How to Fix LG Sound Bar Remote Not Working? – Working Solutions

LG Sound bar remote not working and you’re looking for a solution? You’re at the right place!

Even though replacing the batteries of a remote most often fixes the problem, what do we do when it doesn’t help?

To your surprise, there are plenty of alternative ways to target the functionality of your remote in a troubleshooting spree and achieve results fast!

Here’s what’s to come in our guide!

To fix when LG Soundbar Remote refuses to work, power cycle the remote along with the soundbar after. Next, get new batteries for your LG Soundbar remote, clean the hardware of the unit, reset the remote, and ultimately, Factory Reset the soundbar as well.

Here’s more info about the problem’s occurrence and how to avoid it in the future!

LG Soundbar Remote Not Working – Reasons & Causes

Learning what could cause the problem with your LG Soundbar remote is essential to stepping up your troubleshooting.

When being well aware of the problem, you could even come up with a troubleshooting method of your own, rather than trusting everything into someone else’s hands.

First, we’ll be learning why your remote has stopped working:

• There’s a Connection Problem
• The Batteries of the remote are Dead
• There’s a Hardware (IR) Signal Obstruction 
• General Soundbar (OS) Problem

Let’s learn how to troubleshoot the problem with your LG Soundbar remote!

How to Fix When LG Sound Bar Remote Not Working?

We hope that we’ve been able to help you understand what has been causing problems with your LG Soundbar remote.

To resolve the problem in the quickest manner, follow our solutions in chronological order and do not skip any of the tips, notes, and alerts. 

Let’s jump in with the guide!

Solution #1 Power Cycle the Soundbar Remote

Let’s begin the troubleshooting session with something simple, such as Power Cycling your LG Soundbhar’s remote.

A power cycle on whatever device always consists of one identical thing – cutting off the power supply to the device for a particular time interval.

Assuming you could already figure out how to cut your remote’s power supply – we’ll be taking out the batteries! 

Here’s a full instructions guide on how to power cycle your soundbar’s remote:

1. Turn the remote upside down.
2. Locate the battery compartment.
3. Eject the battery compartment cover.
4. Take out the two AAA batteries inside the compartment.
5. Once you take out the batteries, press each button on your LG soundbar’s remote.
6. Hold each of the pressed buttons for ~3-5 seconds.
7. Re-install the batteries back into the compartment.
8. Place the compartment cover back in place.
9. Test the remote…

Once the batteries are reinserted into the remote, it’ll immediately withdraw electricity and start working. Test whether the remote now recognizes and works with your soundbar.

Alert: The batteries must be placed correctly inside of your remote, otherwise it won’t work.

Solution #2 Hard Reset the LG Remote

Next, we could try to perform a Hard Reset on your LG Soundbar remote!

This is a simple solution, that’ll refresh the software of your remote and bring the configuration of the device back to factory value.

It could come in handy, especially for situations where the remote lacks a connectivity signal or simply doesn’t work.

Here’s how to perform a Reset on your LG Soundbar remote:

1. Locate the “Input” and “Bluetooth” buttons on the LG soundbar.
2. Press and hold both of the buttons for 10-15 seconds.
3. Once the time has elapsed, let go of the buttons.
4. Wait for the reset to undergo.

Once the reset has been triggered, it may take your remote up to 2-3 minutes to finish the reset.

Whatever you do, make sure not to unplug the soundbar or remove the remote’s batteries. This will result in a hardware/software fallout of the devices and fail the reset.

Note: Once the reset is completed, the soundbar will indicate it with a blink through its LED.

Solution #3 Replace the Remote’s Batteries!

Perhaps, replacing the batteries is enough to get your LG Soundbar remote going.

• LG Soundbar Remotes use 3 standard AAA alkaline batteries!

Whenever the remote stops working, the first thing that comes to mind is well, the batteries are probably dead.

However, you’ll be amazed at how many cases, in which the batteries weren’t the problem, but other environmental or third-party factors were causing the issue.

However, here’s how to replace your remote’s batteries:

1. Take out the battery compartment cover.
2. Eject the old AAA batteries.
3. Unpack fresh 3 x AAA alkaline batteries.
4. Place the new batteries into the battery compartment of your remote.
5. Close the compartment cover and push the batteries all the way.
6. Test your remote…

Note: Be careful how you position the batteries. Make sure they’re connected properly.

Solution #4 Power Reset the Soundbar

Chances are that a fault with the soundbar has taken place, rather than a problem with the remote.

With most of the things we’ve already tried, not much has left to try on your remote, but on the soundbar however, we could perform a Power Reset.

The Power Reset works the same way as the power cycle we did on your remote, but since the soundbar uses a power adapter, the execution is a little different.

Here’s how to power reset your LG Soundbar in easy steps:

1. Turn off the device by pressing the Power Button.
2. Once the soundbar has shut down, unplug the Power Adapter.
3. Wait for 5 minutes, while the power cable of the soundbar is unplugged.
4. Re-attach the power adapter of the device back into an outlet.
5. Turn on the soundbar and test.

Keep in mind that the key to achieving results through the power reset is to keep the device unplugged.

Connecting the power cable of the soundbar right away will not be of any value to you, since the soundbar needs some time to discharge the current electricity.

Note: Keeping the soundbar unplugged for longer is fine since 5 minutes is only the standard.

Solution #5 Clean the Remote’s Hardware

Your LG Sound bar remote not working probably because something inside of your remote’s hardware and/or battery compartment could be an obstruction.

Stuck debris, dirt, or other kinds of airborne objects that accumulated inside your remote, could be blocking contact.

Follow these steps to clean the remote’s hardware in easy steps:

1. Get a soft dry and wet cloth.
2. Place the remote with the buttons facing down.
3. Remove the battery cover.
4. Eject the batteries.
5. Using the wet cloth, go all over the battery compartment.
6. Dry up the compartment using the other cloth.
7. Allow your remote to dry for another 5 minutes.
8. Close the compartment cover.
9. Test the remote…

Placing the batteries straight away while the battery compartment is still wet has a high chance of leading to a short circuit.

This will damage your remote and may even cause some of the PCBs to be burnt.

Alert: Only insert the batteries once the remote has fully dried up.

Solution #6 Factory Refresh the Soundbar

If nothing worked so far, then you should perform a Factory Reset, but on the soundbar this time.

Judging by what we’ve tried so far, we could confidently say that the connection between the remote and the soundbar has been damaged.

The most appropriate way to take care of this situation is to reset the soundbar’s settings and thus, renew the connection.

Here’s how to factory reset your LG soundbar:

1. Make sure that the soundbar is plugged in.
2. Locate the Power and Volume Down buttons on the front panel.
3. Press and hold both of these buttons for at least 10 seconds.
4. Wait for your soundbar to indicate the reset, either via sound or a blinking light.
5. Let go of the buttons.
6. Let your soundbar reset.

Same as with the remote, the reset may take a while. You must make sure that both the remote and the soundbar are left unbothered for the time being, or you may cancel the reset.

Note: There is no indication that the reset is complete, you will know when the lights come on!

Quick Recap:

Thus when the LG Soundbar remote is not working, start with a power cycle on the remote and then replace the batteries.

The next step is to Hard Reset the remote, clean its battery case, and perform a Factory Reset on the LG soundbar to solve the problem!

If you’re still having issues, consider contacting LG for more assistance!