How to Repair Smart TV with Just a USB

If your Smart TV is outdated, struggling to connect to Wi-Fi , or you're having trouble, a tiny USB stick can solve your problem. In other words, USB sticks have more uses than just gathering dust in a drawer.

USB Format

In order for your Smart TV to recognize your USB, it needs to be formatted to a file system that your TV can read. You should also check to see if your USB contains any important files. Formatting will erase those files, so make sure you move them to a safe location, such as your desktop.

Format USB on Windows

1. Plug the USB into your computer.
2. Open File Explorer , right click on the USB located on the left and click on Format.
3. Change the File system to FAT32 , then click Start . If it is already FAT32, your USB is ready!

Format USB on MacOS

1. Plug the USB into your computer.
2. Open Finder > Utilities > Disk Utility . You'll find your USB on the left, under External . Click on it!
3. At the top, click Erase . Change the Format to FAT32 , then finish by clicking Erase .

Manually update Smart TV using USB

With your newly formatted USB drive and large storage capacity, you'll need to download your Smart TV's firmware update and transfer it to the USB. This is where knowing your TV's model number is important, as firmware updates are unique to a specific model or group of models. Most brands will have a downloadable version of that firmware update on their website if you do a quick search for your model number, then type in 'manual firmware download' or something similar. The file will be in the form of a ZIP file .

Once downloaded, extract the ZIP file to a folder on your USB, as follows:

1. On Windows, right-click the ZIP file and select Extract All. , then select your USB as the destination. Do not place the file in a separate folder.
2. On a Mac, simply double-click the ZIP file, then drag the contents onto your USB drive. Don't put the file in a separate folder.
3. Turn on your Smart TV, plug the USB into the service port, and leave it alone while it updates. Don't turn off the TV, but don't worry if it reboots.

There is a caveat to this last step, however. For the Vizio Smart TV in the example, the author had to open the TV menu and scan for updates, just like you would if you were updating over the internet . This may apply to you as well, so if you don't see any signs that it's updating, such as a progress bar, check your TV settings. There may be a specific menu you need to navigate to to initiate the update.

Samuel Daniel

Update 31 July 2025