Have you wondered why your Vizio TV is not responding to the remote? Unlike other remotes, your Vizio remote is exclusively designed to use your Vizio TV. The remote provides you with unique ‘Smart TV’ controls to navigate various TV applications. You can learn more about the 4 Easy to Use Vizio Smart TV Remote and gain insight into the ideal model for your Vizio TV set.
Your Vizio TV may fail to respond to the remote system for multiple reasons, including blocked TV sensors, drained batteries, stuck remote memory, faulty power supply, or other issues with your TV components.
Before we enlighten you on various solutions to fix your unresponsive TV set to the remote control, it’s essential to ensure your remote is emitting IR. If your TV has an IR sensor, you can test the remote with a simple camera test by following the steps below:
- Turn on your mobile camera and check on the remote-control unit
- Check at the edge that points to your TV to view the remote IR on your camera
- Hold any remote-control button to check if you’ll see the light flashing from the IR LED
- Ensure your remote volume and power buttons are working properly
If the approach above fails, you can try to follow the solutions provided below.
How to Fix Your Vizio TV Remote
Various approaches are applicable in resolving issues of your Vizio TV that don’t respond to the remote control. You can utilize the solutions discussed below to fix it.
1. Remove any Distractions to Your TV Sensor
If your Vizio TV IR sensor is blocked, the remote control might not work since there’s no detected IR signal. The IR sensor of your device is located at the bottom left or right. In addition, transparent objects can block the infrared signal from your remote, including the protective plastic wrap that’s shipped with your TV set. Here’s a step-by-step procedure you need to follow in clearing up any obstructions:
- Locate the position of your TV’s IR sensor
- Remove any obstacle that’s in front of your TV
- Check out for visible streaks on your IR sensor
- Point your remote at the TV’s IR sensor and press the “Power” button. Ensure you maintain a range of about 10 feet since the IR signal is limited to distance.
2. Power Cycle Your TV
Your Vizion TV may fail to respond to its input, including changing the channels with its remote control. Some of its parameters may fail to work, or the TV is in an error state. Power cycling can be an ideal approach to use in resolving this issue, and here’s how the methodology works:
- Unplug your TV from its power source
- Press and hold your TV’s power button for 30 seconds to drain the residual power and clear some issues
- Leave your TV for a minute before the power connection
- Plug in your VIZIO TV to its power and power it on
- Check if your remote functionalities are restored
3. Change Your Power Source
Voltage variations, power surge, low power factor, and frequency variations are abnormalities that might tamper with your Vizio TV and its functionalities. If you plug in your TV to abnormal power quality sources, the remote may fail to function, and here’s what you need to do:
- First, unplug your Vizio TV from its power source.
- Relocate the set and plug it into another power source where the power supply is normal
- Use your remote to see if it’s functional
4. Restart the Remote Control
Power residues can cause your Vizio remote to stop operating. Power cycling resets and drains any remaining power residues even when the remote is not in use. Power cycling aims to ensure that any temporary configurations are entirely reset. You can fix any erroneous configurations in the remote using this approach. It may also help free a stuck button on the remote that you weren’t aware of. To restart your remote, follow these steps:
- Remove the batteries from your remote.
- Press and hold the power button on the remote. The button is usually at the top of the remote control.
- After five seconds, release the power button. Any power residue will be drained out. After 5 seconds, release the remote’s power button.
- Press each remote button at least once. It would help in the loosening of any stuck buttons. Ensure you carefully remove any buttons on the remote stuck in a permanently pressed position; otherwise, the remote control may fail to respond to any other inputs. Next, press every button on the remote control.
Place the remote batteries back in their slots and check whether your remote is functioning.
5. Clear the Memory by Resetting the Remote (Universal Remotes)
The memory stuck on a specific point or device is a more prevalent fault with Vizio Universal Remotes. If that’s the case, resetting your remotes might help. Unfortunately, non-universal remotes will not operate with this strategy. After clearing, the memory on your remote, you’ll need to reconnect it to your various devices, such as a DVD player, because the connections between these devices will be reset.
- Press and hold the “SET” and “SETUP” buttons at the top left corner of your remote control.
- Release the “SET” button once the LED blinks twice and wait for the remote LED to blink. The LED light for the Vizio universal remote is found at the top of the remote control.
- Type the reset code of your remote that’s usually 977 or 981 for Vizio universal Then, you can check on the manual to verify the correct code.
- Wait for the LED to blink twice before proceeding. The Vizio universal remote successfully clears its memory once it has flashed twice. You can rectify any difficulties with the firmware through this option. Now use your television to fix it and wait for the remote’s LED to flash twice.
Now pair the remote to your television. The unique part of Vizio remotes is that they have two spots where you can change the remote to operate the appliance of your desire. One of the buttons is on the top of the remote control, while the other is on the bottom. Use the bottom button for switching the TV and utilize other input features to check whether the remote is functioning properly.
6. Control Electronics Interference
Most of your electronic gadgets emit different radiation types. If the radiations interfere with your TV’s IR signal of your remote control, the remote may fail to function. Here’s is how to go about restricting electrical interference for your TV set:
- Determine which other devices in your room are emitting light and are on in the “field of view” of your remote sensor’s window
- identify and switch the machines off
- Place a masking tape strip over the IR sensor of the receiver to allow your remote signal to travel through.
- Check if the lights or radiation is limited, and your remote is functioning properly.
7. Check on Your Remote Batteries
Your remote batteries might have drained power or might be rusty at the contact points. It might attribute to the failure of your TV to respond. Your Vizio TV remote uses AAA or AA batteries and is likely not to function if they’re drained. You simply need to:
- Remove the batteries from their slot
- Check on the terminals to see if they are rusty or have carbon formed around them; if so, clean the terminals.
- Replace with new batteries and ensure you place them correctly with positive and negative terminals in the correct positions.
- Check whether your remote is functioning.
Conclusion
Is your TV not responding to the remote-control features? Nowadays, most TV remotes send signals to your TV set via Infrared light. Your Vizio TV has an IR sensor that receives the signal from the remote for all controls. If the TV’s IR sensor doesn’t accept commands from your remote set when you press the buttons, there’s an issue that needs to be resolved.
You can try to use your remote on another Vizio TV, and if it works, some of your TV set functionalities are faulty or limited due to various factors. VIZIO remotes can work with different VIZIO TV models, and the unresponsiveness of the TV may compel you to seek technical support or repair.
Electrical interference, batteries, power cycles, and other aspects may lead to your VIZIO TV not responding to the remote control. The mechanism of IR signal transmission could be limited by various issues that can be resolved using multiple solutions. If the solutions discussed above do not fix your issue, it’s essential to check on How to Update Vizio Smart TV for the latest features. An expert would be ideal if the TV components are faulty and require technical hardware checkup.
Denis is an article/blog and content writer with over 7 years of experience in writing on content on different niches, including product reviews, buyer’s guide, health, travel, fitness, technology, tourism. I also have enough experience in SEO writing.
