How to Reset an App on Your Samsung TV (Fixing a CRASHING App!)

You get home from work, and you’re tired. You just want to sit on the couch and watch TV for a few hours, but your favorite movie streaming app keeps freezing. Or perhaps the app keeps closing altogether.

But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! This article will show you how to reset an app on your Samsung TV!

How to reset apps on Samsung TVs?

When your apps aren’t working, it can be a pain to try and figure out what’s wrong. I’ve got this awesome tip to help you get back up and running in no time.

Your Samsung TV is only able to keep one app running at a time. This means that when you close an app and open a new one, you’re basically resetting the previous app.

The process is simple:

1. On your remote, click on the Home button.

2. Click on any other app.

3. Wait for the new app to open.

4. Click on the Home button again.

5. Click back on the original app you were trying to restart

This will probably solve the issue 80% of the time—but if it doesn’t, keep reading!

Why reset apps on Samsung TVs?

You might have noticed that your Samsung TV is a little sluggish lately.

And if you think about it, it makes sense. The TV needs to update its software every so often, and recent updates may have caused issues.

If the TV has recently updated its software and is experiencing problems, it should be reset.

The good news is that there’s an easy fix. You can reset apps on Samsung TVs! This will fix any issues that are causing problems with your device, as well as improve its performance overall.

Resetting apps on Samsung TVs can fix problems with apps crashing or being useless after installation.

It can also help if your TV is running slower than usual because of outdated software or memory leaks in the system.

1. Perform a soft reset on your TV

One of the most common methods of resetting an app that is not working the way it should is to do a soft reset.

It’s basically another term for turning off your TV and turning it back on.

Now, there are really two ways of doing this.

The first way is to press and hold the power button while the TV is on. Continue holding the power button for about 5 to 10 seconds until the TV turns on.
The second method is to completely unplug your TV from the power. Wait 30 seconds, and then you can plug it back in and turn on your TV.

This is what’s known as cold booting.

Cold booting is also synonymous with refreshing your TV.

The reason for the complicated ways for what should be a simplified way of turning off your TV is due to the fact that just pressing the power button puts your Samsung TV into standby mode.

Place TV on standby mode allows it to turn back on quickly without delay.

2. Update your TV’s software

When Samsung pushes through a software update, it’s meant to provide bug and security fixes to your TV.

Most of the time, the updates would be automatic and would even pop up on your screen to ask you if you agree before it starts.

However, sometimes it isn’t that streamlined.

Here’s how you can manually update your TV software:

On your remote, press the Home button.
Click on Settings.
Click on Support.
Click on Software Update.
Click on Update Now.

The process should take anywhere from five to even 10 minutes to complete.

I would recommend that if there is the option to auto-update your TV, then go ahead and make sure that is checked.

The TV should reboot its display on its own once it is done updating. Your app should be working perfectly fine by then.

3. Delete and then reinstall the app

One of the most effective methods of fixing an app that is not working right is to completely delete it and reinstall it.

This method often helps fix files and apps where the data has been internally corrupted somehow.

As a result, this frequently leads to your app freezing and crashing to where it’s unusable.

Deleting the app

At this point, deleting it and starting over is really the only solution.

Here’s how to delete an app:

On your TV remote, click on the Home button.
Navigate to and highlight the app that is causing problems.
Tap on the down button on your remote to bring up the drop-down menu for the app.
Select Remove.
Click OK.

This should completely remove the app from your Samsung TV. However, you’re probably going to want to reinstall the app since it’s something you’re currently using.

Keep in mind that once you’ve deleted an app from your Samsung TV, if you don’t have Samsung Cloud activated then chances are your user data settings will be lost.

Reinstalling the same app may require you to punch in your user ID and password again.

Reinstalling the app

Installing and reinstalling the app is virtually an identical process.

In order to reinstall your app:

On your remote, click on the Home button.
Navigate and click on Apps.
Search for the app that you recently deleted.
Select it and click Download.
Sign in with your Samsung account.
Turn on the app.

4. Reset Smart Hub on a Samsung TV

The Samsung Smart Hub is an intelligent menu system that handles all the apps on a Samsung TV.

It’s like the Google Play store or the Apple App Store of your mobile device.

Sometimes, this part of your Samsung TV may malfunction and require a reset.

Here’s how you perform a Smart Hub reset:

On your remote tap on the Home button.
Select Settings.
Click on All Settings.
Click on Support.
Click on Device Care.
Click on Self Diagnosis.
Click on Reset Smart Hub.
Enter your pin which is by default, 0000.

You’re done!

Now try opening the app that was having problems once again.

5. Close an app and turn it back on

Probably the easiest method of trying to fix an app that is not working right is to close it and then relaunch it.

If your app is currently open, go ahead and press the Back or Return button.
When your Samsung TV asks you, “Do you want to exit the app”, you simply press confirm.
Finally, go back to the app and relaunch it again.

6. Clear your app’s cache and data

You may have heard the term “cache” in reference to apps, and you might be wondering what it means.

A cache is a temporary storage area where apps store information for faster access—it’s kind of like having a really fast hard drive in your computer instead of an old-fashioned floppy disk.

When you click on an app, the information that’s needed to load it up (like pictures and videos) will be stored here temporarily so that it loads faster when you next use that app.

Data refers to all the information that an application uses while running.

However, when either one of these types of data is corrupted, it can lead to all sorts of usability issues, including crashes and lag.

In order to clear your apps cache and data:

On your remote, tap on the Home button.
Click on Support.
Click on Self Diagnosis.
Click on TV Device Manager.
Click on Show App List.
Then click on Manage Storage.
Search for and select the app that’s having issues.
On your remote, tap on the down arrow button.
Click on View Details.
Select and activate both Clear Cache and Clear Data.

This will essentially remove all the data that has been stored within the app since the time that you first downloaded it.

When you open the app backup, you’ll need to sign back in with your account. Whatever data that you have in Samsung Cloud will be imported into the app.

However, anything not saved will be deleted.

7. Use a third-party tool to force close the app

If you are familiar with computers, then you may know that there is a way to look into all your system processing to visualize what software is taking up resources.

If your Samsung TV is capable of downloading apps from the Google Play Store, then you may have an option to download a third-party app that will allow you to monitor your system processes.

You’ll be able to see what apps are still running in the background.

This will help you find out which apps are still taking up precious resources and potentially bogging down your TV’s performance.

To get this app, complete the following steps:

Open up the Google Play Store and sign in.
Search for an app using the keyword “background processes” or “task manager.”
Download any of the top-listed apps (they all do the same thing).
Launch the app.
You will now be able to see all your background processes.
Find the apps you’re having trouble with and close them.
You can also “close all” of them.

8. Clean running apps option

Luckily for us, Samsung does have a native feature that helps improve its TV performance by cleaning up the apps that are currently running in the background.

It is a feature called Samsung device manager and it will allow you to clean your TV’s memory, clear the data from your apps, and clean all background apps.

In order to clean your apps, follow these steps:

On your remote, tap on the Home button.
Click on Support.
Click on Self-Diagnosis.
Click on Clean Running Apps.
Select and activate Clean Now.

9. Perform a factory reset

Factory resetting your Samsung TV is probably one of my last suggestions if all else doesn’t work.

What this does is it removes literally everything from your Samsung TV and starts it over as if you just taking it out of the box for the first time.

This method removes all of your data, all of your settings, and every change you’ve ever made to the TV.

This is a process that requires you to input your PIN number only because it should be a last resort.

On your remote, tap on the Home button.
Click on Settings.
Click on All Settings.
Click on General and Privacy.
Click on Reset.
Enter your PIN (By default, it’s 0000).
Click Confirm to reset.

Not all is totally lost. You can still import all of your data back into your TV as long as you are opt-in to Samsung Cloud beforehand.

By opting into Samsung Cloud, you would have agreed to save your personal and settings data in the cloud and allow Samsung to import that back into any Samsung TV you own.

10. Refresh the app

If your TV apps are running slowly or crashing, refreshing the apps can help fix a lot of issues.

This is because the refresh process will delete temporary cached data and refresh memory, making your TV run faster or more smoothly.

It’s like rebooting your computer—but for your app!

This process is dead simple.

Exit the app and relaunch it.

11. Update the app

Updates are small patches that fix bugs or add new features to the software.

They’re typically released by the app’s creator, who wants to make sure their product works exactly as intended. That way everyone gets a great user experience!

There are basically two methods you can choose from. One in which you don’t have the Google Play Store, and the other one where your TV does have the Google Play Store installed.

Samsung TVs without the Google Play Store

Updating an app is easy:

On your remote, tap on the Home button.
Click on Apps.
Click on Settings.
And flick on Auto Update.

There’s also an option to have your Samsung TV automatically update all your apps whenever it’s available.

Samsung TVs with Google Play Store

Many Samsung TVs will also have Android. And that means sometimes the apps come from the Google Play Store.

If this is the case:

With your TV remote, launch the Google Play Store app.
Click on Settings.
Click on Auto-update apps.
Click on Auto-update apps at any time.

12. Power cycle your Samsung TV

The idea of power cycling is a much more physical approach to solving the problem of a malfunctioning app.

When you power cycles your Samsung TV, you are basically removing the power, draining the power, and then turning it back on.

This will theoretically repair whatever issues and bugs that could arise.

In order to power cycle your Samsung TV:

Turn off the power button on your Samsung TV.
Then unplug your Samsung TV from the wall outlet.
Wait about 40 seconds.
Press and hold the power button directly on your TV.
Plug your TV back into the outlet.
Turn it back on and check the app to see if it’s working now.

13. Check your Internet connection

Have you checked your internet connection lately?

Sometimes, when you’re trying to watch your favorite shows or play games on your smart TV, the streaming apps don’t work.

If this happens, consider using a LAN connection or cable instead of a WLAN or wireless connection.

Apps can sometimes not be opened without a stable internet connection.

To check your connection:

Open your smart TV and press the Home button on the remote.
Navigate to Settings.
Click on General.
Click on Network.
Finally, click on Network Status.

Here, you’ll see a diagram of your smart TV’s internet connection. The green color on all indicators means that it has a good connection.

If you see a red X in between the connections, it means that there’s a connection issue between your TV and the WiFi router.

Try power cycling your router and see if this solves the issue.

Once you have a stable internet connection, reboot your smart TV and try launching your desired app.

14. Turning the TV off and then back on

It’s time to turn off the TV.

Shut down your Samsung TV by pressing the power button.
Wait a few seconds until you see the Samsung logo on the screen. This will shut down your TV system, and you will have to wait at least 30 seconds before turning it back on.
Now, turn it back on (it will take longer than usual to turn on, so don’t panic).
All apps on your Samsung TV will be restarted and you can run them.

If the TV keeps turning off by itself, try forcefully turning it off by disconnecting the power from the TV and then reconnecting it.

15. Resetting apps from the Smart Hub

Once again, the Samsung Smart Hub is a centralized location where all the apps you download on your Samsung TV reside.

It is also where all the apps are managed.

While it isn’t a straightforward way to reset your apps through your Smart Hub, there is a workaround.

What you can do is delete the app and reinstall it.

On your remote, tap on the Home button.
Click on Smart Hub.
Find and select the app that’s giving you issues.
Click on the Arrow button on your remote to bring up options to delete.
Delete the app.
Look for the name of the app again.
Download it.
Relaunch the app.

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