As an owner of a Chromecast, I know how frustrating it can be when it randomly reboots. After experiencing this issue myself and doing some research and testing, I wanted to share my experience and the solutions I discovered in case others are dealing with the same issue.
Chromecast rebooting has various reasons. The most common one is the lack of sufficient power.
| Causes of Chromecast Issues | Solutions |
|---|---|
| Insufficient power supply | Plug Chromecast into a wall outlet |
| Outdated app version | Update Google Home app |
| Weak Wi-Fi signal | Keep Chromecast within 15 feet of Wi-Fi source |
| Soft resets, cache clearances | Try soft resetting or clearing cache |
| Persistent issues | Hard reset Chromecast |
Table of Contents
Why Does My Chromecast Keep Rebooting?
Below are common causes of Chromecasts rebooting.
Reduced Power Supply
One of the most common reasons why your Chromecast keeps rebooting is the insufficient power supply.
Google Chromecast can plug into the USB port of your TV to be powered up. This should, in most cases, be no problem at all. Chromecast is even advertised to seamlessly plug into the USB port and work without issues.
The reality isn’t as sweet, though. Some TV models, particularly Samsung TVs, can’t seem to find the power balance between the TV itself and the Chromecast device.
What that means, is that one of the two devices sometimes starves the other and prevents it from getting enough power to keep working. This could lead to one of two scenarios.
Your TV itself may reboot randomly due to lack of power. Conversely, the Chromecast may be the loser of the power struggle and start rebooting on random occasions. Either way, you’re still dealing with a reboot problem.
Fixing the Power Supply Problem
As annoying as the rebooting is, it’s fairly easy to deal with. All you have to do is to power your Chromecast through the wall outlet.
This will guarantee that both of your devices are getting enough power and that none of them will force the other to reboot.
Outdated Google Home
If you’re using the Google Home app on your phone to stream media to your TV, you may want to check if you’ve updated it to the last version.
You may have automatic updates turned off on your phone, or your phone may have failed to update the app for whatever reason.
In each case, you need to open your Play Store on your phone and go to My Apps > Google Home > Update.
This will ensure that you have the latest version of Google Home and eliminate the “outdated app possibility” from the possible list of causes. Chromecast rebooting can have various causes and you often find out the reason by the method of elimination.
Distant Network Connection
If your Chromecast is more than 15 feet away from your Wi-Fi source, you may experience lag and screen freezing. It’s highly unlikely that your Chromecast will reboot in response to a distant or a slow connection.
It can, however, happen if you have more than one connection at home. If your Chromecast knows the password of both connections, it may attempt to disconnect from the weak one and try to connect to the stronger one.
This switch is sometimes accompanied by a reboot. There’s currently no way to stop your Chromecast from rebooting while switching connections. But you can make sure that your Chromecast stays within 15 feet of your router.
Soft reset the Chromecast
Often, an easy solution is to simply restart your Chromecast device.
- To do this, open the Google Home App, Touch and hold the device’s title, tap settings, more settings then reboot.
- Alternatively, you can simply unplug the Chromecast for at least 60 seconds which will reboot the Chromecast.
Clear the cache
It would also help to try clearing the cache of your Chromecast.
To clear the cache on Chromecast with Google TV, you need to follow these simple steps:
- Go to your profile icon and select Settings, then System, then Storage, then Internal shared, storage then Cached data
- Select “Clear cached data for all apps,” then click Ok
Unknown Reasons
Sometimes our electronics insist on annoying us as much as possible and refuse to respond to whatever solutions we may try. When that happens, you’ll need to call the cavalry; a hard restart!
Hold your Chromecast device while it’s attached to a working TV and press the power button for around 25 seconds.
The LED will flash red for a couple of seconds and then flash white right after. As soon as you see white, remove your finger from the button. Your Chromecast will restart and hopefully fix the problem.
Many users have reported that hard restarting their Chromecast fixed their unexplained rebooting problem. Keep in mind that hard resetting your Chromecast will make it forget all the credentials. You’re essentially resetting it back to the factory settings.
Your login data, network passwords, caches, and personalization — all will be reset. Because of that, hard resetting your Chromecast should be your last resort.
You’ve Reached the End
So, why does my Chromecast keep rebooting? It’s mostly a power shortage problem. Simply stop your Chromecast from competing with your TV over power. To do that, connect your Chromecast directly to the wall outlet instead of the TV USB port.
If that fails to fix the problem, you may try updating your Google Home app and resetting your Chromecast as your last resort.
