Why does my Sony TV keep freezing? Causes & fixes

Smart TVs are here to make your life stress-free and bring entertaining experience. However, on electronic devices, some sort of problem or issue is bound to occur. Sony, a very popular household brand with a wide range of products, has an annoying issue with some of its Smart TVs.

A lot of users have been reporting that their Sony smart TVs starts lagging or freezing when browsing through installed apps or streaming content from specific apps. Is there a way to resolve this freezing problem on Sony TVs? Find out here.

Before we dive into the various troubleshooting methods you need to follow to resolve the freezing issue, it’s important to know the underlying reasons behind it.

Why does your Sony TV keep freezing?

The freezing issue has been narrowed down to a hardware issue. For any smart device to work and function properly, it needs to have a good amount of RAM from a reputable brand. While many Sony smart TVs have 3GB of RAM, users claim that Sony may have used cheaper RAM chips and hence it’s not able to keep any of the apps or even the OS in memory.

Another group of users has also claimed that their Sony smart TV starts freezing and acting up whenever they are either browsing through the Netflix app or streaming content. While it’s not possible to completely get rid of the issue, you can try to resolve it whenever it occurs.

How to fix a Sony TV that keeps freezing or lagging?

Restart Your Sony TV

If your Sony TV has stopped responding and is stuck on a random screen, the first step is to forcefully restart the TV. You can easily do this by grabbing the Sony TV remote and keeping the power button pressed for 5 seconds, and releasing the button when the Sony TV restarts itself.

This method helps to get all the necessary services and apps on your Sony TV to restart or relaunch themselves without any issues.

Perform a Soft Reset

You can follow this method if you are not able to turn the TV off, using the included remote. While this method does say the word reset, it doesn’t mean that you’ll lose all the apps, data, or settings from your Sony TV. It simply is a way to power or force the shutdown of your Sony TV, Here’s how you can get this done.

Make sure that your Sony TV is powered on. Doesn’t matter if the TV is frozen at a screen or is lagging.
Now, remove the TV’s power plug from the power outlet.
Leave the TV unplugged for around 2 minutes or so.
Now, plug the TV back into the power outlet and switch it on.
Your Sony TV should now power up and run without any issues or freezing issues.

Refresh Internet Content (For Older Non-Android Sony TVs)

Do note that this will be for Sony TVs that do not run on Android or Google TV OS. This is a step that works for Sony TVs that have a few streaming services or apps that are built into the TV’s OS.

Grab the remote for the Sony TV and press the Home button.
Now, select Settings followed by Network.
Now, choose Network Settings and finally select Refresh Internet Content.

This refresh option should work if built-in internet-based apps and services are freezing, lagging, or simply not accessible. Also, if your Sony TV is from 2011 and 2013, the streaming apps and services on your Sony TV will no longer work as support for them has ended.

Check for Software Updates

When problems like freezing or lagging with the TV occur, brands usually address these issues by releasing software updates. We’ve provided instructions on how to update your modern and old Sony TVs.

Update Software on Sony Google TVs

Press the Settings gear icon on your Sony TV remote.
Now, choose Settings followed by System.
Select About and then choose System Software Update.
Your Sony Google TV will check for any updates if available and then install them right away.

Update Software on Sony Android TVs

Press the Help button on the remote of your Sony Android TV.
Navigate and select Status and Diagnostics.
Finally, select System Software Update.
You can ask the TV to automatically check for updates. If there is any update available, the TV will download and install them to your TV.

Update Software on Sony TVs

Select the Settings or Help icon from the top corner of the screen.
Select Customer Support, Setup, or Product Support.
Now choose Software Update followed by Network.
Updates if available be downloaded to your Sony TV.

Limit Background Process for Your Sony TV

Since these TVs have RAM issues, it’s ideal to limit the background process running. However, if you restart the TV or lose power, the background process will revert from one application to the default three. If you simply put the TV in sleep mode, the background process will remain at one application.

Press the Settings button on your Sony TV remote and choose the Settings icon.
Scroll and select the System option.
Now select About and scroll to the Android TV OS Build.
Press the OK button seven times on the Android TV OS Build option.
In a few moments, you have enabled developer mode.
Now go back to the Settings page and scroll down till you see the Developer Options.
Select and scroll down till you see the Background Process Limit option.
Here you can choose between No background Processes or One background Process

Now, your TV will not be processing any other apps in the background and whatever app you plan to run should run just as fine.

Force Close the Problematic App

As stated earlier, there can also be a few apps that might be either freezing or lagging, causing your Sony TV to run very slowly. Before you uninstall the app, you can try force closing or force stopping it. Here are the steps.

Grab the Sony TV remote and press the Settings button.
Choose Settings and select Apps.
Now, select the app that is freezing or lagging and choose the Force Stop option.
Select Ok to confirm force stopping the app.

Clear The App Data and App Cache

If a specific app on your Sony TV is freezing and causing slowdowns, you can always try clearing its cache and data. Do note that clearing the app cache won’t delete anything, clearing the app data will reset the app, and you’ll have to sign in or log in again.

Clear App Cache and Data for Sony Google TV

Using the remote, navigate to the account icon and select it.
Select the Screen option and choose Settings.
Now choose Apps followed by See All Apps.
Highlight the app whose cache and data you wish to clear.
Select the app and now choose the Clear Cache and Clear Data options.

Clear App Cache and Data for Sony Android TV

Select the Settings gear icon from the top right corner.
From the Settings menu, select Apps, followed by See all Apps.
Now, scroll to the app and select it.
You can choose the Clear Cache and the Clear Data options here.

Enable Apps Only Mode

With this mode, you’ll only see the apps that have been installed on your Sony TV. Other suggested apps and recommended content will not be displayed. You can also think of this mode as a simplified or clean Google home screen for your Sony Google TV. Do note that this works only with Sony TVs powered by Google TV OS.

Using the remote, select the profile icon at the top right and choose the Settings tile.
Now scroll to and select Accounts and Sign In.
Select your Google account and scroll down.
You should see an Apps Only option
Select it and finally choose the Turn-On option.

Perform a Factory Reset of your Sony TV

The last and final option to get rid of or solve the issue of your Sony TV that keeps freezing, lagging, or becoming unresponsive is by factory resetting it.

Factory Reset Sony Bravia Non-Android TV

Grab the remote and press the Home button.
Now choose Settings followed by System.
Choose Customer Support and finally Factory Settings.
Press OK to begin the factory reset process.

Factory Reset Sony Bravia Google TV

Using the remote, select the profile icon in the top right corner and choose Settings.
Now scroll down and select System, followed by About.
Choose the Reset option and finally select Factory Data Reset.
Select Erase Everything. The factory reset process should begin and in a few moments, the TV will restart with the first-time setup screen.

Factory Reset Sony Bravia Android TV

Grab the Remote and select the Settings gear icon at the top right.
Select Device Preferences and finally select Reset.
Choose Factory Data Reset and select OK.
Your Sony Android TV will begin the factory reset process right away.

Closing Thoughts

This concludes everything you need to know and do when your Sony TV begins freezing, lagging, or simply crawling at a snail’s pace. While there’s no permanent solution for this issue, by following these troubleshooting methods, you can quickly resolve the frozen Sony TV screen.

Are there any other workarounds you’ve tried when your Sony TV suddenly freezes up? Let us know about it in the comments.

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