How to Screen Share on a Roku TV

I share to two TCL Roku TVs at home — a 5-Series (55S546) in the living room and a 4-Series (43S435) in the office. I cast YouTube from an iPhone 14 daily, push holiday photos to the living-room set with Play on Roku, and mirror the odd slideshow off a Windows laptop. My honest take: casting and Play on Roku are so quick that I rarely bother with full mirroring — but mirroring is the only path for a web page.

"Screen share" means different things to different people. Some want one video on the TV, some want their own photo album, and some want their entire screen. Roku gives you a different tool for each, so the first job is matching the tool to what you're actually sharing. The 30-second test does exactly that.

The 30-second test

Answer one question — what do you want on the TV? Your answer picks the method, because Roku exposes a separate feature for each kind of share.

1. 1Sharing one show or video from an app like YouTube or Netflix? Cast it — Method 1. No app install, best quality.
2. 2Sharing your own photos, videos, or music from your phone? Use Play on Roku in the free Roku app — Method 2.
3. 3Sharing your whole screen — a slideshow, a document, a web page? You need mirroring — Method 3.

Method 1: Share a single app to the TV

Casting is the fastest way to put one app on the TV. It sends only that app's video, streamed straight from the internet, so the picture is sharp and your phone stays free to text or lock. This is what most people mean by "sharing" a show.

1. 1Put both devices on the same Wi-Fi. Your phone and the Roku TV must sit on the same network. A 2.4GHz vs 5GHz split on the same router is fine, but a separate guest network or a second router is not — casting won't find the TV across them.
2. 2Open a cast-ready app and start playing. Open YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, or another app that supports casting on your phone. Start the video you want on the TV, so the app knows exactly what you're sharing.
3. 3Tap the Cast icon. Tap the Cast icon — a small screen with curved Wi-Fi lines, usually in the top corner of the app. The app scans for nearby screens and lists your Roku TV by its name, like “Living Room TV.”
4. 4Pick your Roku TV from the list. Choose your Roku TV. The show jumps to the big screen and streams straight from the internet, not through your phone. Your phone becomes the remote — scrub, pause, or lock it and the video keeps playing.

When it won't work: casting only works inside apps that have a Cast icon, and it can't show your home screen, a browser tab, or a photo album on your phone. For those, use Play on Roku (Method 2) or mirroring (Method 3). For more on casting alone — including casting from a computer — see our guide to casting to Roku.

Method 2: Share your own photos, videos, and music

Casting only shares apps, not your own files. To put your camera roll, home videos, or music on the TV, use Play on Roku, built into the free Roku mobile app. It streams your personal media from your phone with no cables and no full-screen mirroring.

1. 1Install the free Roku app (made by Roku Inc.) from the App Store or Google Play, and sign in with the same Roku account as your TV.
2. 2Open the app, tap Devices at the bottom, and pick your Roku TV so the app connects to it.
3. 3Tap Media (older app versions label it Photos+), then choose Photos, Videos, or Music. Allow the app to reach your phone's library when it asks.
4. 4Select a photo, video, or song and it plays on the Roku TV. Swipe on your phone to move through an album or build a quick slideshow — all streamed from your phone.

Catch: Play on Roku streams your own files only. It can't share a paid app like Netflix or your live screen. For a subscription app, cast it (Method 1); for your whole screen, mirror it (Method 3). Roku describes the mobile app on its official product page.

Method 3: Share your whole screen or a slideshow

Casting one app or a few photos covers most needs. But to share your entire screen — a slideshow, a work document, a web page — you need screen mirroring, which copies everything you see in real time. The path depends on your device.

1. 1Android phone or Windows PC: use Roku's built-in screen mirroring (Miracast). Turn it on at Settings > System > Screen mirroring on the TV, then cast from Quick Settings on Android or press Windows key + K on a PC.
2. 2iPhone, iPad, or Mac: use AirPlay instead. Set Settings > Apple AirPlay and HomeKit > AirPlay to On on the TV, then open Control Center and tap Screen Mirroring.

Full mirroring has more setup and more quirks than casting — model-gated AirPlay, Miracast lag, and DRM blocks on apps like Netflix. Our step-by-step guide to screen mirroring on a Roku TV walks through both paths with every menu and fix. Apple lists the AirPlay requirements in its AirPlay support article.

Method 4: Share when the remote is missing

Every method above needs a tap on the TV — accepting a cast prompt, opening Settings, or turning on AirPlay. All of that needs the remote. If yours is lost or dead, a phone remote app fills the gap. To be clear: the app doesn't share your screen. It drives the TV so you can start the share.

Install Smart TV Remote on your phone, join the same Wi-Fi as the TV, and you get the Home button, D-pad, and OK on screen. Use them to accept the cast prompt, open Settings, or flip AirPlay on. Once your content is sharing, the same app handles play, pause, and volume — no clicker needed.

Catch: a phone remote app needs the TV already on Wi-Fi. If the set is offline or fully powered down, get it connected first — see our guide to connecting a TCL TV to Wi-Fi without a remote — then start sharing.

Which share method fits your content

The right method depends on what you're putting on the screen. Match what you want to share to the row that gets it there with the least fuss.

My advice: cast or use Play on Roku whenever you can, and mirror only when you must. The first two look sharper and drain your phone less. Save full mirroring for a whole-screen job like a slideshow or a web page. If a shared session lands on the wrong tile, our guide to changing the input on a Roku TV shows where cast and mirror sessions actually appear.

Frequently Asked Questions