Why does my TV keep signing me out of apps?

The short answer

A TV keeps your sign-in as a saved "token" in the app's storage. Anything that cancels that token on the service's side, or deletes it on the TV, signs you out. On the service's side that means a password change, a "sign out of all devices", a device limit or a long period of inactivity. On the TV's side it means an app update or reset, cleared app data, low storage, or the TV's clock being wrong. Work through the checks below in order; most people find the cause in the first three.

1. Someone changed the password or signed out everywhere

This is the most common cause, and it is usually deliberate. When anyone in the household changes the account password, many services sign out other devices as a security measure. Google, for example, states in its help article on changing or resetting your password that after a password change you are signed out everywhere apart from a few listed exceptions. The same happens when someone uses a "sign out of all devices" option, as described in our guide to signing out of all devices.

Fix: ask the people who share the account whether they changed anything, then sign in again by code. If nobody did, treat it as a possible security problem (see section 7).

2. The account hit a device or streams limit

Some services cap how many devices can be signed in at once. When a new device is added, the oldest or least-used one may be signed out to make room, and that is often a TV in a spare room. Others cap how many devices can play at the same time and show a message rather than signing you out. Our guide to "too many devices" streaming errors explains how to tell the two apart.

Fix: remove devices you no longer use from your account's device page on the service's official website, then sign the TV in again.

3. The app was updated, reset or had its data cleared

A big app update, the TV's own software update, a "clear data" or "clear storage" step, uninstalling and reinstalling the app, or a factory reset can all erase the saved sign-in on the TV. If the sign-outs line up with updates, this is the likely cause and it should not keep repeating.

Fix: sign in once more. When troubleshooting an app in future, try "clear cache" before "clear data", because clearing data is what removes the sign-in.

4. The TV is low on storage

Smart TVs and streaming sticks have limited storage. When it fills up, the system may remove temporary files or stop apps from saving their data properly, and some apps then lose the sign-in when they restart.

Fix: uninstall apps you do not use, then restart the TV. The storage figure is usually in the TV's settings under a section such as Storage or System.

5. The TV's date and time are wrong

Secure sign-ins depend on the device knowing the correct date and time. If a TV loses power and resets its clock, or has the wrong time zone, the service can reject its saved sign-in as invalid and ask for a new one.

Fix: in the TV's settings, set date and time to automatic (network time) and check the time zone.

6. The TV has been unused for a long time

Saved sign-ins do not always last forever. Some services expire sign-ins on devices that have not been used for a long period, and some no longer list inactive devices on the account page. A guest-room or holiday-home TV is the usual example. This is expected behaviour, not a fault: sign in again by code when you next use it, using the steps in activating a streaming app by code.

7. Someone else is signing you out

If you are signed out repeatedly, nobody in your home changed anything, and the account shows unfamiliar devices or viewing activity, another person may have your login and be using account controls. Act from a phone or computer, not the TV:

1. Go to the service's official website yourself by typing the address.
2. Change your password to one you do not use anywhere else.
3. Sign out of all devices and review the device list. Netflix, for example, describes doing both from its account device page in its guide to keeping your account secure.
4. Turn on two-step verification if the service offers it, and update the email address and phone number on the account if they are not yours.
5. Sign your own TVs back in by code.

A code someone sent you, rather than one shown on your own screen, is a common way accounts get taken over; device code sign-in, explained shows how that trick works.

What does not help

Restarting your router repeatedly or reinstalling the app over and over will not stop sign-outs caused on the account side. Fix the cause first, then sign in once. More warning signs are in is it safe to enter an activation code?