To play videos from a USB drive on a Roku, plug the drive into the Roku’s USB port and open Roku Media Player when prompted. Choose Video, select the USB drive, browse to your file, and press OK or Play. If Roku Media Player is not installed, your Roku asks you to add it from the Roku Store first.
This guide follows Roku’s current support documentation. It covers Roku players and Roku TVs that have a USB port, the drive and video formats Roku lists as supported, and what to check when the drive or a file does not appear.
What you need before you start
- A Roku with a USB port. Only some Roku devices include one. See the model section below.
- A USB flash drive or external hard drive formatted with a file system Roku supports: FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, EXT2, EXT3, or HFS+. A file system is the way a drive organizes its files.
- Videos in a supported format. On most Roku devices that means H.264 video in an MP4, MKV, or MOV file. Files in other formats are hidden. A free converter such as HandBrake can re-encode them. For an example, read how to convert video for an iPod.
- The Roku Media Player app. It is free and comes pre-installed on some devices.
Not sure how your drive is formatted? Here is how to check the file format of a USB flash drive on a Windows PC or a Mac.
How to play a video from a USB drive
Roku TV owners, read this first: a USB drive can also be used to pause live TV on a Roku TV, and setting a drive up for that purpose reformats it. Reformatting erases the drive. If your TV offers to set the drive up for pausing live TV, decline unless the drive is empty.
- Copy your videos to the USB drive on your computer. Putting them in a clearly named folder makes them easier to find on the TV.
- Plug the drive into the USB port on your Roku player or Roku TV. A prompt appears on the screen.
- If the prompt asks you to add Roku Media Player, follow it to install the app from the Roku Store. If the app is already installed, the prompt asks whether to launch it. Choose to launch it.
- On the media type screen, select Video. The other choices are All, Audio, and Photo.
- Select your USB drive on the media device screen. The folders on the drive are listed.
- Open the folder that holds your video and highlight the file.
- Press OK or Play on the remote. The video starts.
These steps come from Roku’s How to use Roku Media Player guide.
If no prompt appears
Open Roku Media Player yourself from the list of apps on the Home screen. If the app is already open when you plug the drive in, a USB drive icon should show up on the media device selection screen. That icon is how you confirm the Roku has detected the drive.
Add Roku Media Player manually
- Press Home on the remote.
- Select Store, then Apps.
- Find Roku Media Player, press OK, and select Add app.
Roku’s guide to adding apps notes that an app is added to your Roku account, so it also appears on other Roku devices linked to the same account. If you have set a Roku account PIN, you are asked for it.
If you stop using it later, you can remove the app from your Roku with the Star button on the Home screen.
Control playback and stop the video
- Pause or resume: press Play/Pause.
- Skip forward or back: press right or left on the directional pad.
- Stop: press Back. You return to the folder you were browsing.
- Subtitles: press Star while the video plays to choose a subtitle track. On a Roku TV, you also need to select Accessibility.
Roku Media Player reads subtitles embedded in MKV files. It also picks up separate .srt and .vtt subtitle files when they sit in the same folder as the video and share its name, such as movie.mp4 and movie.srt.
Before you unplug the drive, stop the video and press Home so Roku Media Player is no longer reading from it.
Which Rokus have a USB port?
Only some Roku players and TVs have one. Roku’s player comparison chart has a USB port row for current players, and the Roku Ultra is one model that includes USB. Roku TVs, the Roku Streambar SE, and older players such as the Roku 3, Roku 4, and Roku 2 XS support USB as well.
If your model is not named there, look at the device itself or check the chart. Shopping for a new one? Start with choosing the right Roku. A Roku without a USB port can still play your own videos over your home network, which is covered below.
Supported drive formats and power
Roku Media Player works with drives formatted as FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, EXT2, EXT3, exFAT, and HFS+, and it can read separate partitions on one drive. You can connect more than one drive through a USB hub. For EXT2 and EXT3 drives, files must also have permissions that let everyone read them.
FAT32 cannot hold a single file larger than 4 GB, so a long high-quality movie may need exFAT or NTFS. If you do need to reformat, remember that formatting erases the drive. Copy your files somewhere else first, then format the USB drive on Windows 11.
Power matters as much as format. The most common reason a drive is not detected is that it needs more power than the Roku’s USB port supplies. Flash drives use little power. Portable hard drives often need more. These are the approximate limits:
| Roku device | Approximate maximum USB current |
|---|---|
| Roku Plus Series TV, Roku Select Series 4K TV | 1500 mA |
| Roku Ultra (models 4800, 4802, 4850) | 1170 mA |
| Roku Ultra (models 4670, 4660, 4661) | 1100 mA |
| Roku Pro Series TV, Roku Select Series HD TV | 1000 mA |
| Roku 4 | 900 mA |
| Roku 3, Roku 2 XS | 650 mA |
| Roku Ultra (model 4640), Roku Streambar SE | 500 mA |
For Roku TVs made by other brands, the TV manufacturer can give you the power details.
Video formats Roku Media Player can play
Supported formats differ by Roku device and can grow with software updates. Roku’s current list is:
- All devices: H.264/AVC video in MKV, MP4, or MOV files.
- 4K devices: H.265/HEVC in MKV, MP4, or MOV files. Some 4K devices also play VP9 in MKV or WEBM files and AV1 in MKV or MP4 files.
- 8K devices: AV1 and H.265/HEVC in MKV or MP4 files.
- Roku TVs and some players: H.262 video in MKV files.
H.264 and H.265 are codecs, which are the methods used to compress the video inside the file. Two MP4 files can use different codecs, so the file extension alone does not tell you whether a video will play. AVI and WMV are not on Roku’s list. Copy-protected (DRM) videos are not supported either.
To see what your own Roku supports, open the Help pages, marked with a question mark, on the media type or media device screen in Roku Media Player.
Search your drive
Roku Media Player has to build a database of your files before it can search them. It does this as you open each folder, or you can scan the whole drive at once.
- Open Roku Media Player and select All, Video, Audio, or Photo.
- Highlight your USB drive on the media device screen.
- Press the Star button on the remote, then select Scan. If the database already exists, Scan may not appear.
- Wait for the scan to finish. It can take several minutes, and canceling early loses the results.
- Press Star again and select Search.
- Type the first few letters of the file name and select a result.
If the drive or a file won’t show up
The Roku does not detect the drive
- Check for a power message. Roku may show “This USB device requires more power.” A red or flashing light on the drive can mean the same thing.
- Add power. Plug in the drive’s own power adapter if it has one. If it does not, use a powered USB hub, which is a hub with its own wall plug.
- Try a different connection order with a powered hub. Connect the hub to the Roku, turn the hub on, then connect the drive. If that fails, connect the drive to the hub, turn the hub on, wait 10 seconds, and then connect the hub to the Roku.
- Remove an unpowered hub. Connect the drive straight to the Roku, or unplug other devices from the hub.
- Check the file system on a computer and compare it with the supported list above.
- USB 3.0 drives: these generally work in USB 2.0 mode, but some may not work when plugged directly into a TCL Roku TV. A USB 2.0 extension cable or USB 2.0 hub gets around that.
Roku’s full instructions are in Why does my Roku not recognize my external USB drive? If the Roku still does not respond, restarting the Roku is a reasonable next step.
The drive appears but a video is missing
Roku Media Player does not display unsupported files, or files it has decided your Roku cannot play. There is no error message. The file is left out of the list. Check the codec on your computer and convert the video to H.264 in an MP4 file if needed. Roku doesn’t recommend any particular converter for this.
The video plays without sound
Most Roku players cannot decode Dolby Digital or DTS audio themselves. They pass that audio through to the TV or audio receiver over HDMI or an optical cable, so the TV or receiver must be able to decode it. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD are not supported. If a file is silent, its audio track is a likely cause, and converting the audio to AAC or another format on Roku’s list is the usual fix.
No USB port? Play videos over your network
Roku Media Player can also play files from a media server on your home network using DLNA, a standard for sharing media between devices. The computer or network drive running the server software must be on the same network as the Roku. The app has been tested with Windows Media Player, Plex, Serviio, Twonky, PlayOn, MiniDLNA, and Synology.
To check how your Roku is joined to that network, see whether a Roku uses Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
One advantage of a server is that some of them, including Plex and Serviio, convert a video to a format the Roku supports while it plays. A USB drive cannot do that.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an internet connection to play videos from a USB drive?
You need one to add Roku Media Player from the Roku Store if it is not already installed. Roku’s documentation does not say whether the app works with no connection afterward, so do not count on it for a location without internet until you have checked on your own device.
Can a Roku play AVI files from a USB drive?
AVI is not on Roku’s list of supported formats for Roku Media Player. The listed video containers are MKV, MP4, MOV, and WEBM, depending on the device. Convert an AVI file to H.264 in an MP4 file on your computer before copying it to the drive.
Can I make the Roku open the USB drive automatically?
Yes. You can set the device to launch Roku Media Player when a USB drive is inserted under Settings > System > USB media. A playlist file named Autostart.m3u in the top level of the drive then starts playing the items it lists.
Can I add my own cover art for a video?
Yes. Save a JPG, PNG, or THM image with the same name as the video in the same folder on the USB drive. Roku Media Player uses it as the poster for that video.
Can I use an external hard drive instead of a flash drive?
Yes, as long as it uses a supported file system. Hard drives are more likely to need extra power, so use the drive’s power adapter or a powered USB hub if the Roku does not detect it.
Can I view iPhone photos on my Roku without a USB drive?
Yes. Here’s how to view iPhone pictures on your Roku.
Next step
Start with one short H.264 MP4 file on a flash drive. If it plays, copy the rest of your videos in the same format. If the drive never appears, work through the power and file system checks above before reformatting anything.
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are checked step by step against the device or app maker’s own documentation and tested on his own devices whenever he has the hardware or software, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.
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