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How to Access Roku Secret Menus? This guide will walk you through some of Roku’s nifty secret menus that you may or may not find useful. Perhaps you can try them yourselves and be the judge of that.
It’s no surprise that Roku makes some of the best streaming players on the market. It offers an intuitive user interface, provides access to a variety of streaming channels, and allows users to use voice commands to jump into their favorite movies and shows instantly.
Even if you are an avid user, chances are you have very little knowledge of the ins and outs of your Roku devices. What if we tell you that there are secret menus developers have hidden behind the standard interface, out of reach from the consumers?
Surprisingly, there isn’t a whole lot of documented information regarding Roku’s secret menus on the web. It makes sense as they are intended for developers and technician usage only. However, if you would like to check out the Roku secret menus yourself, we are here to help you access them.
Before you Proceed
Considering Roku went to great lengths to keep the secret menus hidden from the end-user, you should access them only if you know what you are into. It’s really easy to mess something up in the process of simply browsing through the options.
The menus consist of advanced settings related to your Roku’s network connectivity, software, video playback, and other sensitive functions, so think twice before deciding to play around with the hidden options. Otherwise, you are bound to encounter catastrophic issues on your Roku device.
How to Access Roku Secret Menus?
You can access the Roku secret menus just by using your Roku remote. There are intricate button presses that you need to perform in subsequent order to bring up a specific secret menu.
To make the remote button codes easier to read and perform, we have shortened down some of the essential functions:
- RW: Rewind
- PP: Play/Pause
- FF: Fast Forward
It’s also worth noting that the four sides of the directional pad are indicated by Up, Down, Left, and Right.
Accessing the Secret Menu #1
The secret menu #1 tells you everything you need to know about your Roku’s hardware. You can learn about the model name, manufacturer date, power lifetime, and get other vital bits of information. Plus, there are four software-related options:
- Factory Reset: It resets your Roku device to stock factory settings. However, it also removes your added channels and signs the device out of your Roku account.
- Cycle channel store server: You can switch between different Roku Channel Store regions.
- Cycle software update server: By default, Roku devices come preloaded with release builds of Roku OS. Using this option, you can switch to pre-release software and get access to experimental features.
However, switching from release to beta software will delete all your data from the device. Plus, pre-release Roku OS builds are unusable for daily usage due to bugs, glitches, and frequent crashes. - Update software: This option updates Roku OS firmware and software to the most recent version. It will reinstall the same update if you already have the latest version installed.
| Code | Home (5x), FF (3x), RW (2x) |
Accessing the Roku Hidden Menu #2
From the second secret menu, you can customize your Home screen banner, toggle on/off scrollable ads, disable auto-pair, change screenshot variables, view theme info, etc. It’s basically a god mode menu that offers quick access to some of the useful advanced settings you won’t find on the regular Roku “Settings” page.
| Code | Home (5x), Up, Right, Down, Left, Up |
Accessing the Wi-Fi (Wireless) Secret Screen
The secret Wi-Fi screen on Roku gives you advanced information on the Wi-Fi access point you are connected to. It includes signal strength, noise, wireless channel, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), and more. You will also find three settings related to Wi-Fi troubleshooting:
- Resets: It allows you to reset your Wi-Fi settings to the default. We don’t recommend regular users to try it out.
- Radios: You get granular adjustment options for your Roku’s Wi-Fi modem. Again, it’s not recommended for regular usage.
- Power: It lets you change your Roku’s Wi-Fi power level to improve wireless transmission. However, it might cause the device to overheat and possibly throttle down the Wi-Fi speeds.
| Code | Home (5x), Up, Down, Up, Down, Up |
Accessing the Platform Secret Screen
The Platform secret screen shows the CPU temperature, clock speed, voltage, IP address, and other wireless-related information. It also gives you access to a handful of different secret menus, which are:
- System Operations Menu: It offers options related to system reboots, network pings, static IP configuration, Bluetooth channels, audio, etc.
- RF Remote Menu: This menu consists of a bunch of advanced options related to the Roku remote.
- Wireless Secret Screen: It’s the same secret Wi-Fi menu as we have shown above.
- View Remote Button Presses: It logs your Roku remote button presses and shows the latency. Only applicable to troubleshooting purposes.
| Code | Home (5x), FF, PP, RW, PP, FF |
Accessing the Antenna Menu
The secret antenna menu only shows details related to the Wi-Fi antennas in your Roku device, alongside the wireless channel, access point name, IP address, etc. It doesn’t provide access to any advanced wireless settings, unlike the secret wireless screen.
| Code | Home (5x), FF, Down, RW, Down, FF |
Accessing the Bit Rate Override Menu
The Bit Rate Override menu allows you to set a default video bitrate for all streaming channels. It comes in handy when you have a slow or metered internet connection in your house.
Adjusting to a lower bitrate significantly impacts the stream quality, but it also saves data when you are on a capped data plan. We recommend leaving the option to Automatic if you have a high-speed, unlimited internet connection.
| Code | Home (5x), RW (3x), FF (2x) |
Accessing the Developer Settings Menu
As the name suggests, the Developer Settings menu is intended only for those who develop applications for the Roku OS. Clicking the Enable installer and restart option boots your device into the developer sandbox mode.
Unless you are an app developer and want to use your Roku device for development purposes, you should steer clear of the following menu.
| Code | Home (3x), Up, Up, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right |
Accessing Channel Info
The Channel Info menu gives you essential information on the channels you have added to your Roku channel list, such as the version, developer, codename, etc.
| Code | Home (3x), Up, Up, Left, Right, Left, Right, Left |
Accessing Network Menu
The network secret screen offers in-depth information about the wired/wireless network you are connected to. It also projects your estimated network speed, which comes in handy during network troubleshooting.
| Code | Home (5x), Right, Left, Right, Left, Right |
Accessing HDR Menu
If you run into HDCP errors and end up with washed-up colors with HDR enabled, we advise you to visit this menu. It allows you to change the color depth, adjust the screen resolution, and resolve display compatibility errors.
| Code | Home (5x), Down, Left, Up, Up, Up |
Quick Device Reboot Roku Secret Menu
You can quickly reboot your Roku player or TV by performing the following key presses on your Roku remote. Note that it takes a minute or so for Roku to initiate the restart process, as it closes all the channels and services running in the background.
| Code | Home (5x), Up, RW (2x), FF (2x) |
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Final Words
This guide contains everything we know about accessing various secret menus on Roku devices. If you have any secrets to share with us regarding Roku players and TVs, please let us know in the comments so that others also get to know about it.
When you access some of the advanced Roku secret menus we have discussed here, remember not to mess with the options and toggles you are unsure about. We won’t be responsible for the mishaps you might cause when playing with the hidden tools.