It’s the end of a long day, your chores are done, and dinner’s in the oven, so you settle down to start your evening binge-watch of the latest hot show or old comfort watch.
And you’ll get there. Eventually. Because your TV is crawling along. There’s an obvious lag when you click your remote, and it takes achingly long to load any apps.
You’ve got your dinner now, and it’s growing cold while you wait for your TV to catch up. It’s infuriating, and it’s all too common for smart TVs to slow down as they get older.
Thankfully, if you have a Roku TV or Roku TV stick, there’s something you can do that will likely fix those horrific slowdown issues.
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Cache in, cache out
A full cache is often the reason devices slow down, and it’s easy to forget to clear it out from time to time.
Why does a full cache slow down your TV, phone, or computer? The answer is technical but can be explained in a very simple way.
Think of your cache as a bag where your device stores all the important details it needs to refer to. Just like if you had a bag of stuff, the more stuff is in there, the longer it’ll take you to find a specific object.
Your device’s cache works the same way, which is why it’s beneficial to clean it out every now and again.
As a side note, this is why clearing a cache is so often the first step in many troubleshooting guides.
If a corrupted piece of data has found its way in there, it can cause havoc, so upending the entire bag and just dumping everything out can fix several problems.
Cleaning out your cache is easy, and your Roku offers a number of ways to do it.
This is the easiest and most common way to clear out your cache on a Roku device.
Restarting your TV will naturally clear out the cache, and since most people tend to leave their TV on standby, a full restart can help a lot.
- Open Settings on your TV.
- Go to System and open it.
- Find Power, then choose System Restart.
- Select Restart to reboot your device.
If it doesn’t seem to have worked, you can try a different method using your Roku remote.
Clearing a Roku cache by restarting using the remote
Like a Konami code for your TV, you can use a combination of keys on your Roku remote to restart and clear out the cache.
It’s a strange way to do it, but hey, you can’t argue with the convenience.
- Make sure you’re on your Home menu, and your icon covers the Home icon to the left.
- Press the Home button five times.
- Then press Up once, press Rewind twice, and press Fast Forward twice.
- Your TV should restart.
Reinstall any slow apps
If a few apps seem slower than the others, reinstalling them might be the best way to continue. This is a very easy process.
- Place your icon over the app on your Home screen, but don’t open it.
- Press the * button on your remote, and then select Remove Channel.
To reinstall the apps, follow the usual installation process of selecting the app from your Roku’s available services.
Factory reset your Roku
This is the nuclear option. A factory reset is the final resort of any bug-fixer, as it resets your device to factory settings, as if it were an entirely new device.
It’ll wipe out all your data, installed apps, and settings, leaving you with software that’s box fresh.
This won’t fix absolutely anything, but it’s the final step you can realistically take before buying a new TV or TV stick.
- Step back into Settings.
- Go to System, and then find Advanced System Settings.
- Choose Factory Reset and confirm it by entering the number displayed on the screen.
Let your TV do its thing, and you’re left with a fresh TV that should (hopefully) be faster than it was before.
If not, well, you have only one option left.
Buy a new TV or TV stick
This isn’t likely to be your first option, but if your slow TV is a real problem, one way to ensure it won’t be a problem anymore is to buy a new TV or streaming stick.
We have a couple of guides that can help you with this. Which smart TV features should you keep an eye out for? If you’re staying with Roku, check out some of the best Roku devices from last year.
It’s not the best outcome for most people, but this last step may be the necessary end to having a slow device.
