Why Does Samsung Remote Only Turns TV On and Off? Complete Fix Guide

If your Samsung remote only turns TV on and off, then here you’ll find the solution you’re looking for!

Regardless of the Samsung television model, this problem has been frequently reported and users managed to discover a few ways to solve the issue.

We’re going to be targeting mainly your remote so let’s find out how to solve the malfunction.

To fix the problem where the Samsung remote only turns on and off the TV, you should remove the batteries and after about 30 seconds press the ON button. You should definitely replace the batteries and power cycle your TV to exclude several possibilities. If nothing works, you can do a button sequence suggested by Samsung tech support.

Let’s first find out whether your remote is actually sending IR signals or not.

How To Test Your Samsung Remote?

To see if the batteries are dead or in general whether your remote is sending strong infrared signals, you’ll need your smartphone’s camera.

Open the camera on your smartphone and point the remote towards the lens.

Once ready, do the following:

• Press the “ON” button.
• Press any other button.

Unlike the human eye, the camera lens can actually capture the infrared light on the front of the remote blink when you press buttons.

If the light only blinks when you’re pressing the “ON” button, that would generally mean a low battery charge.

If, however, the IR light blinks on all buttons, that means the issue is related to something else so let’s proceed with the solutions.

How To Solve Samsung TV Remote Only Turns TV On And Off?

Before you start with the solutions below, simply take out the batteries from the remote.

Wait for a few moments and re-insert them back into the compartment but switch their sides.

Test the remote to see if that helped and if the problem is still there proceed with the solution below.

Note: It’s highly recommended to replace the batteries before you continue.

Solution #1 Power Cycle Remote

The very first and easy solution to apply would be to discharge the Samsung remote.

In most cases, this method helps to solve issues related to the batteries and may also help you.

Here is how to power cycle the Samsung remote:

1. Take the batteries out of the remote.
2. Press the “ON” button several times.
3. Press ALL other buttons at least once.
4. Put the batteries back in the remote.
5. Test.

Now that you’ve performed a power cycle, your remote has been discharged and most likely the issue would be gone.

If, however, the problem persists, proceed with the upcoming solution.

Solution #2 Hard Reset Samsung TV

Even if rarely, sometimes the problem is with the receiver, in your case, the TV.

In that regard, it would be better to perform the same power cycle/hard reset method on the TV as well.

Again, the power cycle will reboot all services on the side of your TV and ensure a clean boot, which in most cases resolves a variety of remote-control issues.

Here is how to discharge your TV:

1. Unplug the power adapter of your Samsung TV.
2. Wait for about 5 minutes.
3. Connect the TV back to the power.
4. Turn ON the TV and test.

In case the problem persists even after resetting the TV, let’s reconnect your remote to the TV.

Solution #3 Reconnect Remote To TV

Whenever your Samsung remote only turns TV on and off, the unit might accidentally unpaired with your TV.

For some users, pairing the remote solved the problem so it’s recommended to attempt this method before you continue any further.

Here is how to pair your Samsung remote to the TV:

1. Point your remote towards the TV.
2. Press and hold the return button.
3. Press and hold the play button.
4. Hold both buttons for about 10 seconds.

If the pairing was successful, on your TV screen should appear a message saying “Connecting To TV” and shortly after, your remote would be paired.

In case the message does not appear, it would mean that your remote is paired and you should continue with the next solution.

Solution #4 Reset The Samsung Remote

Recommended by the Samsung tech support, a pretty good way to fix the problem is to entirely reset your remote.

This process can be executed by following a specific sequence of buttons and timing.

If done correctly, this method would reset your remote in its entirety and most likely solve the problem.

Here is how to reset the Samsung remote:

1. Take the batteries out of the remote.
2. Press and hold the UP Volume button.
3. Hold for 2 minutes (no cheating, it’s necessary to be at least 2 minutes).
4. Once 2 minutes have passed, put the batteries back in the remote.

If your remote is not working at all after the reset, scroll up and apply solution #3 to pair the remote to the TV.

After that, the remote should be working and all functionalities should be there.

Solution #5 Reduce Interference

In case your Samsung smart remote only turns TV on and off, you should try to reduce or eliminate any sort of interference.

Considering that the remotes function uses infrared signals, you should make sure that there are no devices in close proximity to the TV receiver that can disrupt the signal.

Any electronic device such as laptops, smartphones, tables, microwaves, and radios can actively interfere with the IR signal.

Take a look around your TV receiver and make sure to remove any electronics nearby.

Then restart your TV using the remote and check if the other buttons will now be functioning.

Note: Also make sure that the IR “eye” of your remote is not obstructed by any dust or smudge.

Samsung Remote Still Only Turns ON/OFF The TV…

In case the problem with the Samsung remote persists even after all of the solutions above, you should try to remember whether the remote has been lethally damaged.

In case any liquid goes inside you might be having malfunctioning hardware.

However, if you’re confident that the remote has not been damaged in any way, you can try to reach Samsung technical support to assist you further with your case.

You might also be interested in checking whether your warranty is intact or not.

Read Next: Why Does Samsung TV Freezes Periodically?

To fix a Samsung remote that can only turn on/off your TV you should first power cycle the remote and the TV. Then you should try re-pairing the remote to the TV in case it got disconnected and if it does not help, proceed with resetting the entire remote.

Bottom Line:

Now that you know why Samsung remote only turns TV on and off, using our solutions you should be able to solve the problem in no time.

In case the problem persists, you might be facing a hardware problem and your remote has to be taken to repair service.

We hope that our post was helpful and you managed to solve your remote problems.

In case you’re interested in more content related to tech solutions, make sure to check our blog.