Table of contents(12)+
- 01Method 1: Close and Reopen the App (Works on Most Roku TVs)
- 02Method 2: The 5-Button Refresh Combo (For a Fully Frozen App)
- 03Method 3: Restart the Whole Roku TV
- 04No Working Remote? Restart the App From Your Phone
- 05Restart Methods Compared
- 06Frequently Asked Questions
- 07How do I restart just one app on my Roku TV?
- 08What is the Roku button combo for restarting a frozen app?
- 09Why doesn't my Roku TV show a Restart option for apps?
- 10Can I restart a Roku app from my phone?
- 11Will restarting an app delete my saved progress or login?
- 12Related Guides
There's no single "Restart" button that lives on every Roku remote. The fastest fix is simpler: highlight the stuck app on your Home screen, press the Star (*) button, choose Close, then open the app again. That closes the session and clears whatever got it stuck. If your remote's Star button is missing, broken, or you've lost the remote entirely, skip to the phone-based method below.
Method 1: Close and Reopen the App (Works on Most Roku TVs)
This is the built-in equivalent of a restart. Roku doesn't call it "restart" in every menu — on many software versions the option reads "Close," and relaunching the app is the second half of the job.
- Press Home on your remote to get back to the main grid of app tiles.
- Highlight the app that's frozen, buffering, or crashing.
- Press the Star (*) button. A menu opens on the right side of the screen.
- Select Close. The app shuts down and clears its cached session data.
- Wait 5 seconds, then open the app again from the same tile.
Some Roku software versions show a direct Restart option in that same Star menu instead of Close — if you see it, use it. Either path ends the same way: the app's memory gets cleared, and it loads fresh the next time you open it.
Method 2: The 5-Button Refresh Combo (For a Fully Frozen App)
If the Star menu won't even open because the app is locked up, Roku's remote has a second-tier shortcut that forum threads and support pages reference often enough to count as a standard fallback: press Home 5 times, Up once, Rewind twice, then Fast Forward twice. Do it quickly, without long pauses between presses.
This clears more cached data than a simple Close, and it refreshes the Home screen's connection to the channel without rebooting the whole TV. It won't fix an app with a server-side outage. If everyone's seeing the same error for that one streaming service, no button combo on your end changes that.
Method 3: Restart the Whole Roku TV
When Methods 1 and 2 don't clear it — the app reopens into the same frozen state, or the Star menu itself won't respond — the problem usually sits a layer above the single app. Go to Settings, then System, then Power, then System restart, then Restart. The TV takes 30 to 60 seconds to come back up, and every app gets the same fresh start the single-app Close gives one app.
No Settings menu reachable either? Unplug the TV's power cable, wait 10 seconds, then plug it back in. That's a harder reset than the on-screen restart, but it reaches the same result when the interface itself has stopped responding to the remote. See our guide to rebooting a Roku TV with the remote for the full button-by-button path, or restarting a Roku when it's frozen completely if the freeze covers the whole interface, not just one app.
No Working Remote? Restart the App From Your Phone
None of the three methods above need your TV's original remote specifically. They need something that can send Home, Star, and the arrow keys to the TV. A phone can do that over the same Wi-Fi network.
HiRemote turns an iPhone into a Roku directional pad, including the Star-button menu this fix depends on. Pairing takes about 30 seconds on the same Wi-Fi network as the TV. If you'd rather not install anything, hiremote.app also runs a free browser-based Roku remote. Type in your TV's IP address and it sends the same Home, arrow, and Star commands straight over Wi-Fi. Either way, the steps in Method 1 don't change. You're just pressing them from a different screen.
Restart Methods Compared
| Method | Fixes | What You Need | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close + reopen (Star menu) | One slow, buggy, or crashing app | Working remote or phone | About 10 seconds |
| 5-button refresh combo | One fully frozen app | Working remote or phone | A few seconds |
| Full system restart | Multiple apps, or a frozen interface | Settings menu access | 30-60 seconds |
| Unplug and replug | Interface that won't respond at all | Access to the power cable | About 10 seconds plus reboot time |
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I restart just one app on my Roku TV?
Highlight the app on your Home screen, press the Star (*) button, and select Close (or Restart, if your software version shows that option). Wait a few seconds, then reopen the app. That closes and reloads it without touching anything else on the TV.
What is the Roku button combo for restarting a frozen app?
Press Home 5 times, Up once, Rewind twice, then Fast Forward twice, with no long pauses between presses. It's a deeper refresh than the Star-menu Close option, aimed at apps that are frozen rather than just slow.
Why doesn't my Roku TV show a Restart option for apps?
Not every Roku software version labels the option the same way. Some only show Close in the Star menu, with reopening the app as the second step. Others show a separate Restart entry. Either one clears the app's session the same way.
Can I restart a Roku app from my phone?
Yes. Any remote app or browser-based remote that can send Home, arrow, and Star commands over Wi-Fi works the same way a physical remote does. HiRemote and hiremote.app's browser remote both send those same commands to the TV.
Will restarting an app delete my saved progress or login?
No. Closing and reopening a channel clears its temporary session data, not your account. You'll still be logged in, and your watch history stays with the streaming service, not with the Roku app itself.
Related Guides
- How to Reboot a Roku TV With the Remote
- How to Restart a Roku When It's Frozen
- How to Update Apps on Roku TV
- How to Delete Apps on Roku TV (Every Model)
- Roku Not Responding to Remote? 5 Fixes (Fastest First)
- Roku Stuck on Loading Screen? Here's How to Fix It
- Roku TV Remote: How to Pair, Fix, or Use Your Phone Instead
