How to remove apps from Roku TV without losing your mind

You probably bought your Roku because it’s simple. It just works. But then, a few months in, you look at your home screen and it’s a cluttered disaster area. There are "sponsored" channels you never asked for, that one exercise app you used exactly once in 2022, and three different streaming services you canceled last summer. Honestly, the interface starts feeling like a junk drawer. If you're trying to figure out how to remove apps from Roku TV, you aren't just looking for a button to press; you're trying to reclaim your sanity and make your TV fast again.

It's annoying.

Roku calls these "channels," but let's be real—they're apps. Whether you have a standalone Roku Ultra, a Premiere, or a TCL/Hisense Roku TV, the process is mostly the same, but there are some weird quirks. For instance, did you know you can't actually delete some apps if you have an active subscription through Roku? Yeah, they sort of lock you in until you fix the billing side. It's these little details that usually trip people up.

The basic "Star Button" method (The one everyone tries first)

Most people know about the asterisk. It's that little star button on your remote that feels like it should do more than it does. To get started, just highlight the app you’re tired of looking at. Don’t click it! Just hover.

Hit that Star (*) button.

A menu pops up. You’ll see "Remove channel." If you click that and confirm, the app vanishes. Poof. Gone. Usually.

But sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes that "Remove channel" option isn't even there. This usually happens because of one of two reasons: you’re currently inside the app (you can't delete a house while you're standing in the living room) or you have an active subscription managed by Roku. If it’s the latter, Roku wants their money, so they won't let you hide the storefront until you cancel the recurring payment. It's a bit greedy, but that's the ecosystem.

How to remove apps from Roku TV when the option is missing

If you’re staring at the screen and "Remove channel" is missing, don't throw the remote. Check your subscriptions first. You have to go to the Roku Channel Store or log into your account on a web browser.

Navigate to Manage Your Subscriptions.

If the app you want to kill is listed there, you have to cancel it first. Even if you've already paid for the month, Roku often hides the "Remove" button until the "Auto-renew" is toggled off. Once that's handled, the option magically reappears on your TV screen.

Another weird glitch? The Roku mobile app.

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Sometimes the TV interface gets stubborn. If the remote method fails, open the Roku app on your phone. Go to the "Channels" tab, long-press the icon of the app you want to delete, and tap remove. This forces a sync. It’s like a digital nudge to the TV’s brain.

Dealing with the "The Roku Channel" and bloatware

Here is the part that actually sucks: you can't delete everything.

Roku is a business. They make money on hardware, but they make a lot more money on ads and their own content. Because of this, "The Roku Channel" is basically permanent. You can move it to the bottom of the list so you don't have to look at it, but you can't wipe it from existence.

Same goes for those "featured" shortcuts that sometimes appear.

If you're seeing "Movie Store" or "TV Store" and you hate them, you can actually hide those, though it’s not technically "removing an app." You have to dive into Settings > Home Screen. From there, you can toggle "Hide" on things like the Store, News, or Short-form videos. It makes the sidebar look a lot cleaner. It won't give you more storage space, but it stops the visual noise.

Why you should actually bother doing this

You might think, "Why do I care if there are 50 apps?"

Roku devices have surprisingly small internal storage. Even the high-end ones aren't exactly powerhouses. When your storage gets full, the TV starts acting weird. It gets laggy. Apps take longer to load. Sometimes, an app will just crash back to the home screen because the system is trying to swap memory and realizes it has nowhere to go.

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By knowing how to remove apps from Roku TV, you’re essentially performing a "disk cleanup." It keeps the OS snappy.

Also, security.

Every app you have installed is potentially tracking your viewing habits. If you haven't opened an app in a year, why let it sit there pinging servers in the background or collecting data on what you're watching? Delete it. You can always download it again in thirty seconds if you suddenly have a burning desire to watch a niche documentary on a platform you forgot existed.

The "Guest Mode" trap and factory resets

If you bought a used Roku or you’re in a rental, you might find you can’t delete anything at all. This usually means the device is in "Guest Mode." You'll need the PIN to get out of it. If you don't have the PIN, your only real option is a factory reset.

Find the physical reset button on the back of the TV or the stick. It’s usually a tiny pinhole. Hold it down for a full 15 to 20 seconds.

Warning: This wipes everything. You’ll have to sign back into Netflix, Hulu, and whatever else you use. It’s a pain, but if the previous owner left 400 apps on there, it’s honestly faster than deleting them one by one.

A quick note on "System Updates"

Sometimes you delete an app, and then a week later, it’s back. No, you aren't losing your mind.

When Roku pushes a major firmware update, they occasionally "re-recommend" certain channels. It's basically an ad. If this happens, just delete it again. Also, make sure your Roku account isn't synced across five different devices in your house. If "Sync" is on, deleting an app on the bedroom TV might trigger a weird re-install loop if someone is using that same app on the living room TV.

Moving forward with a cleaner interface

Once you've cleared the deck, take a second to organize. You can move apps by hitting the same Star (*) button and selecting "Move channel." Put your top three—the ones you actually use every single night—at the very top.

Actionable steps for a faster Roku:

• Audit your list: Scroll through every single app. If you haven't opened it since the last Olympics, kill it.
• Check subscriptions: If an app won't delete, go to my.roku.com and see if you're being billed through them.
• Clear the cache: If the TV still feels slow after deleting apps, go to Home (5 times), Up, Rewind (2 times), Fast Forward (2 times). The TV will freeze for a second and then reboot. It clears out the junk data.
• Hide the sidebars: Go to Settings > Home Screen and turn off all the "Recommendations" and "Store" links you don't use.

A clean Roku is a fast Roku. It takes five minutes once a month to keep it that way, and honestly, your movie nights will be a lot less frustrating when you aren't scrolling past 80 icons to find Disney+.