Forum Discussion

1111GD1111's avatar
1111GD1111
Channel Surfer
2 years ago
Solved

Missing letters on main screens

We've had Roku TV for a while now and in the past month or so sometimes the menu screens would only show a few letters. The only way to fix this is to reset the Roku. Anybody else have this problem and what is the fix?

  • RokuMaryEF's avatar
    RokuMaryEF
    9 months ago

    Hi Roku Community users,

    Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention, and we appreciate your patience as we work on a resolution.

    We are currently investigating the problem of missing letters/characters on the screen. In the meantime, please try restarting your Roku player by following these steps:

    1. Go to Settings > System > Power > System restart > Restart.

    If the issue continues after restarting, we’ll need some additional information to help us resolve it:

    1. Roku Device Details:

      • Device model
      • Serial number
      • Device ID
      • Current software version (found in Settings > System > About)

    2. Tracker ID:

      • When the issue occurs, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times, and provide us with this ID.

    3. Photo for Reference:

    4. Specific Troubleshooting Steps:

      • Please include any specific steps you’ve already tried.

    Note: We'll mark this post as solved for visibility and as a reference for other users.

    Providing this information will help us address the problem more efficiently. Thank you for your cooperation!

    Best regards,
    The Roku Community Team

  • RokuJechealR's avatar
    RokuJechealR
    7 months ago

    Hi DCI_Benway, lmunoz0317,

    Thanks for posting to the Roku Community regarding the issue you are experiencing with the missing letters.

    To better assist you, please let us know when you first noticed this problem and how long it occurred.

    In the meantime, we recommend trying the following steps to restart your Roku player:

    1. Go to Settings > System > Power > System restart. (If you don’t see the Power submenu, you can skip to the next step.)

    2. If the issue is happening on a specific channel, please follow these steps: 

      • Navigate to the channel tile on the Roku home screen, press the * key on your remote, and choose Remove channel.
      • Next, restart your device from Settings>System>Power>System restart (If you do not see a Power submenu, skip to the next step).
      • After your Roku device restarts, visit the Roku Channel Store and add the channel again.

    Please keep us posted on what you find out, and we'll continue assisting you from there.

    All the best,
    Chel

    • 1111GD1111's avatar
      1111GD1111
      Channel Surfer
      2 years ago

      Thank you! The only fix for us is to reboot the Roku.

      • JAT2's avatar
        JAT2
        Binge Watcher
        9 months ago

        We're supposed to reboot every day or more?? What kind of fix is that??

    • elink's avatar
      elink
      Reel Rookie
      2 years ago

      Same issue here. Rebooting the device corrects the missing letters, but annoying to have to reboot this device. Will happen a couple of times a day.

      • RokuERey's avatar
        RokuERey
        Retired Moderator
        2 years ago

        Hi elink,

        Welcome to the Roku Community!

        We really do apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. Please try to see if there's an available update on your device (from Settings>System>System update>Check now).

        Let us know the details. Thanks,

        Regards,

        Rey

  • bartcrowe's avatar
    bartcrowe
    Reel Rookie
    2 years ago

    Still no fix it is very frustrating to have to reset the device every time I want to open a new app. I have told numerous friends and family to avoid buying Roku products because of it. 

    • Rkuser9's avatar
      Rkuser9
      Channel Surfer
      2 years ago

      Yes, it's incredibly frustrating. I've tried every trick that's been listed and nothing works. I have noticed that on my two cheap roku devices this never happens, only on.my expensive roku's...which makes me even more angry.

  • elink's avatar
    elink
    Reel Rookie
    2 years ago

    I can tell you how I fixed this... I threw the unit in the trash!!! I got tired of having to unplug it or reboot. It's a ROKU issue that the supposed smart tech folks fails to address. I have other ROKU devices that have never had the problem. 

  • JAT2's avatar
    JAT2
    Binge Watcher
    10 months ago

    This has gotten more than ridiculous. I've been having to do a system restart for Both of my 3810x Streaming Sticks (so it's not the stick) almost every day to restore missing letters and characters on ALL menus/apps/guides- Everything. Sometimes it's so bad that even the 'restart' option is unreadable. As others have said, this has been going on for what, 2 years?!? And also has someone has said, getting a new roku stick doesn't solve the issue. Why is this affecting only some people and not others? If it were more, I'm sure Roku would fix this instead of ignoring it. What are the options as far as dumping Roku, Amazon fire stick or are there other platforms? Can anyone answer these questions??

    • RokuCarly's avatar
      RokuCarly
      Community Moderator
      9 months ago

      Hi, JAT2.

      Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Rest assured that we will coordinate this with the appropriate team to determine the cause and find you the best resolution possible.

      Before proceeding, can you please confirm if your Roku device recently received any software updates prior to this happening that might have triggered this issue? Furthermore, kindly provide us with additional information such as follows:

      • Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and current software version. (this can all be found in Settings > System > About)
      • Tracker ID (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times, and provide us with this ID)
      • A photo os the issue when it occurs.

      We'll be looking forward to your response.

      Best regards,
      Carly

  • DCI_Benway's avatar
    DCI_Benway
    Reel Rookie
    7 months ago

    Over a year later and I'm still having this issue with a Roku Soundbar.  No other Roku boxes/units have this issue, just the soundbar.  Can't believe the Team doesn't know what the issue is.