Vizio Sound Bar Not Turning On With TV? (Easy Fix)

Your Vizio sound bar not turning on with TV and you’re looking for a quick fix? Well, you’re at the right place.

If the soundbar isn’t turning on with your TV, perhaps there is a problem with the connectivity between the devices.

In this post, we will identify and diagnose the issue to help make your soundbar turn on along with your TV.

To turn your Vizio soundbar together with the TV, make sure you have connected your TV and Vizio soundbar with either an HDMI ARC cable or optical unit. Any connection different than that will result in separate control, resulting in a separate boot.

Having to turn on your soundbar manually after turning on the TV is frustrating and it is not meant to work this way.

Next, we’ll review the possible causes for the issue and then help you solve the problem permanently.

Why Is Vizio Sound Bar Not Auto Turning On With TV?

Vizio soundbar is a separate audio system that works with a subwoofer connected to your TV. If connected with the appropriate cable, it should turn on automatically with your TV.

It is really dependent on whether it is connected properly and if the settings are set in the right way.

Here is a list describing the well-known reasons why the Vizio soundbar would not turn on automatically:

1. Connection Problem

An issue with the HDMI ARC connectivity between your soundbar and TV could result in booting problems.

2. Power Troubles

Potential power fluctuations with your soundbar can identify as a separate problem, but still, cause interference with the TV to soundbar connection.

3. TV Problems

In case your TV/soundbar has connectivity issues with the Bluetooth, it can lead to the devices booting separately.

4. Incorrect Settings

Lastly, an incorrect settings configuration in regard to the soundbar could cause the soundbar not to boot with your TV.

These are the general issues that we will be targeting in this post. Your problem is most likely to be related to one of them.

Let’s now take a look at the best solutions recommended by the Vizio community, to troubleshoot the problem!

How To Fix Vizio Sound Bar Not Turning On With TV Issue?

Keep in mind that the problem could involve both your TV and soundbar.

In this case, our troubleshooting will be focusing on both of your devices, so we could effectively identify the issue and then fix it for good.

Note: Make sure to apply our solutions in consecutive order for faster results in the troubleshooting.

Solution #1 Reconnect Soundbar From TV

First, we suggest reconnecting your Vizio soundbar. Also, it is of great importance to use an HDMI ARC cable to connect your soundbar to the TV of your choice.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to connect the soundbar appropriately:

1. First, make sure your TV and soundbar are turned ON.
2. Disconnect both ends of the HDMI ARC.
3. Connect the first end of the HDMI ARC to the “HDMI 1” input on the back of your TV.
4. Plug the second end of the HDMI cable to the “HDMI OUT” input on your soundbar.

Note: Not using HDMI ARC might result in bad sound quality, so it is greatly recommended. In some cases, the soundbar may refuse to work with other connections than HDMI ARC.

Solution #2 Power Cycle Your Soundbar/TV

Devices might not work appropriately every time. This is why we suggest power cycling both your TV and soundbar, to make sure everything is freshly started and free of any temporary issues.

Down below we have provided instructions on how to power cycle your setup easily:

1. Turn OFF both your TV and soundbar.
2. Unplug both of the power adapters and wait for 5 minutes.
3. Once both your soundbar and TV feel cold on touch, reconnect the adapters.
4. Turn ON your TV to check if they would boot together now.

At this point, you may also try switching the HDMI ARC from the HDMI 1 of your TV to HDMI 2 or 3.

This way you will exclude the possibility of a faulty TV input, which can prevent your soundbar from turning on along with your TV.

If the issue still seems to persist, then proceed with our next solution!

Solution #3 Disconnect Other Audio Devices

In your soundbar’s manual, it is written that any other sound devices might cause interference.

In other words, having other home theatre or sound systems connected to your TV, in general, might prevent the soundbar from booting with your TV.

In that case, make sure to unplug any already-connected sound device from your TV’s input, to configure the boot choice.

That is to say because when multiple sound systems are connected, your TV might be confused and start the wrong device.

Some of these devices could be consoles, smartphones, computers, headphones, other soundbars, and more.

Once you have only the Vizio soundbar connected to your TV, check if both devices will boot on startup.

You may need to restart both devices before testing but if it didn’t work, proceed with the next solution.

Solution #4 Enable “Digital Input” Mode

If your Vizio sound bar is not turning on with TV, you might have the “Digital Input” mode disabled.

Without this setting enabled, your TV might not be able to recognize your soundbar in the first place.

This feature is most often found in the audio settings of your TV and you should be able to easily navigate and find it if you know the menu of your TV.

If the feature is still not enabled, turn it on and power off both your TV and soundbar. Next time you turn on the TV, your soundbar should boot up as well.

Solution #5 Make Soundbar Default Device

Some TVs are programmed to make the connected sound device default, but with others, you have to do it manually.

We assume your TV hasn’t made the soundbar a default audio device, so we suggest going back to the audio settings and configuring that very feature.

Follow the universal steps down below to make your soundbar default device:

1. Open the Settings of your TV.
2. Navigate to the “Audio options/settings” tab.
3. Head to the “Devices” tab and find your soundbar.
4. Highlight the Soundbar and open its Settings.
5. You should see a button labeled as “Make Default” or “Make This Device Default”.
6. Enable this feature so the soundbar can become the default audio device of the TV.

If the soundbar wasn’t the default audio device by now, then this means that the built-in speakers of your TV were. In that case, no wonder your TV didn’t boot your soundbar on startup by now.

Solution #6 Reset Your Soundbar

If nothing worked out so far in regard to fixing the boot sequence of your soundbar, perhaps you should try resetting it to factory defaults.

This will erase all custom configurations, which might be the problem so as a last resort the reset is worth trying.

To reset your soundbar, follow the instructions down below:

1. Make sure the soundbar is up and running.
2. Press and hold the Bluetooth and Volume Down button on the device’s hardware.
3. All 12 LEDs on your soundbar will flash three times.
4. Wait for the soundbar to boot.

Once your device is interactable, it should automatically boot with your TV from now on!

If your soundbar isn’t booting with the TV, try power cycling both of the devices and reconnect the HDMI ARC. Next, put your TV’s inputs in digital mode and make your soundbar a default audio output device. Lastly, try performing a factory reset on the soundbar to resolve the problem!

Read Next: How To Hook Up a Soundbar To a Vizio TV?

Bottom Line:

Now that you know why the Vizio sound bar not turning on with TV, we hope you were able to resolve the problem without too much trouble.

If this post was able to help you setup your soundbar automatic boot but you’ve got other issues with the setup, don’t forget to check our blog.