screen mirroring keeps disconnecting

Modern smart TVs nowadays come with an operating system as advanced as Android. In fact, there is already an Android OS dedicated to TVs used by Sony, TCL, and other brands.

With such an advanced operating system comes dozens of features. One essential feature of any smart TV is screen mirroring.

Screen mirroring allows users to instantaneously mirror a device’s (smartphone, tablet, or even PC) screen to their TV.

Unfortunately, screen mirroring does not always work as intended. Often, screen mirroring keeps disconnecting.

To help you with that, we created this guide with some of the most effective fixes for this problem.

Let’s fix your TV!

Fix 1: Update your screen mirroring app

Casting the phone’s screen to any television usually requires some type of application. Sometimes, these apps will need to be updated, so if you want to use them, you must ensure they are always up to date. Otherwise, you will face problems like frequent disconnecting.

If you have a Samsung phone and you’re trying to use their built-in screen casting service, Smart View, you can update it through the Galaxy Store or Play Store.

For those with a Chromecast installed in their home, you will need to sort out your Google Home app. Google Home can be used on any Android smartphone. In fact, you can even get the app on an iPhone from the App Store.

If you are using AirPlay, then make sure you have the latest iOS update available.

In the case you are using a third-party application, update it through the Play Store.

Fix 2: Enable Background Play (exclusive to YouTube)

When using the YouTube app, screen mirroring may keep pausing or disconnecting. This can happen when you lock your phone and Background Play is disabled

Please note that Background Play is locked behind the YouTube Premium subscription!

Here’s how you can enable Background Play:

  1. Open the YouTube app and click on your profile picture (top-right).
  2. Tap on Settings.
  3. Go to Background.
  4. Here, you will see three options: Always on, Off, or Headphones or external speakers. Select Always on.

Now, play any video on your phone, start video casting, lock your phone, and the screen mirroring will not disconnect anymore.

If you don’t use YouTube, have a look at some of these other fixes.

Fix 3: Turn off battery optimization on the screen mirroring app

Users around forums have found that disabling battery optimization is a confirmed fix when screen mirroring keeps disconnecting. Supposedly, when the application goes to sleep (after a certain amount of time), the TV loses connection with the phone.

So, whichever app you use, ensure that battery optimization is disabled.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to disabling battery optimization on Android:

Firstly, pull the notification drawer and hit the cogwheel icon to head into Settings.

open phone settings from cog icon

Secondly, you need to scroll down and tap on the “Apps” options.

Then, find your casting (screen mirroring) application and tap on it.

Next, find the “Battery tab” and tap it.

battery in app settings

Here you will need to choose the least restrictive option. Selecting Unrestricted on Samsung means the app can continuously work in the background.

app battery optimization

The above screenshots are based on a Samsung (Android 12) device. So, keep in mind the settings layout will be different on other brands/devices.

With the app now freely working in the background, screen mirroring won’t keep disconnecting anymore.

If you are using an iPhone, then make sure you disable Low Power Mode. This may have an impact when screen mirroring.

In order to disable Low Power Mode, open the Settings app.

Then, scroll down until you see the option for “Battery” and tap on it.

battery settings on iphone

At the top of the battery settings, you will see a toggle option for Low Power Mode which you can disable.

low power mode toggle switch

Fix 4: Bad internet/Wi-Fi connection

The solution to your problem might be much simpler than you think. For example, your wireless connection may just not be good enough to maintain a stable connection to allow for screen mirroring.

There’s no magic solution to getting faster Internet, but there are a couple of things you can do to improve your Wi-Fi connection.

Here are some of them:

  • Place the router closer to the television and your phone – Basically, you want to reduce the number of solid walls between the devices and the Wi-Fi Router.
  • Adjust the antennas – If you cannot move the router from its original location, try playing around with the antennas to provide a better connection to your devices.
antenna placement by linksys
Optimal Antenna positioning – Image Source: Linksys
  • Connect the TV to your network with an Ethernet cable – while modern Wi-Fi is fast and reliable, a wired connection will always be considerably more reliable.
  • Get a Wi-Fi Repeater – Wi-Fi repeaters allow you to extend the wireless range of your original router without a wired connection. Although it is also possible to connect the repeater and router with an Ethernet cable too.
  • Replace the router/get a stronger antenna – if free fixes are not working for you, the only solution might be just to replace the router or add a stronger antenna.

With an improved connection, try screen mirroring from your phone onto your TV and see whether it keeps disconnecting.

Fix 5: Set AirPlay to work with devices on the same network only (Apple TV exclusive)

People on the Apple side also have issues maintaining proper screen mirroring connections. 

So, if your Apple TV constantly keeps disconnecting from your iPhone or MacBook, the solution is to just limit AirPlay connections only to devices from the same network.

To reach that option, head into Settings – AirPlay – Allow Access. Here, you will need to choose the “Anyone on the same network” option.

Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any solution allowing you to use devices outside the same network.

Extra Tip: Set your iPhone’s display timeout to never.

Fix 6: Turn off your VPN

Again, users on Reddit figured out that using a VPN cuts you out of LAN access which causes screen casting issues.

So, if you constantly connect and disconnect from your VPN, your screen mirroring will keep disconnecting as well. 

Fix 7: Factory reset the TV

If none of these solutions fix your problem, you might want to factory reset the TV. 

We suggest taking notes on your custom settings because you will lose all user data upon factory resetting.

The process of a factory reset is pretty similar with all models/brands, so you can follow this guide:

  1. Open your TV’s settings.
  2. Scroll down until you find the General tab and select it.
  3. Select Reset.
  4. Input the PIN (if required) and wait a couple of minutes for the TV to wipe all of its data and restart.

Once reset, try to screen mirror and see whether it will keep disconnecting.

Final words

If even the most extreme fix, a factory reset, does not improve your screen mirroring experience, there might be some more significant issues with your TV, phone, or your internet connection.

In that case, we suggest contacting customer support for all of your devices and your ISP too.

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