How to Enter a WiFi Password on a Roku Without the Remote

Let’s name the trap first, because it’s the whole problem: to type a WiFi password you have to navigate the Roku’s on-screen keyboard, and navigating needs some input device. Lose the remote and you’ve lost the one thing that lets you fill in that field. A phone can absolutely be that input device — its D-pad and keyboard type straight onto the Roku’s screen — but only once the phone can actually reach the Roku, and reaching it happens over the network you’re trying to set up. That’s the chicken-and-egg.

So the real question isn’t “which app types the password” (any of them can, once connected). It’s “how do I get the Roku onto a network my phone can see, so the phone can then type the new password.” Here’s every free way, in the order worth trying.

Fastest free fix: plug in Ethernet

Many Roku players and a lot of Roku TVs have an Ethernet port on the back. Run a cable from your router to the Roku and it’s online instantly — no WiFi password needed at all. Your phone, on the same router’s WiFi, can now see it. If you only needed the Roku online (not specifically on WiFi), you’re already done. If you specifically want it on WiFi, stay wired for now and use the steps below to type the WiFi password from your phone.

No Ethernet port (most sticks, the cheapest players)? Skip to the hotspot trick.

The hotspot trick: make the Roku join a network you control

This is the honest workhorse when there’s no remote and no Ethernet. A Roku remembers the last WiFi it was on. If you recreate that exact network — same name (SSID) and same password — on a phone hotspot, the Roku auto-joins it, and now your other phone can reach it:

On a second phone, set the hotspot name and password to exactly the network the Roku last used (case-sensitive).
The Roku finds “its” network and connects automatically — no input needed on the Roku.
Put your first phone on that same hotspot and open a remote app. The Roku appears.
Now use the app’s D-pad + keyboard to go Settings → Network → Set up new connection → Wireless, pick the real new WiFi, and type its password with your phone keyboard.

The full walkthrough (written for a Fire Stick, but the hotspot steps are identical for Roku) is here: the hotspot trick for a moved WiFi network. This is also the fix for the broader case where the Roku fell off WiFi entirely after a router change.

Once the Roku is reachable, your iPhone types the password

This is the part people miss: a remote app isn’t just arrow buttons — it hands the Roku’s text fields your iPhone keyboard. So the moment your phone can see the Roku (via Ethernet or the hotspot above), typing the WiFi password is easy:

Open Remote Pro (or the free official Roku app — a larger, account-nudging app that also works honestly) and tap the Roku. Roku needs no pairing — it accepts control from apps on the local network with no PIN and no Allow prompt.
Navigate to Settings → Network → Set up new connection → Wireless, choose your network, and when the password field opens, type it on your iPhone. No more hunting letter-by-letter across an on-screen grid — that’s exactly what the phone keyboard is for.

If the Roku shows up but ignores every press, its “Control by mobile apps” policy is set to Disabled — one setting flips it back, explained here: the “control by mobile apps” setting.

Roku TV owners: the panel buttons (and why they aren’t enough alone)

If your Roku is a Roku TV (TCL, Hisense, onn., Sharp), it has a few physical buttons on the panel — usually the bottom edge or back-right. They cover power, input, and sometimes a volume rocker. That’s enough to turn the set on and switch inputs, but not enough to arrow through a WiFi menu and type a password. Use them to power the TV on, then let your phone do the network setup as above. Lost the remote for good? Start here: control your Roku from your iPhone.

Last resort: the factory-reset pinhole

Most Roku devices have a recessed Reset button — hold it ~10 seconds and the Roku returns to the out-of-box setup wizard. Worth knowing, but be clear about what it does not solve: the wizard still asks you to pick a WiFi network and type its password, so you’re right back to needing an input device. Only pull this if the Roku is stuck on a network you can’t recreate — and pair it with the hotspot trick or Ethernet so your phone can drive the fresh setup.

The honest summary: no app can beam a password into a Roku that’s off the network — physics says the app has to reach it first. Get it reachable (Ethernet or a hotspot clone), and from there your iPhone becomes both the D-pad and the keyboard that finishes the job. Remote Pro opens straight onto the remote with the keyboard one tap away, and covers your Samsung, Fire TV and Android TV from the same screen.