Owning a Roku or Roku Streaming Stick 4K, is a fantastic way to add smart TV capabilities to any TV, but, like all things tech, Roku hardware isnt completely bulletproof. Whether its a glitch with the remote, the Roku device itself, or a sneaky hidden issue like an app compatibility issue, Roku problems can be frustrating when they pop up. The good news is that 99% of the time, theres an easy fix. Heres a list of the most common Roku problems and how to fix them. Show
How to restart, update, and reset your RokuMost Roku problems can be quickly solved by a restart, a software update, or in worst-case scenarios, a factory reset. Before moving on to any other troubleshooting steps, try these first. How to restart your Roku
Sometimes, your Roku streaming device will simply freeze up, and the remote appears to be completely unresponsive. When this happens, you can often restart the device without needing the on-screen menus. To do this, follow this button-press sequence on your Roku remote precisely:
How to update Roku softwareIf a restart doesnt help, your software may be the problem. Roku software updates usually happen automatically in the background, without any need for you to take action. But now and then, this process doesnt work. If youre experiencing problems, its always a good idea to check the status of your Roku software before moving on.
How to factory reset your RokuA factory reset is a thermonuclear option for fixing problems. As the name suggests, it returns your Roku to the same state it was in when you pulled it out of the box. This means that all of your settings including downloaded channels and network preferences will be wiped out. As such, we suggest keeping this one in your back pocket for when everything else fails.
The above steps assume your Roku is still responsive and gives you the option of using the on-screen menus. If it doesnt, switch to plan B by using the physical reset button on your device. On some Roku products, like the Roku Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick+, the reset button can be pushed with your finger. On set-top devices like the Roku Ultra, its usually a recessed button that requires a paperclip or other small, pointed object to press. Once youve found it, make sure your Roku device is powered on, then press and hold the reset button firmly for about 10 seconds. The indicator light will blink rapidly on most Roku devices when the factory reset is complete. Fix Roku remote control problemsRoku devices come with two different kinds of remote controls. One kind is an infrared (IR) remote and the other is an enhanced point-anywhere remote. Before you try to fix problems with your Roku remote, you should figure out which one you have. Remove the battery cover from the back of the remote. Just below where the batteries sit, you may find a small button. If you do, youve got an enhanced point-anywhere remote. If you dont, yours is an IR remote. Alternatively, you can always try downloading the Roku Remote app from the iOS or Google Play store. The app allows your phone to function as a Roku remote and might provide a solution if your remote is damaged beyond repair. For IR remotesIR remotes need to be able to see the Roku device they control. Almost all problems with IR remotes stem from the remote not having a direct line-of-sight to your Roku device. Most of the time, IR signals can bounce off walls and ceilings to reach their target, but even then, if your Roku device is stuck behind another object, those IR signals wont make it. When seated wherever you normally watch TV, if you can see the entire front side of your Roku device, you should be fine. If you cant, move the Roku until you can. Never place a Roku device that uses an IR remote behind your TV or inside a cabinet. The remotes batteries also can be a problem. If the remote works well sometimes, but not all the time, try pulling the batteries out and replacing them. That might fix a problem with a poor connection. Weak IR signals can be another problem. Think of an IR remote as a flashlight that shines a light that you cant see. If the batteries are old, that light will be too weak. If the batteries are really depleted, the remote might not respond to button presses at all. Try replacing the batteries with new ones. For enhanced point-anywhere remotesThese remotes are a bit more sophisticated, so there are several ways to troubleshoot their operation. The first step is to try the same battery tricks as above remove and replace them, or simply install new ones. If this doesnt help, the next step is to restart both the Roku device and the remote:
If the restart procedure doesnt fix your problem, you may need to pair the remote again to your Roku:
In rare instances, wireless signal interference can cause problems with enhanced remotes. If you own a Roku Streaming Stick or Streaming Stick+ and theyre plugged into an HDMI port on the rear panel of your TV, an HDMI extender cable could help move the Stick away from the main body of the TV, thereby reducing any interference the TV could be causing. If you own a Roku Streaming Stick, Roku will send you one of these cables for free. Its also possible that theres simply too much congestion on the 2.4GHz frequency used by the remote to communicate with the Roku. One way to solve that problem is to switch your Wi-Fi router to a different wireless channel. Another solution is to switch your Roku to your routers 5GHz network if it has one. Fix Roku Wi-Fi problemsIf youre experiencing degraded video or audio quality, overall slowness of your Roku when responding to commands, or you see not connected in the top right corner of your home screen, youre probably dealing with Wi-Fi issues. Checking Wi-Fi signal strength is the best place to start. Check the status of your Internet connection strength by going to Settings > Network. Assuming youre actually connected to Wi-Fi, the signal strength will be listed as Excellent, Good, Fair, or Poor. If its Fair or Poor, you should try to improve it. Obviously, relocating your TV wont be an option very often, but you might still benefit from relocating the Roku itself. Try repositioning it and see if it helps. Roku Sticks are harder to reposition because theyre usually plugged right into the TV, but an HDMI extender cable can give you the extra play you need to reposition them. If your Roku device has an Ethernet port and youre able to connect it to an Ethernet cable, this is an easy way to test if its your Wi-Fi thats at fault. A not connected message on the home screen indicates that youre either completely outside of your Wi-Fi networks range, or youve entered the wrong Wi-Fi password for your router. If your phone, tablet, or laptop is connected via Wi-Fi in the same general location as your Roku that suggests a problem with the password. Check your Rokus network settings and try again. If you see Roku error code 009, it means that your Roku is successfully connected to your router, but it cant reach the Internet. If your other Wi-Fi devices are operating normally, restart your Roku. If the other devices cant connect either, try rebooting your modem and router, and then restart your devices. If this fails, you should contact your Internet service provider. If moving your Roku is out of the question, consider moving your Wi-Fi router, or adjusting its external antennas if it has any. Even small changes to your router can have a big impact on how wireless signals move around your house. If youve noticed Wi-Fi troubles with one or more devices in your home (other than your Roku), it may be worth it to upgrade to a new router altogether. If your home is on the bigger side, or there are many walls and floors between your entertainment devices and your router, a mesh system may be your best bet. With a mesh network, your main router will broadcast to a series of smaller nodes throughout your home. Instead of struggling to pair with the main router, a device like a Roku will have a much easier time connecting to one of your new networks satellite nodes. Fix Roku audio problemsAudio problems on the Roku, like no audio, distorted audio, or audio dropouts, can be caused by software settings or problems with your hardware and/or cables depending on the complexity of your setup. Before trying any of the following solutions, we suggest you first turn off your Roku and connected devices, unplug the power, wait 10 seconds and then plug it back in and power your gear on again. It sounds silly, but youd be amazed how many problems including audio problems this can fix. No audio at all? Check your connections and selected inputs(If your Roku is a stick-style device connected directly to your TV, you can skip this section.)
Still no audio? Check your Rokus audio settingsIf your Roku is connected to an A/V receiver or soundbar using an optical (TOSLink) cable, try the following:
If your Roku is connected to an A/V receiver, soundbar, or TV via HDMI, try the following:
Still no audio? Swap your cablesIts fairly rare, but on occasion, your HDMI, optical, or component cables can be faulty. If none of the steps so far have helped, try switching out your cable(s) with another set. This can be frustrating if you dont have an extra set handy, but the good news is that all three types are inexpensive and you can find them at your local retailer or online. Selective audioSometimes, youll hear audio on some kinds of content but not others. This is usually a compatibility problem with the audio format(s) youre trying to play and the audio format(s) your connected gear can support. If this happens, try the same procedure as above for HDMI devices and if youre using an optical (TOSLink) cable, set HDMI and S/PDIF to PCM-Stereo. Youre expecting surround sound but youre only getting stereoNormally your Roku can determine the capabilities of your TV, A/V receiver, or soundbar automatically, but sometimes it needs help. If youre watching surround sound content thats presented in Dolby 5.1 or Dolby Atmos, but you can only hear stereo sound:
Garbled or distorted audioWeve seen reports, specifically related to the Roku Ultra, but possibly on other models as well, of garbled or distorted audio. A fix that seems to work in this instance, is to begin playback of the desired video, then:
Audio and video are out of syncSome users have reported that their audio and video lose sync while playing content. Though somewhat counterintuitive, a fix that seems to work involves tweaking the video refresh properties:
Keep in mind that while this has been known to fix audio sync issues, it can also introduce some unwanted video problems like image jerkiness. If this happens, switch Auto-adjust back to Enabled. Fix Roku video problemsProblems involving video quality like buffering, stuttering, or degraded detail can usually be traced back to your network connection. Before moving on, see our section on Wi-Fi problems. If your Wi-Fi connection is stable, its possible that your internet plan doesnt provide sufficient bandwidth for the content youre trying to stream. Roku PremiereCompact and easy to set up, the Roku Premiere delivers Ultra HD and 4K content to your TV
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Roku recommends a minimum download speed of 3.0 Mbps for standard definition and up to 9.0 Mbps for HD content. 4K HDR content may require up to 25 Mbps. You can check your actual download speed here. If your plan provides the necessary speed for the content youre trying to watch, check to see if anyone else in your home is using high bandwidth applications on your other devices. You may also want to check your routers administration settings to see if there are any unknown devices using your connection. Manually adjust your bit rateIf youve tried everything to solve your buffering problems and are ready to throw in the towel, heres one more trick that might help. Normally your Roku will choose the best bit rate to use automatically one that matches your network connection speed but on rare occasions, setting this manually needs to happen. You do this through a hidden settings screen:
Fix Roku HDMI problemsAnother common Roku problem relates to the use of HDMI cables. When two or more devices connect via HDMI, they must establish a handshake. Generally speaking, once established, that handshake continues to govern the connection without issue. However, now and then the handshake doesnt happen when the devices connect, or the handshake gets interrupted. When this happens, it can cause a variety of problems from black screens to flashing video, to HDCP error messages. As with many problems, a reliable fix is to power everything down, remove and reinsert the HDMI cable ends into each device, and then restart. HDCP errorsHDCP errors that arent resolved this way may be a symptom of a different problem. HDCP stands for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, and its a way of preventing people from copying movies and shows that they stream on devices like a Roku. But unless each device in your HDMI chain supports the same level of HDCP, the video signal cant get through and youll see an HDCP error. For instance, if youre using a Roku Streaming Stick+ or a Roku Ultra to stream 4K content from Netflix, all of your devices must support HDCP 2.2. But if you have any older A/V receiver or soundbar between your Roku player and your 4K TV, it may not be HDCP 2.2 compatible. To test to see if this is the problem, try connecting your Roku directly to your TV. If the problem goes away, thats a good sign your middle device isnt HDCP 2.2-compliant. Your choice at this point is to stick to non-4K content (only 4K requires HDCP 2.2), find a way to bypass your A/V receiver or soundbar for video (perhaps by using the HDMI ARC connection on your TV), or upgrade that middle device. Replacing cablesThough a rare Roku issue, occasionally the HDMI cables themselves are the problem. If youre seeing flashing video, or no video at all or perhaps video with sparkles these can all indicate potentially faulty cables. Before buying new cables, try swapping your Rokus HDMI cable with any other HDMI cable you have, as a test. Its very unlikely that two of your cables have problems, so if one works, you know you should replace the one that doesnt. Roku StreambarCompact and well designed, the Roku Streambar pumps out big, clear sound with support for Dolby Audio
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There is one situation where you may need to replace a perfectly good HDMI cable. 4K HDR signals use a lot of bandwidth much more than HD. Older HDMI cables might lack the necessary bandwidth to carry all of that data reliably between devices, especially over longer distances like 10 feet or more. If you suspect this applies to your situation, you probably need to buy a new Premium High-Speed HDMI cable. But dont worry theyre relatively inexpensive and you can buy them almost anywhere. Check out our full HDMI cable buying guide. Fix Roku hardware problemsRoku devices are usually highly dependable, but here are two situations where the hardware itself can experience problems. OverheatingIf your Roku device sits on top of other equipment or is located in a poorly ventilated space, it can overheat. If this happens, youll see an on-screen warning message appear in the top right corner of your screen. Some Roku devices like the Ultra and Roku Expressalso have a front LED that will turn solid red when they overheat. If your device overheats, immediately turn it off, unplug the power and disconnect all cables. Wait at least 10 minutes before reconnecting it and powering it back up. If you see the solid red light or warning message again, repeat this process. If it still happens, you should contact Roku Support, as it may indicate a more serious problem with your device. Insufficient powerIf your Roku device is powered by USB e.g., Streaming Sticks and Roku Express theres a possibility its not getting enough power. This usually happens when people plug their USB power cable into an available USB port on their TV or their A/V receiver. Unfortunately, not all USB ports deliver the same amount of power, and some arent intended to supply power at all. The best way to solve the insufficient power on-screen warning (or flashing red LED on the front of Roku Express or Express+) is to plug the USB cable into the USB power adapter that shipped with your device. This adapter is designed to deliver the correct amount of power your Roku needs. If, after switching to the included adapter, you still get the insufficient power warning, you should try plugging the adapter into a different power outlet. If youre using a power strip or an extension cord, try plugging the adapter straight into a wall socket. Fix Roku app problemsThe Roku app for iOS and Android is a must-have add-on for your phone. It can act as a replacement remote control, plus you can add/remove channels, use the private listening function, and cast videos and photos from your phone to your TV. But none of those things will work if the app cant find your Roku device. Your Wi-Fi network is likely at the heart of the problem, so before moving on, consult the Wi-Fi problems section. If that doesnt help, here are a few things you can try. Make sure your phone and Roku are on the same networkSome Wi-Fi routers let you create a guest network that is physically separated from your normal Wi-Fi network. Its possible that your phone or your Roku are using these two different networks. If so, they wont see each other. Make sure both devices are using the exact same Wi-Fi network. Most Wi-Fi routers create two separate networks for each Wi-Fi frequency band (2.4GHz and 5GHz). Though technically it shouldnt matter if your phone and Roku are using different frequencies (both bands share the same subnet on your router so devices can talk to one another), to be absolutely sure, place both your phone and your Roku on the same Wi-Fi frequency band. Check your Rokus network accessIts possible that network access to your Roku has been disabled. Heres how to check and correct:
Still cant find your device? Try connecting manually
Alternatives to RokuIf youre still experiencing issues with your Roku and want to give other gear a spin, heres a short list of some competitive streaming devices, along with noted perks.
For more on smart streaming devices, check out our full guide to cutting the cord. |
