Do you love watching videos on YouTube? Or maybe Netflix? The Amazon Prime Video app and service offers tons of great TV shows and movies to watch on your Samsung TV.
That’s why Prime Video not working on Samsung TV can be a pain. You end up not being able to watch some good shows.
The Prime Video app can crash, not load, or freeze for any number of reasons. I’ll cover many of the reasons and how to fix them in this article.
- Related article: Smart Apps Not Working on Samsung TV
1. Soft Reset or Cold Reboot the Samsung TV
The Samsung TV can succumb to corrupted settings and prevent Prime Video working. A power cycle, or soft reset, will shut off the TV completely and stop background processes and apps from causing issues with the Prime Video app.
There are two ways of performing a cold boot and restarting a Samsung TV.
Method 1 – Follow these steps to soft reset a Samsung TV:
- Unplug the TV’s power cord from the power outlet for at least 60 seconds.
- Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet or surge protector.
- Wait for the TV to finish starting up.
Method 2 – To cold reboot the Samsung TV:
- Unplug the TV power cable.
- On the Remote Control, Press and Hold the Power button for 30 seconds.
- Plug the TV back into the power outlet.
- Wait for the TV to reboot.
2. Check for Samsung TV Firmware Updates
Keeping the Samsung TV updated with the latest firmware versions can help prevent issues with the latest Prime Video app versions.
Sometimes, an update for a new version of the Prime Video app may not be compatible with older Samsung TVs’ outdated firmware and software.
New updates for Samsung TVs are released regularly to fix bugs. Downloading them when they’re available is best. Upgrading to the latest version of TV firmware and software can sometimes solve some issues related to Prime Video or other apps.
You can download the most recent firmware update for Samsung TVs by using the TV’s settings menu. You can also download an update for the device directly from Samsung’s support website.
Follow these steps through the TV menu to update the Samsung TV firmware:
1. On the Samsung TV remote control, Press Home.
2. Select Settings
3. Select Support.
4. Select Software Update.
5. Select Update Now.
6. The TV will automatically reboot for the new firmware to fully install and take effect.
You can also download an updated version of the Samsung TV firmware and transfer it to a USB drive. Follow these steps:
- On your computer, head to the Samsung download page and find your TV model.
- Download the latest firmware version to your computer.
- Extract the files and transfer them to a USB drive.
- Insert the USB drive into one of the USB ports on the TV.
- On the TV remote, Press Home.
- Select Settings.
- Select Support.
- Select Software Update.
- Start the Software Update Process on the TV.
- The TV will restart and use the new firmware on the USB stick. Make sure not to remove the flash drive until after the television has fully booted up again.
3. Remove and Reinstall App
If Prime Video stops working properly on your Samsung TV, you may be experiencing an app conflict. If you notice that Amazon Prime Video isn’t working properly, remove it and re-install it. This might help solve the problem.
If there’s an available app update for Prime Video, you can try that as well before removing the app completely. Or deleting and reinstalling could give it a fresher start.
If you want to remove Prime Video from your device, be sure you have access to the login information for the service before uninstalling it. You will be logged out of the app, so you will need to log back in.
Follow these steps to uninstall and reinstall Prime Video on a Samsung TV:
1. Press Home on the remote control.
2. Navigate to Apps.
3. Select Settings.
4. Navigate to the Prime Video App.
5. Select Delete. If Delete is grayed out, you won’t be able to delete it because it’s a recommended app. Instead, Select Reinstall.
6. Press Return on the Remote.
7. Select Search.
8. Enter the Prime Video App Name.
9. Select to Install the Prime Video App.
4. Slow Internet Connection
If you’re experiencing issues when streaming high definition video through Prime Video, it may be because your Internet connection speed isn’t fast enough.
When streaming from Prime Video, you will need a minimum download speed of 50+ Mbps for 4K video and 5 Mbps to stream HD video.
There may be several reasons why the WiFi download speeds are slow. Here are some of the most common reasons why you might experience a slow Internet connection.
1. Weak Wi-Fi Signal to the Samsung TV
If the Wi-Fi signal is weak between the TV and the wireless router, the Internet connection may sometimes lose its connection. It could cause streaming issues with the Prime video app.
Make sure the Wi‑Fi signal from the TV is strong enough. To check whether the Wi-fi connection is strong enough, go through these steps.
- On the Samsung TV remote, Press Home.
- Select Settings.
- Select General.
- Select Network.
- Select Open Network Settings.
- Select Wireless.
- In the list of wireless networks, see how many signal bars your wireless network has. 1 to 2 bars is the sign of a weak signal.
If the distance between your wireless network and Samsung TV is too large, then there may be poor connection quality and inconsistent connections.
One reason why there is a weak Wi-Fi signal is that there are many obstacles between your TV and the router, such as many walls, which block signals.
It would be easier for you to put the router closer to the TV if you moved the router instead of moving the TV. A shorter distance between the router and Samsung TV will improve the quality of your Wi-Fi connections for better streaming on Prime Video.
If the router and Samsung television cannot be moved, then you need to look into buying a Wi-Fi repeater that serves as an intermediary for the Wi-Fi signal between them.
WiFi repeaters are also called WiFi extenders. The one below is one of the best ones out there and works well in smart homes. They can be found on Amazon:
2. Soft Reset the Wi-Fi Router
If your Wi-fi router hasn’t rebooted or been shut off for some time, there could be issues with its settings. It can slow down your internet speed by causing interruptions and congestion with the Wi-Fi network.
If you’re experiencing issues with your network, power cycling and restarting your networking equipment may be helpful.
To soft reset the WiFi Router or Modem, follow these steps:
- Unplug the Router from the power outlet for at least 60 seconds.
- Plug the Wi-Fi Router back in to the power outlet.
- Turn On the Wi-Fi Router if there’s an On/Off switch.
- Wait for the Router to reboot and connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
3. Try a Wired Connection
If your router has trouble sharing the internet connection via wireless signals, check if there’s something wrong with its settings or hardware. Wired connections can be more stable than wireless ones, and are easier to troubleshoot when they go down.
To get a fast internet connection to your Samsung TV, you’ll need to connect via a wired connection. If you’re having trouble connecting to the Internet, you can also connect the computer directly to the router using an Ethernet cable.
Follow these steps to connect and use a wired internet connection with your Samsung TV:
- Connect an ethernet cable from the LAN port on the back of the Samsung smart TV to a LAN port on the router or modem.
- On the Samsung TV remote control, Press Home.
- Select Settings.
- Select General.
- Select Network.
- Select OK for the TV to use the wired network to access the internet.
If you’re able to get on the internet with a wired connection, it means the Wi‑Fi router’s wireless functionality has issues. It means you may need to upgrade the router’s firmware, perform a factory reset, or replace the Wi-Fi adapter.
4. Disconnect Other Devices from the Wi-Fi Network
If multiple devices are connected to a one Wi-Fi router at the same time, that can slow down the speed of the entire network.
For example, if you have 4 smartphones, 3 tablets and 3 computers connected to the same wireless network, the internet connection speed for each device will slow to a crawl. Especially if they’re all streaming HD videos on Prime Video or other streaming platforms.
Older Wi-Fi router and modem models are often particularly bad at supporting multiple simultaneous connections.
Disconnect all the other devices to try and improve your internet speed on your Samsung TV for Prime Video. Reconnect the Samsung TV to the Wi-Fi network and see if the internet speed has improved.
If this fixes poor internet connection issues, then you know that it was an issue with your old router not being able to handle multiple devices. You should consider getting a new Wi-Fi router that supports multiple devices sharing the internet simultaneously.
5. Change DNS Server
Sometimes DNS settings and unstable internet connections can cause Prime Video issues on the TV. The bad DNS server settings can The issues can be caused by incorrect DNS server settings from the ISP.
Usually, when using a Samsung smart TV, the ISP’s built-in DNS server will be used automatically by the device. But if you want to change it, you can.
If your ISP has its own DNS servers, they may interfere with access to Prime Video servers. However, you can use Google’s public DNS servers instead. Google’s DNS server settings may provide a more consistent internet connection than others.
Follow these steps to manually change the DNS settings and use Google’s DNS servers on the Samsung TV:
- On the Samsung TV remote control, Press Home.
- Select Settings.
- Select General.
- Select Network.
- Select Network Status.
- Select IP Settings.
- Select DNS Setting.
- Select Enter Manually.
- Select DNS Server.
- Enter 8.8.8.8.
- Try to open and reconnect to the Prime Video app again.
6. Reset Smart Hub on Samsung TV
On the Samsung Smart TV, one of the other apps that has been logged into could be interfering with Prime Video and causing an issue.
Signing out of all the apps from the smart hub can help Prime Video start working again by removing any conflicts between it and other apps. But before doing a smart hub reset, make sure you’ve got all the login details for any devices connected to the hub.
For newer Samsung Smart TV models made after 2020, follow these steps:
- On the remote control, Press Home.
- Select Settings.
- Select Support.
- Select Service Care.
- Select Self Diagnosis.
- Select Reset Smart Hub.
For older Samsung TV models made before 2020, follow these steps:
- On the remote control, Press Home.
- Select Settings.
- Select Support.
- Select Self Diagnosis.
- Select Reset Smart Hub.
If the Samsung TV prompts you to enter a security PIN code when it restarts, use the default PIN code: 0000.
You may also need to download Prime Video app again after resetting.
Prime Video Not Working on Samsung TV Final Thoughts
With Prime Video on your Samsung television, there are several things that could go wrong. Most of the issues with the Prime Video App not working on your Samsung TV can be resolved by following the steps above.
Here are some other apps that can have issues working on a Samsung TV:
Image source: samsung.com
