Paramount Plus Not Working on Vizio Smart TV (Easy Fixes)

By SmartHomeBit Staff •  Updated: 07/13/22 •  8 min read

 

1. Power Cycle Your Vizio TV

Whenever I have a problem with a piece of technology, one of the first troubleshooting methods I try is power cycling my device.

Why? Because it takes about 1 minute to do and more often than not, turning something off and then on again fixes many problems.

To power cycle your Vizio TV, you need to unplug it from the power outlet.

Using the remote puts the TV into a very low-power standby mode, but it’s not off.

By unplugging it from the wall, you force it to reboot all its processes.

Wait 60 seconds before plugging your TV back in.

That’s enough time to exhaust any residual power from the system.

 

2. Restart Your TV Through the Menu

If a hard reset doesn’t work, you can try performing a soft reset on your TV.

To do this, open your TV menu and select “Admin & Privacy.”

You’ll see an option to “Reboot TV.”

Click it.

Your TV will turn off, then boot back up again.

A soft reboot clears the system cache, which can resolve many issues.

 

3. Check Your Internet Connection

If your internet isn’t working, you can’t watch Paramount Plus or any other streaming service.

You can diagnose this directly from your Vizio TV.

Press the Vizio logo button on the remote to open the system menu.

Select “Network,” then click “Network Test” or “Test Connection” depending on your TV.

The system will go through a series of tests to diagnose your network connection.

It will test whether or not you’re connected, and whether it can access the Paramount+ servers.

It will also check your download speed and warn you if it’s too slow.

If the download speed is too slow, you’ll need to reset your router.

Do this the same way you reset your TV.

Unplug it, wait for 60 seconds, and plug it back in.

When the lights come back on, your internet should work.

If it doesn’t, you’ll need to contact your ISP and see if there’s an outage.

If your internet connection is fine but Paramount Plus can’t access its servers, Paramount Plus may be down.

This is rare, but it occasionally happens.

 

4. Restart the Paramount Plus App

You can restart the Paramount+ app, which works much like soft resetting the TV.

Restarting the app will clear the cache, so you’ll start over with a “clean” version.

Open Paramount Plus, and navigate to your settings menu.

There’s a shortcut if you’re getting an error that says “We’re having trouble playing this title right now.

Please try again later or select a different title.”

Instead of hitting “OK,” choose “More Details,” and Paramount Plus will take you straight to the settings menu.

In the menu, select “Get Help,” then scroll down to select “Reload Paramount Plus.”

Paramount+ will close, and restart momentarily.

It may take a few seconds to load because it’s starting from scratch.

 

5. Update Your Vizio TV Firmware

If your Vizio TV’s firmware is out of date, the Paramount Plus app could malfunction.

TVs update their firmware automatically, so this normally isn’t a problem.

However, they sometimes malfunction and an update fails to take place.

To check this, press the menu button on your Vizio remote, and scroll down to select “System.”

The first option in this menu will be “Check for Updates.”

Click it, then hit “Yes” in the confirmation window.

The system will run a series of checks.

Afterward, it should say “This TV is up to date.”

If your firmware needs to be updated, you’ll see a prompt to download your updates.

Hit the download button and wait for it to update.

Your TV may flicker or even reboot during the update.

When it’s done, you’ll see a notification.

 

6. Download the Vizio Mobile App

Vizio offers a companion app that lets you use your smartphone as a remote.

For whatever reason, this sometimes works when Paramount Plus won’t launch by other means.

The app is free on Android and iOS, and it’s easy to set up.

Try installing it and launching Paramount+ from there.

 

7. Reinstall the Paramount Plus App

If resetting the Paramount Plus app didn’t work, reinstalling it might.

You can’t do this on all Vizio TVs, and even when you can, the process varies by model.

So before you can do anything, you need to know what software platform your TV is running.

There are four main Vizio platforms.

Here’s how to tell them apart:

Once you’ve determined which platform your TV is running, you can consider reinstalling Paramount Plus.

Here’s how it works on each platform:

8. Factory Reset Your Vizio TV

If nothing else works, you can factory reset your TV.

As with any factory reset, this will delete all your settings.

You’ll have to log back into all of your apps and reinstall anything you’ve downloaded.

First, open your menu, and navigate to the System menu.

Select “Reset & Admin,” then “Reset to Factory Settings.

Your TV will take a few minutes to reboot, and it will have to reinstall any firmware updates.

A factory reset is an extreme measure, but it’s sometimes your only choice.

 

In Summary

Fixing Paramount Plus on your Vizio TV is normally easy.

You can usually fix it with a simple reset, or by rebooting your router.

But even if you have to take extreme measures, you’ll find a solution.

Paramount Plus and Vizio have partnered to create a reliable app that works on all of Vizio’s TVs.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How do I reset Paramount Plus on my Vizio TV?

Open your Paramount Plus settings, and select “Get Help.”

Within the submenu, click “Reload Paramount Plus.”

This will restart the Paramount Plus app and clear the local cache, which can fix many problems.

 

Why has Paramount Plus stopped working on my Vizio TV?

There are many possible reasons.

You could have an issue with your internet connection that prevents you from streaming videos.

Your TV’s firmware could be out of date, or you may need to reboot your system.

A factory reset is the last resort, but it will solve your problems if nothing else works.

The only way to find out is to try several solutions until you find something that works.

SmartHomeBit Staff