How Do I Use My Smart TV Remote?

What this helps with: The buttons you need most on a smart TV remote: switching inputs, finding apps, turning on captions, and fixing the volume.

Smart TV remotes look different, but most have the same main buttons. If yours has more buttons than you need, that’s normal. You’ll only use a few.

The buttons that matter

• Power: turns the TV on and off. It’s usually at the top.
• Home (a little house): takes you to the main screen with your apps.
• Arrows and OK: move around the screen and pick things. OK is the button in the middle.
• Back (a curved arrow): goes back one step.
• Volume + and –: louder and softer. Mute turns the sound off and on.
• Input or Source: switches between things plugged into your TV, like a cable box or DVD player.
• Microphone: on some remotes, hold it and say what you want, like “open YouTube.”

Switch inputs (when the screen says “No signal”)

“No signal” usually means the TV is set to the wrong input.

1. Press Input or Source on your remote. On some TVs, press Home and find Inputs or Sources.
2. You’ll see a list like HDMI 1, HDMI 2, TV, or Antenna.
3. Pick the one your box or device is plugged into. The name is printed next to the plug on the back of the TV.

Tip: Put a small label on the TV or remote that says which input is which, like “HDMI 1 = cable box.”

Find your apps

1. Press Home.
2. Use the arrows to move through your apps. Press OK to open one.
3. Don’t see the app you want? See How to Watch Shows on a Streaming TV App.

Turn on captions

1. Press Menu, Settings, or the gear button.
2. Look for Accessibility, or for Captions or Subtitles.
3. Turn captions On.
4. In a streaming app, press OK or the down arrow while a show plays, then look for CC or a speech bubble.

Good to know: Captions on cable or satellite may need to be turned on in the cable box menu too. The FCC says to check both the TV and the box.

Fix volume problems

• No sound? Press Mute once. Check that the volume isn’t all the way down.
• Sound is on, but very quiet? If you have a soundbar or a cable box, its volume may be separate. Try the volume on that remote too.
• Voices are hard to hear? Look in Settings, then Sound, for a setting called Dialogue, Clear voice, or Speech. Names differ by brand.

When nothing works

1. Turn the TV off. Unplug it from the wall for one minute. Plug it back in.
2. Check the remote’s batteries.
3. Still stuck? Look up your TV brand’s help website, or the number in your TV’s manual. Don’t call a “TV support” number from an ad.

Want a simpler remote? A big-button remote can help. See our Recommended tools page.

Official sources

• FCC: Closed captioning on television
• FCC: Closed captioning for digital television
• Roku: How to add apps to your Roku streaming device
• Google: Install apps on Google TV

Last checked: Oct 20, 2026

This is general help, not personalized tech support. Button names and menus differ between TV brands and models.