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(1) How To Force Quit Apps On Samsung TV [Updated 2023]

How To Force Quit Apps On Samsung TV

Netflix, YouTube, Prime, Hulu…

I cycle through all these apps just to look for the perfect movie.

Admit it. You’re guilty of switching back and forth between apps too.

And notice how your TV becomes slower the more you switch?

That’s because there are too many open apps on your TV.

Let’s close some of them, shall we?

Keep reading to discover:

  • 6 painless steps on how to force quit apps on a Samsung TV.
  • How to exit all concurring apps on your Samsung TV with 1 button.
  • The role of corrupted cache in a Samsung TV that won’t close apps.
  • And so much more…

How to force quit apps on Samsung TV – 6 steps


Step #1: Using your remote’s Return button

It doesn’t matter if you have Samsung’s old remote or their new One Remote…

The remote you have now should have a Return button.

But don’t press it just yet. There’s a distinction that I have to make:

Pressing the Return button won’t close your apps…

It’ll just put it on Standby Mode.

Meaning that your app is still open but minimized.

However, there’s a right way to force quit apps on your Samsung using the Return button:

And that’s to hold the Return button until the app closes.

Step #2: With a power cycle

Force Quit Apps On Samsung TV With A Power Cycle

Have you ever had a broken device that you fixed with a restart?

That’s still applicable to your Samsung TV.

Only now, it has a different name.

In fact, it has various names like cold boot or system restart.

Personally, I like calling it a power cycle most.

This is a type of restart that gets rid of all residual charges on your TV. These charges are sometimes responsible for:

  • Slow boot-up time.
  • Apps not working properly.
  • Smart Hub not responding.

And typically, this is how you can perform a power cycle:

  1. Shut down your TV.
  2. Remove the TV from the power source.
  3. Wait for 30 to 60 seconds.
  4. Reattach the TV to the outlet.
  5. Boot up your Samsung.

This should force quit any app on your Samsung TV.

Step #3: Clear app cache

Here’s a slightly creepy fact:

Your TV knows you and all your watching habits.

This is made possible with something called cache.

And cached data is information stored on an app about you. It usually contains the following:

  • Account details.
  • Watching history.
  • Preferences and personalized content.

It sounds a little voyeuristic, but it’s actually a helpful feature.

After all, it’s a hassle to log in to your account whenever you open an app. Or look for your favorite shows each time you launch Netflix.

That’s the valuable thing about cache.

Now, for its disadvantages:

When your cached data reaches a certain amount of time on your TV, it can get corrupted.

Once it does, the app will show funky glitches and errors.

For one, you might not be able to close the app…

That’s unless you clear its cache. You can do this with the following directions:

  1. Press the Home button on your remote.
  2. Go to the Settings page.
  3. Head to Apps.
  4. Choose System Apps.
  5. Highlight the app whose cache you want to remove.
  6. Tap the OK button on your remote.
  7. Select Clear Cache and Clear Data.

Step #4: Through the Device Care option

Instead of force closing one app on your Samsung TV…

What if you closed all of them?

This is possible through the Samsung TV’s Device Care menu.

The purpose of this menu is to:

  • Manage your Samsung TV storage.
  • Self-diagnose issues within your TV.
  • Provide a crash report to Samsung for analysis.

However, within this menu is the option to terminate all apps with one button. You can find this option using these steps:

  1. Press the Home button on your remote.
  2. Go to the Settings page.
  3. Head to the Support menu.
  4. Under Device Care, select Self Diagnosis.
  5. Once the diagnosis is over, choose TV Device Manager.
  6. Tap Clean Running Apps.

You may also be interested in: How to Restart Apps on Samsung TV

Step #5: Reinstall the app

If your app still won’t close properly…

You can also try reinstalling the app. There are two steps to accomplish this:

Step 5.1: Delete the app

The first step is deleting the app.

For Samsung TVs released after 2020, this is how you can accomplish this step:

  1. Press the Home button on your remote.
  2. Go to the Apps section.
  3. Tap the Settings option.
  4. Choose the app you want to remove.
  5. Select Delete to confirm.

You can also delete apps on other Samsung TVs by:

  1. 2014: Samsung Apps > Press the App > Enter > Delete.
  2. 2015: Smart Hub > Apps > My Apps > Press the App > Hold Enter > Delete.
  3. 2016: Apps > My Apps > Options > Delete > Press the App > Delete.
  4. 2017 to 2019: Apps > Settings > Delete.
How to remove pre-installed apps

Go through some of your other apps.

Notice how some of them have a “greyed” Delete option?

This means that you can’t remove them.

These apps are called bloatware.

Typically, these come pre-installed on your TV as they’re partnered with Samsung. That’s why there’s no option to delete them.

But, there’s a way to bypass this issue. You just need to:

  1. Go to your Smart Hub.
  2. Head to the Apps menu.
  3. Press the buttons 1 to 5 on your remote quickly.
  4. Enable Developer Mode.
  5. Cold boot your TV.
  6. Return to Apps.
  7. Choose the app you want to remove.
  8. Press Deep Link Test and then tap Cancel immediately.

Now, recheck the Delete button. After this process, it should now be ungreyed.

If not, you might’ve done something wrong along the way.

For that, I suggest watching this video for a clearer demonstration of what I wrote:

Step 5.2: Reinstall the app

  1. Ensure that your TV is connected to a Wi-Fi service.
  2. Press the Home button on your remote.
  3. Go to the Apps menu.
  4. Click the Search icon.
  5. Look for the app you just deleted.
  6. Once you find it, tap the app.
  7. Select Install.

Step #6: Factory reset your Samsung TV

Lastly, there’s one more thing you can do to force quit an app…

But this will force quit your entire TV, in a way.

The method I’m talking about is a factory reset.

This will remove all data and preferences that you have on your TV.

However, if you’re dealing with a serious issue with your apps…

I’d say a factory reset is warranted. You can do this with these directions:

  1. Press the Home button on your remote.
  2. Go to the Settings page.
  3. Head to General.
  4. Select Reset.
  5. Tap OK to confirm.

Other methods include:

  1. For Samsung 2012 TVs: Menu > Support > Self Diagnosis.
  2. For Samsung 2013 TVs: Screen Menu > Support > Self Diagnosis > Reset.
  3. For Samsung 2014 TVs: Support > Self Diagnosis > Reset.
  4. For Samsung 2015 TVs: Menu/123 > Menu > Support > Self Diagnosis > Reset.
  5. For Samsung 2016 to 2019 TVs: Home > Settings > Support > Self Diagnosis > Reset.

Why can I not close apps on my Samsung TV?

You can’t close apps on your Samsung TV because of a corrupted cache. These are cached data left on your TV for a long time and can cause glitches in its system.

To get rid of these, consult the section in this article titled, “Step #3: Clear app cache.”