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For many people, ESPN+ is a go-to streaming channel for all sorts of live sports, from golf to hockey to international soccer. In addition to game broadcasts, it also has original content, documentaries, commentary, and more. On rare occasions, though, you might have trouble streaming ESPN+ on your device of choice. If ESPN+ is not working for you, here are five of the best troubleshooting tips to get it back up and running quickly so you don't miss the big game.
If ESPN+ is not working, the first thing to check is your internet connection. Is your WiFi working? Make sure you see a strong WiFi or cellular signal strength indicator on whatever device you are trying to view ESPN+. To double-check, try using another app or open a web browser to make sure that your internet is working. To be sure your internet is fast enough, test your internet speed. It should be at least 7Mbps to reliably display video in HD, or 25Mbps for 4K video.
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If you have reliable internet, the next most likely culprit is usually a temporary glitch with your ESPN app. Often, all it takes to fix the problem is closing the app and then restarting it. Here is how to close an app on Android and close an app on iOS, though if you are watching ESPN+ on a streaming media device like Roku or a smart TV, the process will vary. After you close the app, restart ESPN and see if the problem has resolved.
ESPN+ enjoys a high "uptime," which means you should have no trouble accessing the streaming channel any time of day or night. Nothing is foolproof, though, and even ESPN+ sometimes experiences service outages. To see if the problem is not with you but with ESPN, go to the ESPN+ network status page at Downdetector — or search for "Is ESPN Plus down" in a browser search.
Dave Johnson
The next step after restarting the ESPN app is to restart the entire device, which can resolve a number of problems that might be keeping ESPN+ from working. Here's how to restart an iPhone, and you can turn off most Android devices by pressing and holding the power button for several seconds — or pull the control center down from the top of the screen and find the power icon. For other devices, like your smart TV or streaming media player, simply unplug the device for two minutes and then plug it back in. After the device restarts, see if the problem with ESPN+ persists.
Finally, it's possible that clearing the cache in the ESPN app or in your web browser might resolve a particularly vexing problem. If you're having issues watching ESPN+ on a computer, see our guides to clearing cache in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.
The only practical way to clear an app's cache on an iPhone or iPad is to uninstall the ESPN app from the device and then reinstall it from the App Store. You can clear the cache on Android without removing the app:
1. Start the Settings app and tap Apps.
2. If necessary, tap See all apps and then tap ESPN+.
3. Tap Storage & cache.
4. Tap Clear cache.
Restart the app. If the problem persists, follow the same steps and instead tap Clear storage. Note that clearing the app's storage will delete all saved data from the app, including login information.
Other devices, like streaming media players and smart TVs, might have a way to clear the app cache — the process will vary — or you might need to, like the iPhone, uninstall and reinstall the app.
