How to Check and Update the Samsung TV Operating System

Keeping your Samsung TV updated ensures you get the latest features and fixes. Here’s a quick guide to check for updates on both newer and older Samsung TVs.

Steps to Check for Updates

1. Open the Settings Menu:
   • Start by pressing the Home button on your Samsung TV remote.
   • Navigate to the Settings option in the menu.
2. Go to the Support Section:
   • Inside Settings, scroll to find and select Support.
3. Find Software Update:
   • In the Support menu, look for the Software Update option and select it.
4. Check for Updates:
   • If your TV is up to date, you’ll see a message showing the current version and confirming no updates are available.
   • If an update is available, the Update Now button will be active. Select it to start the update process.
5. Complete the Update:
   • If updating, your TV will download and install the update automatically. Once done, it will reboot.

Alternate Methods to Check and Update Your Samsung TV

There’s more than one way to get your Samsung TV updated and to know what the current firmware on your specific TV is supposed to be.

First, use the above method to bring up your current firmware on your Samsung TV screen. Once you have it up, you want to match it with the firmware update displayed on the Samsung Download Center.

1. Go to the Samsung Download Center.
2. Click on TVs & Home Theater.
3. Click on the Search Box to enter your Model #, which can be found in your manual or on the back of your Samsung TV.
4. Select your TV below the Search Bar.
5. On the top of the first column, your current firmware will be listed.

Now that you’re on the screen that displays your current firmware, you can insert a USB flash drive into your computer and download the firmware. Open the zipped file containing the latest firmware update and copy the folder over to your USB flash drive.

Once the firmware update is downloaded to your flash drive, remove it safely from your computer and plug it into a USB port on your Samsung TV. You don’t have to do anything extra. Your Samsung TV will immediately start the update from the firmware in your USB.

Samsung smart TVs run on a personalized version of Android, which is what most smartphones not called iPhones run on. It’s a relatively simple and streamlined process when it comes to updating, and it shouldn’t take your Samsung TV any longer than five minutes to complete it.

Can You Rollback Samsung TV Firmware Updates?

Unfortunately, there’s no way to downgrade the firmware on your Samsung TV. With that being said, Samsung doesn’t have a record of coming out with firmware updates that will brick your Samsung TV.

If you’re having issues immediately after a firmware upgrade, the best fix is to do a factory reset on your TV. Of course, that means that you will lose everything that’s saved on the Samsung TV’s internal storage, and your TV will return to how it was when you first unboxed it.

The issue needs to be pretty significant to justify a factory reset. So you’ll want to try doing a soft reset, which is not an actual feature on a Samsung TV, so you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.

1. Start by powering down your Samsung TV, then unplug it from the power.
2. If it’s connected to your router via ethernet, go ahead and unplug that as well.
3. Wait about five minutes and plug the ethernet back in first, followed by the power cord.

If that doesn’t solve whatever issue the firmware update is causing, proceed with a hard, factory reset:

1. Open the Settings Menu on your Samsung TV.
2. Select Support.
3. Select Device Care.
4. Select Self-Diagnosis.
5. Choose Reset Smart Hub.
6. Enter your PIN #.
7. Select OK.

The default PIN # for any Samsung Smart TV will always be 0000 unless you change it yourself. So when it asks you to enter your PIN # to successfully complete the factory reset, just enter 0000.

If you don’t have your remote, we made a quick video to help you factory reset your Samsung TV:

Often, whatever is going on with your TV that caused it to have conflicting issues with a firmware update will be resolved with a factory reset. When you power the TV back on, you’ll have to run it back through the standard setup procedure, which will include updating to the latest software.