Next, go to the General section. Depending on your webOS version, you may see options like OLED Care or Usage Care. Click on it. If you have the OLED Care setting, select Device Self Care. If your option is Usage Care, scroll to the bottom of the My Usage tab. If, however, you haven’t seen the Memory Optimizer tool in the General tab, try going to the Support section instead.
Once you find Memory Optimizer, just press Start to run it. It will only take a few seconds to clear your LG TV memory. When you see the message “Memory optimization is complete” at the bottom of the screen, feel free to exit the Settings page.
Manage your LG TV apps
The more Smart TV apps you have, the more space they take up. So it’s a good idea to regularly uninstall apps that you no longer use to free up space on your LG TV. To delete apps on an LG TV, follow these steps:
- Go to the home screen.
- Highlight the app you want to remove.
- Long press the dial on your remote control. This opens the Edit Application List page.
- Mouse over the app.
- Click the trash can icon that appears.
- To continue, tap Yes.
If you experience the memory error only when a specific app is open, try deleting the app and then reinstalling it. In the same Edit App List screen, uninstall the app by tapping the trash can icon above it. Next, launch Apps from the Home screen, find the app you deleted and tap Install. You may need to log in to your app account again and configure the app before you can use it.
In addition to deleting and reinstalling apps, you can update your LG TV apps to keep them compatible with the system and optimize their performance. All you need to do is open apps from the home screen, select the three-dot menu in the top right corner and go to app update. Select Update All for the System App Update and Downloaded App Update sections. Or you can click the Update button next to each app.
Plug external storage into your LG TV
When you can no longer delete any of your apps and Memory Optimizer still can’t fix your storage problem, the best way to free up space on your LG TV is to add storage via an external drive. You can use either a USB flash drive with a maximum capacity of 32 GB or a hard drive with a maximum capacity of 2 TB (larger capacity drives are not supported). Just make sure to keep the storage empty and formatted as NTFS or FAT32. If you’re not sure what format your disk is using, here’s what you should do:
- Connect external storage to your Windows computer.
- Open File Explorer.
- Go to This PC.
- Right-click on your drive.
- Select Properties.
In the General tab, you should see the file system the drive is formatted to. If it is not NTFS or FAT32, exit the Properties panel and then right-click the drive again. This time choose Format and set the file system to the correct format. You can also format the disk on your Mac via the Disk Utility application. Select the drive in Disk Utility and check the format under the drive name. If it needs to be reformatted, go to Erase. However, keep in mind that formatting/wiping the disk means deleting everything stored on it.
Once your external drive is properly formatted, simply plug it into your LG TV. When the built-in capacity is exhausted, the TV automatically uses external storage.
