How to Turn Off the Amazon Fire Stick or Fire TV

Hardware keeps getting less and less power-hungry so most media players are designed to be kept on all the time. Amazon’s Fire TV devices like the Fire Stick are no different, using so little power that it only costs a few dollars to keep running each year

That said, you may occasionally want to turn off your Fire Stick if you have networking issues, glitches or are simply not going to be using it for a while.

This article will show you how to turn the Amazon Fire TV off, why you’d want to and show you some alternatives to try if power consumption is your main concern.

Protect your Fire TV with a VPN

When you’re streaming videos online (particularly when using Kodi), you can easily expose your private information and watching behavior to your ISP or Governments.

That’s why we recommend getting a high-quality VPN to protect your devices.

Not only does a VPN keep your browsing history and watching behavior private, but you can also use your VPN for bypassing geoblocks to get access to more video content, avoid download-related throttling and more.

Best VPN for Fire TV: IPVanish

IPVanish App Supported Devices
IPVanish regularly tops the list as the best VPN for Fire TV devices thanks to its comprehensive feature sets, VPN apps designed specifically for Fire TV devices and dedication to protecting your privacy.

They have over 1000 VPN servers across 60+ countries, a zero logging policy for complete privacy and dedicated Fire TV apps for easy installation and setup.

There’s a 7-day money back guarantee so you can try their services completely risk-free.

If you’re wanting to protect yourself, Home Theatre Life readers can save up to 46% on IPVanish plans using this link.

Should I Unplug My Fire Stick?

Most people will probably just leave their Fire Stick running all the time. That’s exactly how Amazon designed it and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

In fact, that’s exactly what I do as I like to be able to start watching my favorite Amazon Prime Shows as fast as possible.

It’ll also be able to keep your apps up to date and download the latest firmware so you’ve always got the latest features and bug fixes.

However, there’s a few reasons to turn off your Fire Stick:

  • You’re not going to use it for a long time: If you know you’re not going to be watching anything on your Fire Stick anytime soon, there’s no point paying to keep it running so you can save a few cents by powering it down.
  • You’re having network issues: Networking has got so much better over time and I rarely find myself having issues. However, I do get the occasional wi-fi issue where my Fire Stick just won’t connect. Powering it off and back on again often fixes it.
  • You’ve encountered a glitch: No technology is perfect and you’re bound to experience the odd glitch now and then. Fortunately, powering your gadget off and on again tends to fix the problem 9 out of 10 times.

How Much Power Does The Fire Stick Actually Use?

I’ve said that the Amazon Fire Stick and Fire TV are low-power devices but just how much do they cost to run?

With the Amazon Fire TV stick using around 2.5W when streaming video and assuming 12c per kilowatt-hour (the average price for US users), you’re looking at a massive $2.10 per year and that’s assuming you’re streaming video 24/7.

Factoring in the power savings of sleep mode (more on that in a sec) and you’re looking at a fraction of that – hardly worth the inconvenience of plugging in the Fire Stick and waiting for it to boot every time you want to watch something.

Don’t Turn off Your Fire Stick: Use Sleep Mode Instead

The Fire TV Stick comes with a low-power sleep mode that shuts down several features on the Fire Stick to conserve power. A simple press of your remote’s button will wake it up.

There’s two ways of putting the Fire Stick to sleep:

  • Auto-sleep: The Amazon Fire Stick automatically gowa to sleep if it’s not used for a period of time (usually around 20-30 minutes if you’re not watching anything).
  • Manual Standby: You can actually force sleep mode by pressing the Home Button and select Sleep to put it into its low power state.

Most users should use sleep mode as this makes sure you can quickly wake your Fire TV or Fire Stick as well as letting it download software updates in the background so your streaming doesn’t get interrupted by buffering.

How to Put Your Firestick into Sleep Mode

Putting your Firestick or Fire TV into its lower-power sleep mode is incredibly simple:

  • Hold down your Fire TV remote Home button for about 3 seconds to show the quick options menu like belowAmazon Fire TV Sleep Menu 01
  • Choose the Sleep option to put your Firestick into its low-power sleep state
You can wake the Fire Stick up by pressing any button on your Fire TV remote

How to Turn off a Fire Stick or Fire TV

If you really need to power off your Firestick or Fire TV, there’s only really two ways to do it:

  • Unplugging it from power
  • Using a Bluetooth Keyboard

Turn off the Fire TV by Unplugging it

The Fire Stick can’t run without power (surprise, surprise) so simply unplugging it is the easiest way to turn off the Fire Stick.

Just make sure you’re not doing anything on the Fire Stick when you unplug it as this minimizes any risks of corruption which could happen with a sudden shutdown.

I’d recommend you go to the Fire TV’s home screen by pressing the Home button on your remote to make sure nothing’s writing to storage to cut the risk of any issues

Use a Bluetooth Keyboard with a Power Off button

If you’ve paired up a Bluetooth keyboard to your Fire Stick and it has a power button on it, pressing it might cause the Fire Stick to turn off.

However, I’ve found that power button compatibility is pretty hit and miss plus you need to unplug and replug in the Fire Stick to get it to boot again – a real pain.

Get More Out of Your Firestick with our Guides

There’s so much more you can do with your Fire Stick. Supercharge your Fire Stick experience with our detailed guides:

How to Turn Off the Amazon Fire Stick: Conclusion

The Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick isn’t really meant to be turned off. Its low-power hardware and sleep mode are designed to sip power whilst making it quick and easy to start streaming your favorite TV shows.

That said, if you’re really wanting to turn off your Firestick, simply unplugging it is the easiest method as finding a Bluetooth keyboard with a working power button is a pain.

Do you turn off your Fire Stick? Let me know in the comments!

Michael

Michael is a technology expert with over 15 years of experience in IT, Home Theatre and Automation. Feel free to send Michael a message here.

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