How To Fix Polk Soundbar Remote Not Working? Complete Guide

If your Polk soundbar remote not working, in this guide you’ll discover a way to fix the problem faster than a blink of an eye!

Here you will also learn what could be causing the problem with your soundbar’s remote in the first place and how to prevent it in the future!

To fix a not working Polk soundbar remote, inspect the batteries and check if the remote has a good line of sight with the soundbar. Next, power cycle both your soundbar and the remote. In case nothing works, replace the remote’s batteries.

There is much more behind the solutions so let’s proceed further!

Why Is The Polk Audio Soundbar Remote Not Working?

The remote of your Polk soundbar can be disrupted due to a variety of sources.

For the soundbar to respond to remote inputs, both devices must be working and need to have a clear vision of one another.

Having that in mind, let’s proceed with some well-known causes for this issue:

1. OS Glitch/Bug

A temporal disruption with your remote or soundbar could be producing issues of this nature.

2. Worn-out Batteries

If the batteries inside your Polk remote had run out of charge, the soundbar won’t respond to the remote’s inputs.

3. No Sight of the Soundbar

Your remote and soundbar has to have a line of physical sight since the IR signal cannot travel through objects.

4. Damaged Remote

Lastly, a hardware problem with your Polk soundbar’s remote will also prevent the inputs from reaching your soundbar.

Even though there are more causes such as IR interference or dusty remote terminals, we’ll start with the solution guide and address them as well.

How To Fix Polk Soundbar Remote Not Working? Complete Guide

Before we move on with any of the solutions, attempt to restart your soundbar and check if that will solve the problem.

Sometimes all it takes is a system reboot to solve simple bugs and glitches so it’s worth the try before you continue.

If a restart didn’t help, here’s how to fix your Polk soundbar’s remote in easy steps:

Solution #1 Power Reset The Remote

The first thing you should start with is a power reset on your Polk soundbar’s remote.

This will actively discharge the electricity from the device, solving problems with the connection to the soundbar.

Here’s how to perform a power reset on your Polk soundbar remote:

1. Turn your remote upside down and locate the battery compartment.
2. Eject the compartment’s cover and expose the batteries.
3. Take out both of the batteries within your remote.
4. Hold the power button of the device for 20 seconds.
5. Hold ALL other buttons for 2 seconds each!
6. Reinsert the batteries inside your Polk remote.
7. Test.

Note: Double-check if you’re placing the batteries in the correct position and they make good contact with the electricity poles.

Solution #2 Clear Out Interference

There’s a high chance that there is interference somewhere between your remote and soundbar connection.

If the Polk device doesn’t seem to be accepting any commands from the remote, the remote signal is most likely to be blocked.

Here are some factors of interference you should take care of:

Solid Objects

Remove any large and metal objects from the path of your Polk remote signal that reaches your soundbar.

Other Receivers

Dislocate any other infrared signal receivers between your Polk remote and the soundbar itself.

Soundbar/Remote is Too High/Low

Having both your soundbar and remotely situated at different levels of the room might make it impossible for the remote’ signal to reach your soundbar.

Note: Test your Polk remote after each of these troubleshooting attempts.

Solution #3 Replace Remote’s Batteries

Regardless of what type of remote you’re using to control your Polk soundbar, you should replace the batteries before you continue.

If the remote is running low on charge, having the batteries replaced will most certainly solve the problem for you.

Here’s how to replace the remote’s batteries:

1. Put your remote upside down.
2. Locate the battery compartment and expose the batteries.
3. Take out the old batteries.
4. Acquire a fresh set of two AAs for your Polk remote.
5. Insert them into the compartment.
6. Close the latch once you’ve put them in the right position.

Note: Once you’re done replacing the batteries, test your remote by directly aiming it towards the soundbar and pressing the power button.

Solution #4 Clean The Remote Control Terminals

Your Polk’s remote control battery terminals may be dirty. In that regard, you should clean your remote’s internal compartment to solve the problem with the soundbar connections.

Here’s how to clean your remote’s control terminals in easy to follow instructions:

1. Open your remote’s battery compartment.
2. Eject both of the batteries.
3. Have a drop of alcohol inside the compartment.
4. Using a wet napkin, spread the alcohol all across the compartment.
5. Following up with a dry napkin, collect all of the dirt that fell out of the control terminals inside of the battery compartment.
6. Re-insert the batteries and test your Polk remote.

Note: Don’t put too much alcohol in the compartment to avoid damaging the internal parts of your Polk remote.

Solution #5 Reset Your Soundbar

If nothing worked so far, you should perform a factory reset on your Polk soundbar. This will easily solve any problems related to the OS of your soundbar.

In other words, a factory reset is going to erase all software configurations of your soundbar, fixing bugs and glitches.

Here’s how to reset your Polk soundbar with easy instructions:

1. Ensure that your Polk soundbar is up and running.
2. Locate the Microphone Mute button and the Volume Down button.
3. Press both of these buttons down and hold them for 10 seconds.
4. Release once your soundbar reboots.

Note: Do not unplug your Polk soundbar while the reset is ongoing to avoid further software problems and complications of your device.

Polk Soundbar Remote Still Not Working…

In case you’ve attempted to solve the issue using our solutions but the remote is still not working, you might be having a faulty unit.

Any lethal damage such as physical impact (drop) or liquid inside the internal parts could have killed your remote.

You could attempt using a universal remote to justify that the problem is with your remote and contact Polk customer service for more help.

Pro Tip: Check if your warranty is still intact to receive a free remote replacement or a repair.

Thus, to fix the Polk soundbar remote that isn’t working, power cycle both the remote and the soundbar. Next, replace the remote’s batteries and attempt to remove any interference. Perform a factory reset on your soundbar and clean the remote’s control terminals to check if that will help.

Read Next: Polk Sound Bar Keeps Turning Off? (Fixed)

Bottom Line:

Now that you know why the Polk soundbar remote not working and how to resolve the problem in easy steps, the execution remains up to you.

If you hesitate at any point, contact Polk for additional information regarding the problem!

If this post was helpful, make sure to check our tech blog to discover even more helpful solution guides such as this one.