Image: Jared Newman / Foundry
For the most part, we’re fans of Roku’s friendly, intuitive remotes, and particularly the ones that have voice capabilities.
But there’s a sticking point—four of them, actually—when it comes to the Roku remote: the quartet of buttons at the bottom stamped with the logos of popular streaming services.
What are Roku ‘quick shortcut’ buttons?
Those so-called “quick shortcut” buttons let you jump to streamers such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video with a single button push—convenient, if you happen to subscribe to those services.
The reality is that most of us aren’t subscribed to four streamers at once, or if we are, they aren’t necessarily the services slapped on those quick shortcut buttons (and yes, streamers do pay Roku for the privilege of getting their logos on the shortcuts).
In any case, let’s cut to the chase: No, you can’t reprogram Roku’s quick shortcut buttons yourself. You can disable them, so long as you’re comfortable getting a screwdriver and physically prying the remote open, but you can’t otherwise change their functionality.
What are Roku ‘personal shortcut’ buttons?
That said, Roku does offer some remotes that come with “personal” shortcuts that you can program yourself.
The original Roku Voice Remote Pro boasts two personal shortcut buttons that sit just above those branded shortcut buttons; they’re stamped with a “1” and “2” respectively. These programmable shortcuts essentially let you record any voice command—including, say, “Open Max”—which you can execute later by pressing one button or the other.
Meanwhile, the second-generation Voice Remote Pro has just one personal shortcut button with two personalization slots. It requires an extra click compared to the first-generation remote, but it works in more or less the same way.
Which Roku players come with remotes that have personal shortcut buttons?
The newer, second-generation Voice Remote Pro (the one with just one personal shortcut button) comes bundled with the latest Roku Ultra player, which was released in 2024 and offers such improvements as backlit buttons. You can also purchase the new Voice Remote Pro on its own for $30.
Jared Newman / Foundry
The original Roku Voice Remote Pro lacks the newer version’s backlit keys and its rechargeable battery has a tad less capacity, but it comes with two personal shortcut buttons rather than just one, thus saving you a click. The older Voice Remote Pro is available direct from Roku for $30.
Then there’s the Enhanced Voice Remote, which drops some Voice Remote Pro features (such as a rechargeable battery and headphone jack) but retains the two programmable shortcuts buttons.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
The Enhanced Voice Remote came bundled with some older Roku hardware (such as the 2022 Roku Ultra and the discontinued Roku Streambar Pro) and is not available on its own.
A final Roku remote that has personal shortcut buttons is the legacy Roku Touch tabletop remote, which is no longer available for separate purchase.
So, ready to start programming your Roku remote’s personal shortcuts? There are two ways to do it.
Option 1: Start with a voice command
The first way to create a personal shortcut on your Roku remote is by starting with a voice command.
Press the microphone button on the remote and say a command. It could be anything from “open Pandora” to “launch Paramount+” to “show me comedies” and “look for thriller movies.” If you’re here, though, you probably want to program a shortcut to a streaming service.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Next, wait for your Roku player to run the voice command.
Press and hold the personal shortcut button to which you’d like to assign the command.
Once you press and hold a personal shortcut button, an overlay will appear on the bottom of the screen that reads “Select an option below for shortcut 1”–assuming, for the sake of example, you pressed the “1” button on the original Voice Remote Pro, or if you selected the first personal shortcut slot on the second-gen Voice Remote Pro.
Using the remote’s arrow buttons, scroll the cursor to the right and select Last voice command. After a second or so, a confirmation message will appear.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Option 2: Start with a shortcut button
A second way to assign a function to a Roku personal shortcut is to start by pressing and holding a shortcut button.
When you do, an overlay will appear at the bottom of the screen with a variety of options, including Channel (for launching a streaming service like Netflix or Apple TV+), The Roku Channel, the Live TV Guide, a sleep timer, or enabling closed captions.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Go ahead and click the option you want to assigned to the personal shortcut you pressed and held.
You’ll now see an overlay that confirms the option you picked for the personal shortcut. If you’re satisfied, just wait for the countdown to finish, or click the Back button for a do-over.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Speaking of a do-over, if you ever want to reprogram a personal shortcut on your Roku remote, just repeat the steps above.
Further reading: Don’t miss TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best media streamers.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer, TechHive
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he has covered everything from smart speakers and soundbars to smart lights and security cameras. Ben’s articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men’s Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master’s degree in English literature.
