How to Stop Casting From an Android Phone to Your TV

By Klaus Jakobsen, developer of A Decent Remote

Quick answer First work out what is on the TV. A casted video stops from the cast icon in the app that started it, or from the media notification. A mirrored screen stops from the Cast or Smart View tile in Quick Settings. If that phone is gone, any other phone on the same Wi-Fi can end a Chromecast session.

“Casting” covers two things that look the same from the sofa and stop in completely different places. Most people who cannot stop a cast are looking in the wrong one, so start there.

Is it a casted video or a mirrored screen?

Look at the TV, then at your phone.

If the TV shows the video and your phone is free to do other things, it is a casted video. The phone only told the TV what to play. The TV is now fetching the stream itself.

If the TV copies your phone exactly, including the home screen, notifications and every swipe, it is a mirrored screen. The phone is sending the picture live, and it usually shows a notification saying so while it does.

How do I stop casting a video from my Android phone?

Use whichever of these is closest:

In the app that started it. Open YouTube, Netflix or whichever app it was, tap the cast icon (the small rectangle with Wi-Fi waves in the corner) and choose to disconnect or stop casting.
From the notification. Pull down the notification panel. An active cast usually shows media controls there, with a way to end it without opening the app.
From Google Home. Open the app, find the TV or Chromecast and stop the session there. This also works for a cast your phone did not start, as long as the device is in your home.

Closing the app does not count. Swiping YouTube away leaves the video playing, because the TV was never depending on your phone.

How do I stop screen mirroring on Android?

Mirroring lives in the system, not in an app, so it stops from Quick Settings. Swipe down twice from the top of the screen and look for the tile:

Pixel and most other Android phones: the tile is called Cast or Screen Cast. Tap it, then disconnect.
Samsung Galaxy: the tile is called Smart View. Tap it and disconnect.
Other brands: the name varies, and some call it Wireless Display or Screen Mirroring. The mirroring notification is the reliable shortcut, because it usually has its own stop button.

If you cannot find any of those, turning off the phone’s Wi-Fi ends mirroring immediately. It will not end a casted video.

What if the phone that started it has left the house?

This is the case that sends people searching, and it is also the easiest to fix on a Chromecast or a TV with Chromecast built in. A cast session belongs to the TV, not to the phone that began it, so any phone on the same Wi-Fi can take control.

A Decent Remote handles this from the phone in your hand: join the same Wi-Fi and open it. A Chromecast appears with no pairing step. Tap it and you can pause, change the volume, mute or stop whatever is playing, whoever started it. The volume control is on screen in the app, and it works while the video keeps playing. The Android version is being built now. Leave your email and you get one message the day it is on Google Play.

Taking over a Chromecast session goes further into how sessions work, including how to stop guests casting in the first place.

Why does a cast sometimes start again by itself?

Usually because the app is still connected. YouTube in particular can stay attached to the TV after you put the phone down, so pressing play on the phone sends the next video to the living room instead of playing it in your hand.

Disconnect from the cast icon rather than just pausing. If the cast icon is showing as connected when you open the app, you are still attached. The same habit fixes the classic surprise of a video meant for your headphones starting on the TV.

Get A Decent Remote on the App Store One iPhone remote for Roku, Samsung, LG, Sony, Fire TV, Apple TV, Vizio, Hisense, Philips, Panasonic, Toshiba, Chromecast and Android/Google TV

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Frequently asked questions

Why does the video keep playing after I close YouTube on my phone?

Because the phone is no longer playing it. Casting hands the TV a link and the TV streams it directly, so closing the app, locking the phone or leaving the house changes nothing. The session has to be ended, either from the cast icon or from another controller.

Does turning off my phone's Wi-Fi stop a cast?

Not a casted video, because the TV is streaming it on its own. It does end a mirrored screen, since mirroring depends on the phone sending the picture live.

How do I stop casting on a Samsung Galaxy phone?

For a video, use the cast icon in the app or the media controls in the notification panel. For screen mirroring, open the Quick Panel and tap Smart View, then disconnect. Samsung uses the name Smart View where other Android phones say Cast.

Can someone else stop what I am casting?

Yes, on a Chromecast or a TV with Chromecast built in. Cast sessions belong to the device, so anyone on the same Wi-Fi can pause or stop them. That is useful at home and a reason to keep guests on a guest network.

Will this work if my phone is on mobile data?

No. Every way of controlling a cast from a phone needs that phone on the same Wi-Fi network as the TV. Switch Wi-Fi on first, then the cast icon or remote app can see the device again.