Amazon Video Not Working on Samsung TV (Tips & Tricks)

If you typically watch your favorite Amazon movies and shows on your Samsung TV and one day it suddenly stops working, you may experience some frustration. Not to worry. Typically, there is a reasonable explanation with a quick solution for the issue.

If Amazon Prime Video is not working, check your Internet connection first. It’s possible you may need to reset your router or modem. If the issue persists, unplug your TV from the wall and plug it back in to reset the TV. If necessary,  check if your TV needs a software update. If nothing else works, reinstall the Amazon Prime app, which is highly likely to solve the issue.

Let us take a look at all the different ways you can troubleshoot a Samsung TV that is unable to run Amazon Prime Video.

Troubleshooting Amazon Prime Not Working on Samsung TV

1. Double check the HDMI Cable ~ 100 words

Your Amazon Prime Video may not be working on your Samsung television if you do not have the proper HDMI cable to watch movies and television shows in 4k or high definition. Double-check your HDMI cable to ensure it is an HDCP 2.2 or higher if you want to play your movies and television shows in HD and 4K.

Even if you are simply just trying to watch streaming content on Amazon Prime Video that is not in HD or 4k, you still need an HDMI cable that is rated at 1.4 or higher.

Take a look at your HDMI cable and look up the product number online to determine what rating it is. If you need to upgrade, then you can go ahead and order a new HDMI cable online or go to a local big box store to make your purchase.

2. Pause other downloads

If you are a serious online multi-tasker downloading simultaneous music, movies, and games while streaming YouTube, you could be stretching your network too thin. There may not be enough bandwidth to run Amazon Prime Video.

Also, do you share your internet with family members or roommates? If you have too many people in your home trying to stream their own content or download files, it may be time to contact your ISP provider about an upgrade. You can discuss options with your ISP about upgrading your internet service to include enough bandwidth for all the online activity in your household. 

In the meantime, you may have to stop all your current downloads or wait for them to be complete before starting up Amazon Prime. If you have other people in the home, you may need to have a house meeting to make sure people are only doing one or two things online at the same time to make sure there is enough bandwidth to go around. 

3. Clear Cache

Sometimes the issue causing your Amazon Prime Video to not work is caused by the app itself. The issue could be causing glitches that make Amazon Prime Video unavailable. To try to resolve this issue, you may want to clear the cache of the Amazon Prime Video app. 

To clear the cache of Amazon Prime Video, take the following steps.

  1. If you have a Samsung Smart TV, go ahead and go to Settings.
  2. You can reach settings by pressing the Home button on the remote.
  3. Next, go to Apps and then find System Apps.
  4. In System Apps, find Amazon Prime Video and click on it.
  5. Next, click on Clear cache.
  6. Press OK to confirm.

After you clear the cache of your Amazon Prime Video app, you may want to do the same to your Samsung Smart TV. To clear the cache and cookies on your Samsung Smart TV, take the following steps. 

To clear the cache on your Samsung Smart TV, there is no other way than to delete the cache on each individual app. At the same time, you may want to delete any of the apps that you do not use to clear up some storage space. To clear the cache on individual apps, simply follow the same 6 steps outlined above for the Amazon Prime Video app for each app you have on your television. 

To delete the cookies stored on your Samsung Smart TV, take the following steps.

  1. Press the Home button on your TV remote.
  2. Go into your Settings.
  3. Select the Broadcasting option.
  4. Next, find Expert Settings and click on it.
  5. Click on HbbTV settings.
  6. Click on Delete Browsing Data.
  7. Click Yes to confirm.

4. Unplug Samsung TV from the wall

When you unplug your Samsung TV from the wall, you are essentially doing a cold boot of the television. There are two main ways to cold boot your Samsung television to see if it fixes your Amazon Prime Video problem. 

Unplug the TV

  1. Go ahead and unplug the Samsung television from the power outlet.
  2. Let the TV sit unplugged for 60 seconds.
  3. Plug the TV back in again.
  4. Go ahead and open the Amazon Prime Video app to see if the issue was resolved.

Using the remote

  1. Press and hold the power button on the Samsung remote control.
  2. Hold the button until the TV automatically turns off and on again.
  3. This cold boot reset should happen within 10 seconds.

5. Check if the Prime Video servers are down

Sometimes there may be issues with the servers at Amazon that may be causing problems with the Amazon Prime Video app. To quickly check whether or not the servers are down from the Prime Video app, try going to downdetector.com for up-to-the-minute information about Prime Video’s status.

6. Update or reinstall the Prime Video app

If you are having trouble running the Amazon Prime Video app on your Samsung TV, you may need to check to see if there are any updates available. To check for app updates, follow these steps.

  1. First, press the Smart Hub button on your TV’s remote control.
  2. Click on Featured.
  3. All apps that need to be updated will display a white arrow.
  4. Click on the Amazon Prime Video app.
  5. Hold down Enter to bring up the Amazon Prime Video sub-menu.
  6. Find the Update Apps option and click on it.
  7. Confirm update.

If your Amazon Prime Video App does not need to be updated, then you may need to delete the app from your Samsung television and reinstall it. Uninstalling the app may help if the data from the app has become corrupted. 

To uninstall and reinstall your Amazon Prime Video app, take the following steps. 

  1. Press the Home button on your television remote.
  2. Go to the Apps menu.
  3. Next, find Settings and select the Amazon Prime Video app.
  4. Click on delete and then confirm to remove the app from your TV.

Once you have uninstalled the Amazon Prime Video app, wait a few minutes and then go ahead and download and install it again. Here is how to do that. 

  1. Go to the main menu of your Samsung TV and find the Apps section.
  2. Click on Apps and then Search.
  3. Type in Amazon Prime video.
  4. Once the app appears in the search results, click on it to begin downloading.
  5. When the download is complete, it should automatically install itself.
  6. After installation is complete, go ahead and try the Prime Video app and see if the problem is fixed.

7. Reset Samsung Smart Hub

If you have tried multiple troubleshooting tactics but still have trouble with your Prime Video, you may need to consider resetting your Samsung Smart Hub. Be warned. Resetting your Samsung Smart Hub will log out all accounts and delete all settings in every app you have installed on your Samsung TV. 

Essentially, you are resetting your Samsung Smart Hub to its factory default settings. You will need to make sure you remember your Samsung account username and password as well as the username and password for every app you use. 

To reset the Samsung Smart Hub, follow these steps.

  1. Go to the Settings menu.
  2. Click on Support.
  3. Find Self Diagnosis and click on it.
  4. Press Reset Smart Hub.
  5. You may be asked for your television’s pin. If you have never made a pin for your Samsung TV, use the default code of 0000.
  6. Once the pin has been accepted, the reset will automatically begin. 

8. Reset your Wi-Fi router or modem

Sometimes the problems you are having with Amazon Prime Video have nothing to do with the app or your TV. instead, you could be experiencing network issues with your home internet service. 

The first thing you should try is resetting your router or modem. Resetting your router or modem can help to improve slow or spotty connections and can fix most problems with wireless connectivity with the devices in your home. 

To reset your Wifi router or modem, take the following steps. 

  1. Unplug the router or modem from its power source.
  2. Check to ensure all the lights on the router or modem are turned off.
  3. Wait between 60 and 90 seconds.
  4. Plug the power cord back into the power source.
  5. Wait a few minutes while your router or modem is assigned a public IP address and your devices are assigned private IP addresses. 

9. Check your internet speed

If your internet speeds are too slow, then you may have a difficult time getting Prime Video to function normally. Amazon states that Prime Video needs a minimum of 1 MB a second to stream content, however, you should have way more than that available. 

To check your current internet speeds you can do an internet speed test at speedtest.net

If you find out that your internet speed is incredibly slow, contact your ISP provider to report the issue and see if they can help you resolve it. 

10. Check For Active Downloads/VPNs 

If you have a VPN that you use regularly, Amazon Video Player may not work while the VPN is activated. In fact, Amazon may actually block your device from using the service if they flag your IP as suspicious. If you have started up the Prime Video Player but forgot to turn off your VPN, then close the app, disconnect your VPN, and reopen the Prime Video Player.

Also, if you or another member of your household are actively downloading a large file like a game, it may be preventing the Amazon Prime Video app from functioning normally. 

11. Check Your Location Settings

Sometimes if your location setting in your Samsung Smart TV does not match the location of your IP address, Amazon may flag your account as a suspicious login attempt. This is similar to the way a VPN can trigger Amazon to prevent you from using the Prime Video app. 

To check your location settings, go to the Settings menu of your Samsung TV. Find the Location option, click on it, and double-check that it says the location of where you actually are. If it does not, then you will have to change the location. 

Once you have changed the location, go ahead and reopen the Amazon Prime Video application.

12. Update your Samsung TV

If the software on your Samsung TV is out-of-date, it could cause the Amazon Prime Video app to glitch and not function properly. To update the software on your Samsung television, take the following steps.

  1. Go to the Settings menu on your Samsung TV.
  2. Click on Support.
  3. Find Software Update and click on it.
  4. Press Update Now.
  5. Your Samsung TV will automatically download and install any new software updates and then reboot.
  6. Test the Prime Video app to see if that helped.

13. Factory reset your Samsung TV

If you have tried practically everything else, you may want to go ahead and factory reset your Samsung TV. By doing this, you can do a complete do-over and restore all the settings to the way they were the day you took the TV out of the box. 

After the factory reset, you will need to reinstall the Amazon Prime Video app. To complete the factory reset, take the following steps. 

  1. Go to the Settings menu on your Samsung TV.
  2. Then click General and then Reset.
  3. You will be asked for a pin. 
  4. If you have never created a pin for your Samsung TV, then type in 0000 and click reset.
  5. Press Ok and your TV will reset and then restart automatically. 
  6. If you have any troubles, check your owner’s manual for more specific instructions.

Why Is My Amazon Prime Saying “Something Went Wrong”?

If you get the “Something Went Wrong” message from the Prime Video app, there are four quick and easy fixes that should get your app back to normal.

Clear the cache

  1. If you have a Samsung Smart TV, go ahead and go to Settings.
  2. You can reach settings by pressing the Home button on the remote.
  3. Next, go to Apps and then find System Apps.
  4. In System Apps, find Amazon Prime Video and click on it.
  5. Next, click on Clear cache.
  6. Press OK to confirm.

Unplug your router

  1. Unplug the router or modem from its power source.
  2. Check to ensure all the lights on the router or modem are turned off.
  3. Wait between 60 and 90 seconds.
  4. Plug the power cord back into the power source.
  5. Wait a few minutes while your router or modem is assigned a public IP address and your devices are assigned private IP addresses. 

Reinstall Amazon Prime Video

  1. Press the Home button on your television remote.
  2. Go to the Apps menu.
  3. Next, find Settings and select the Amazon Prime Video app.
  4. Click on delete and then confirm to remove the app from your TV.
  5. Go to the main menu of your Samsung TV and find the Apps section.
  6. Click on Apps and then Search.
  7. Type in Amazon Prime Video.
  8. Once the app appears in the search results, click on it to begin downloading.
  9. When the download is complete, it should automatically install itself.
  10. After installation is complete, go ahead and try the Prime Video app and see if the problem is fixed.

Reset your SmartHub

  1. Go to the Settings menu.
  2. Click on Support.
  3. Find Self Diagnosis and click on it.
  4. Press Reset Smart Hub.
  5. You may be asked for your television’s pin. If you have never made a pin for your Samsung TV, use the default code of 0000.
  6. Once the pin has been accepted, the rest will automatically begin. 

Conclusion 

There are many solutions to the problem of a Samsung TV being unable to run Amazon Prime Video. By spending a bit of time troubleshooting the issue, you should be able to get back to watching your favorite Amazon content in no time.