How to Make Your TV Automatically Switch to Your Roku Premiere Plus

To make your TV switch to your Roku Premiere Plus automatically, turn on 1-touch play on the Roku: press Home, then go to Settings > System > Control other devices and check 1-touch play. Your TV also needs its own HDMI-CEC setting turned on. After that, pressing a button on the Roku remote tells most TVs to change to the Roku’s HDMI input.

The rest of this guide explains what the setting does, what your TV needs, how to confirm it works, how to turn it off again, and what to check when the TV does not switch.

What 1-Touch Play Does

1-touch play is a Roku setting that uses HDMI-CEC. CEC stands for Consumer Electronics Control. It lets devices send simple commands to each other over the same HDMI cable that carries the picture and sound, so one remote can do some of the work of another.

Roku’s support site says that most TVs turn on and switch to the Roku player’s input when you press any button on the Roku remote, except volume or mute, as long as 1-touch play is on and CEC is enabled on the TV. In practice that means you can pick up the Roku remote, press Home, and skip the step of finding the TV remote and choosing an input.

Two limits are worth knowing before you start:

• CEC does not control every function of every device. Roku notes that not all TVs fully support CEC, so some commands may work on your TV while others do not.
• The setting only helps the TV switch to the Roku. Switching away to a cable box or game console is a different feature, covered later in this article.

What You Need First

• A Roku streaming player connected by HDMI. These steps are written for the Roku Premiere Plus, and Roku documents the same menu path for its streaming players in general. Menu names can differ slightly between Roku OS versions.
• A TV with HDMI-CEC turned on. Roku points out that it is not uncommon for CEC to be disabled by default, so do not assume it is on.
• A High-Speed HDMI cable if your player uses a cable. Roku lists this in its own troubleshooting checks.
• Power to the Roku. The player has to be on to send a command. A Roku powered from the TV’s USB port may lose power when the TV is off; plugging it into a wall outlet avoids that.

TV makers rarely use the name CEC. Roku’s guide on how to enable HDMI-CEC and ARC on your TV lists the trade names and sample steps for common brands. The most common names are in this table.

TV brand	Name used for HDMI-CEC
Samsung	Anynet+
LG	SIMPLINK
Sony	BRAVIA Sync
Philips	EasyLink
Panasonic	HDAVI Control, EZ Sync, or VIERA Link
Sharp	AQUOS Link
Toshiba	CE-Link or Regza Link
Vizio, Hitachi	CEC or HDMI-CEC

The setting is usually in the TV’s settings menu, sometimes inside a system or advanced submenu. If you cannot find it, check the manual for your exact TV model.

How to Enable 1-Touch Play on a Roku Premiere Plus

Before you change this, know what to expect: once it is on, the TV may jump to the Roku input any time someone presses a Roku remote button, even if another person is watching a different input. You can turn it off again with the same steps.

1. Use your TV remote to switch the TV to the HDMI input that the Roku is connected to, so you can see the Roku menus.
2. Press the Home button on the Roku remote.
3. Press left on the directional pad and select Settings.
4. Scroll down and select System.
5. Select Control other devices. On current Roku software this item is labeled Control other devices (CEC).
6. Highlight 1-touch play and press OK to put a check mark in the box. The setting is on when the box is checked.

The screenshots below show these menus on a Roku Premiere Plus. The look of the screens can vary with the Roku software version, but the menu names are the ones to follow.

The same menu may also list TV Power and TV Volume. Roku describes those as the options that let the player turn the TV off and adjust its volume through HDMI-CEC, including from the Roku mobile app. They are optional for input switching.

Turn On HDMI-CEC on the TV

1-touch play only sends the request. The TV has to be willing to listen, and that is what its CEC setting controls.

1. Pick up the TV’s own remote and open the TV’s settings menu.
2. Look for the CEC setting under the brand name in the table above. On a Samsung TV, for example, Roku’s sample steps are Settings > General > External Device Manager > Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC).
3. Turn the setting on. Some TVs have extra options next to it, such as automatic power on. Turn those on too if you want the Roku remote to wake the TV.
4. Exit the TV menu.

Steps differ from model to model and can change after a TV software update, so treat any brand steps as a starting point and use the TV manual when the menus do not match.

How to Confirm It Works

1. With the TV on, use the TV remote to switch to a different input, such as an antenna or another HDMI port.
2. Press Home on the Roku remote. Do not use the volume or mute buttons for this test, because Roku says those do not trigger the switch.
3. Watch the TV. It should change to the Roku’s input and show the Roku Home screen within a few seconds.
4. Optional: turn the TV off, wait a moment, and press Home on the Roku remote again. On most TVs with CEC enabled, the TV turns on and goes to the Roku input.

If the TV stays where it is, work through the troubleshooting list below.

How to Turn Off 1-Touch Play

If the automatic switching gets in the way, undo it with Roku’s documented steps:

1. Press Home on the Roku remote.
2. Press left and select Settings.
3. Select System, then Control other devices.
4. Highlight 1-touch play and press OK to clear the check mark.
5. Restart the Roku. Our guide on how to reboot a Roku Premiere Plus shows the menu option for that.

Roku adds one note: if 1-touch play is already off and the TV still jumps between inputs, turn off CEC on the TV instead.

Troubleshooting

The TV does not switch to the Roku

• Check CEC on the TV. This is the most common gap, because the TV setting is often off by default and has a brand name that does not mention CEC.
• Check the box again. Go back to Settings > System > Control other devices and make sure 1-touch play is still checked.
• Connect the Roku directly to the TV. If it runs through a soundbar or an audio/video receiver, Roku suggests bypassing that device to test.
• Use a High-Speed HDMI cable and make sure it is pushed in all the way at both ends.
• Make sure the Roku has power. If it is powered from a USB port on the TV, try the wall adapter.
• Update the TV’s firmware. Roku lists out-of-date TV firmware as a possible cause of input problems. Your TV maker’s support site has the steps.

I do not see 1-touch play or Control other devices

Look for the longer label Control other devices (CEC) inside Settings > System. If the menu is not there at all, your Roku model or software version may not offer it. Check for a software update under Settings > System and look again.

The TV keeps switching inputs when I do not want it to

Roku has a support article, Why does my TV switch to a different device when trying to use my Roku streaming player?, for this problem. Its suggestions, in order, are:

1. Unplug the HDMI cables for your other devices from the TV, wait about 10 seconds, and plug them back into the same ports. Do the same for the Roku.
2. Move the Roku to a different HDMI port on the TV.
3. Unplug the Roku and the TV from power for 10 seconds, then plug both directly into a wall outlet.
4. If the Roku is connected through a receiver, connect it straight to the TV.
5. Update the TV firmware.
6. Turn off 1-touch play, as described above.

Switching From the Roku to Another Device

1-touch play brings the TV to the Roku. To go the other way, Roku now documents a TV Inputs option on its streaming players. According to Roku’s article Switch your TV’s HDMI inputs with your Roku streaming player, you open the menu at the left of the Roku Home screen, select TV Inputs, and choose Find inputs the first time. The TV’s inputs then appear as tiles you can select.

That feature also depends on HDMI-CEC being on for a TV that is not a Roku TV. Roku’s article does not list which player models have it, so an older player such as the Premiere Plus may not show TV Inputs. If yours does not, keep using the TV remote’s Input or Source button to leave the Roku.

If your television is a Roku TV instead of a separate player, the inputs are tiles on the Home screen, and you can rename an input on a Roku TV so each tile shows the device name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 1-touch play work with every TV?

No. It needs a TV with an HDMI input that supports HDMI-CEC, and the CEC setting has to be turned on. Roku says most TVs respond, but it also warns that not all TVs fully support CEC. Older sets without HDMI will not work with this setting at all; see does a Roku work with old TVs for what those sets can do.

Which Roku remote buttons make the TV switch?

Roku’s documentation says any button on the Roku remote except volume or mute. Home is the simplest one to use because it also takes you to the Roku Home screen.

Will the Roku remote turn the TV on too?

On most TVs, yes, when 1-touch play is on and CEC is enabled on the TV. The Roku itself must have power for this to work, which is why a wall outlet is more reliable than a TV USB port.

Does this change where the sound comes from?

No. 1-touch play is about which input the TV shows. Sound output is a separate TV setting. If you are adding speakers, see how to connect a soundbar to your TV for ARC, optical and audio-output setup.

Can the Roku mobile app switch the TV input?

Roku says the app can turn the TV off and change its volume through the player once 1-touch play, TV Power and TV Volume are turned on, and that the player must be powered on for the app to power on the TV. Its documentation does not say whether a button press in the app triggers the input switch the way the physical remote does.

Is 1-touch play the same as setting a default input on the TV?

No. A default or power-on input is a TV setting that decides what the TV shows when it turns on. 1-touch play is a request the Roku sends when you press a remote button. You can use either one, or both.

Next Step

Turn on 1-touch play on the Roku, turn on CEC on the TV, then run the quick test from another input. If the TV does not follow, the TV’s CEC setting is the first place to look.