If you own a firestick no matter what generation it is or a Fire TV, even a Fire TV cube then there are ways you can hook it up to your Laptop and even a MacBook for you apple fans. In this guide, we will teach you how to use a firestick with your laptop so you can get even more out of your amazon firestick.
You will also be able to use a Windows operating system or macOS operating system with this guide to be able to do some cool stuff with your firestick such as share fire TV storage, mirror the screen, and use a file explorer back and forth from your laptop to the firestick.
Can You Use A Firestick On A Laptop Or PC
Technically you cant just plug in your firestick and expect it to work on any type of laptop or PC because the firestick is its own device that has its own operating system installed and is meant to be attached to HDMI sockets on the TV.
See How To Airplay To Firestick quick and easily.
But don’t let the above bother you as there are many ways to get the firestick to work on your laptop screen with ease. One of the ways is to simply use an HDMI splitter which you would plug the firestick into the input HDMI port on the splitter with the 2 output HDMI leading to your TV and one cable leading to your Laptop.
This method will allow you to have your firestick displaying both on your laptop and smart TV at the same time.
But that is just a quick easy way we will be diving more in-depth below as we cover all the ways to use a firestick with your laptop.
Ways To Use A Firestick On A Laptop
One of our preferred ways to do this as we take videos and screenshots for our guides here at Strong IPTV is to use an HDMI capture card which will allow you to just have the firestick play on the laptop only.
Hdmi Capture Card For Firestick
You can easily pick up a USB HDMI capture card from Amazon or eBay for a low cost. Once you have the USB video capture card you will need to follow the below steps to be able to use the firestick on your laptop.
- Connect the Firestick to the HDMI capture card
- Now connect the HDMI capture card to the laptop or MacBook
- Plug the power cable into the firestick
After you have done the above, that’s all the hardware sorted now is time for the actual video capture to your laptop’s screen.
- Download a Program called OBS from here and open it on your laptop
- Now click on the plus symbol at the bottom of the screen to add a source
- You will need to choose Video Capture Device as your source
- Now you will see the firestick screen on your laptop as if you were using the firestick on your TV
If your laptop is not too fast and your RAM or CPU seems to be running high you click settings and turn OFF Enable Preview.
If you choose to turn enable preview OFF you will not see the screen on the laptop but if you are recording or streaming something from the laptop via RTMP or any other methods then turning enable preview OFF can be a good idea depending on your laptop specifications.
Also if you are solely using your laptop to view the firestick you can now right-click on the tv screen and choose to go to Fullscreen Projector (preview) then select your laptop LCD screen.
Now following the above, you will now be able to use the firestick through your laptop screen as if it was a Smart TV so this is very beneficial when on the move or traveling where you do not have access to a real LCD TV.
Check our latest article on How To Fix IPTV Out Of Sync Issues
Use A HDMI Splitter For The Firestick
The method we briefly described earlier in this guide, was simply getting an Hdmi splitter device from any sound and audio shop near you or eBay/Amazon to easily share the firestick screen to your laptop.
But if your amazon firestick is the 4K version you will need to make sure the HDMI splitter you purchase can handle 4K@30fps so read the description first before you buy one.
See What Is STB HDMI On A Smart TV
Another bonus with the splitter is it can work on many other devices you may own from Roku boxes, Apple TV, Mac, Windows, and many more HDMI devices.
These HDMI splitters are normally the best way to put the firestick on your laptop if you are just wanting to view and not record or stream the firestick.
Most HDMI splitters will also support Dolby Atmos audio which will give you rich sound from whatever Movie or TV show or content you choose to watch off the firestick to your laptop screen.
See How To Save and Download VOD Content From IPTV.
Connect Firestick To Laptop For File Sharing
This section won’t let you view the screen of the laptop but it will allow you to send files to and from your Firestick with ease so connect the filesystem up with your laptop or Macbook.
You will be able to use FTP to send and receive files from the Fire TV storage.
The reasons to connect to your laptop storage and firestick storage may be to:
- Send Movies to the firestick
- Send Photos to the Firestick
- Send Games to the Firestick
- Send Apps to the Firestick
- Receive logs from the firestick to your Laptop
- Receive Files from the firestick to your Laptop
There are even more things you may want to do once you can access the firestick storage and your own laptop’s storage to sync things across.
Access Firestick Storage Easily (Windows)
Before you begin to share the folders of your firestick to your Laptop you will need to search for an app called “ES File Explorer” on your firestick which you will find in the Amazon app store.
Now follow the below to sync the storage to your laptop to be able to send and receive files to the firestick from your laptop:
- Open the ES File Explorer App
- Now go down in the menu and choose “View On PC”
- Make sure your Laptop is on the same wifi network as the firestick
- Now open My Computer on the laptop
- Type in the FTP Address you see on the TV screen then press enter
- Now once you see the folders this will be all the folders inside your amazon firestick
Be careful not to disturb any important files on the firestick you will normally be working with folders such as DCIM, Games, Apps, Downloaded when it comes to sending files back and forth to the firestick.
The above section was geared towards windows operating system users but the below will show you how to file transfer if using a macOS operating system.
How To Use The Firestick With A Macbook (No OBS Needed)
If you do not want to use the OBS program and mess around with an HDMI splitter for your Macbook then you will need to follow this as this is an easier way to stream the firestick screen to your Macbook or iOS apple device.
You will need to download the app called “Airscreen” to your amazon firestick as this will be the app that will help you to share the screen with your Macbook.
Once you have downloaded and installed the app from the amazon app stores you will need to follow the below:
- From the firestick home screen go to Apps & Channels
- Now select Airscreen and click OK to launch it
- Then choose the Help setting at the bottom of the menu
- Now choose the macOS icon
- Then click on AirPlay
Now once this has been done you can leave the firestick remote for a minute and head over to your Macbook as it’s time for the macOS to connect to the firestick.
- On your Macbook open the control center (or wait until you see an airplay icon)
- Now select the Screen mirroring icon
- You will see the name of your firestick just click on it
This will now share the screen from your amazon firestick to the Macbook without needing to use any hardware such as an HDMI splitter or an HDMI capture card.
Conclusion
This guide has helped you be able to use a firestick on your laptop no matter what firestick or amazon device you have. You will always need to make sure if screen mirroring that you are always on the same WiFi network as your amazon firestick.
As for using hardware such as video capture cards and HDMI splitters you do not need to be on the same Wifi or even have your Wifi on due to you capturing straight over HDMI.
We hope this guide has helped you if so don’t forget to give it a share.
