The Amazon Fire Stick comes with a remote control that’s different from all other remotes you’ve used before. Of course, the difference isn’t major, but it’s enough that remotes from other brands won’t work.
While usually the remote for your Fire TV device does its job, sometimes it runs into some issues. In this guide, we’ll take a look at some of the most common causes (and their fixes) of your Fire TV Stick remote not working.
As we just mentioned, these aren’t your standard remotes. So, it makes sense that when they do eventually stop working for one reason or another you may have a hard time trying to fix it. In this guide, we’ve identified some of the most common causes of an unresponsive Amazon Fire Stick remote and then listed their solutions.
Let’s get started.
Most Common Causes of Fire TV Remote Not Working
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It should come as no surprise that there are several things that can go wrong when a Fire Stick remote fails to respond to your commands or that can be the culprit behind your FireStick not working.
Of course, it’s possible that you were never able to get your remote to work. In that case, we’ll show you how to fix the problem.
Simply put though, when your Fire Stick remote isn’t working it’s usually because of one of the following issues:
Battery Problems
The most common reason for an unresponsive FireTV remote is faulty batteries. Luckily, it’s easy to rule out batteries as a potential cause of problems.
Normal remote controls are able to work seamlessly for a long time before they stop working as a result of their batteries running out.
But Fire Stick remotes are different. They use Bluetooth instead of infrared to communicate with the Fire Stick.
If there’s one thing we know about Bluetooth remotes it’s that they tend to behave badly once their batteries get even slightly old.
In other words, Fire Stick remotes are power-hungry when compared to regular remote controls.
People who tend to watch a lot of content on their Fire TV have probably noticed that they burn through their remote batteries much faster than with a standard infrared remote.
The obvious question that arises from all this is: how would you know if your FireStick remote doesn’t have a battery problem? Well, there are some simple steps you can take.
1. Flip over the remote and remove the battery cover. It should easily slide out of the way and then completely separate from the controller.
2. Take a closer look at how you installed the batteries in the battery compartment and make sure they weren’t put in backwards.
Of course, if they’re backwards then reverse their position. Your remote should start working. Most remote controls, including Fire Stick remotes, have small diagrams in their battery compartments showing the correct direction for the batteries.
3. If your batteries are in the right orientation but the remote still isn’t working, take out the batteries. Once you’ve taken out the old batteries, put new batteries in the battery compartment.
Note:
We should mention here that since the Fire Stick remotes require lots of power, a battery that’s not working with a FireStick remote may work with your regular TV remote. So don’t just use your old Fire Stick batteries with another remote to rule out a problem with your batteries.Whenever possible you should use completely new batteries with your FireStick remote.
4. Following the previous three steps should’ve solved your problem. If they didn’t then you need to install another pair of batteries in your remote. You need to make sure that you’re using alkaline batteries that provide 1.5V instead of the 1.2V that rechargeable batteries provide.
Your Fire Stick remote requires the higher voltage to operate.
If following these steps didn’t fix the problem then there’s likely something else wrong with remote or with your Fire TV device. Keep reading to find other possible fixes that may work for your Fire Stick remote.
Pairing Problems
You always get your remote paired to your device when you first purchase it. Your Fire Stick device should recognize any input from your FireStick remote the first time you take out the device and set it up.
You don’t even need to go through an installation process to pair the devices. Of course, there are those times when your Fire Stick doesn’t pair properly with the Fire Stick remote.
This can happen for several reasons, one of which is glitching. If your FireStick remote glitches out, you’re going to have to repair your remote.
This is important:
Keep in mind that whenever you replace your remote control, you should always pair it with your streaming device before using it.You’ll need to do the following steps to pair your remote with your Fire Stick:
- Turn on your Fire Stick. Of course, we’re assuming here that you’ve set up your streaming device properly.
- Once you’ve turned on the device, you need to wait about 10 seconds for it to go through the boot-up process.
- With that done, you need to bring your remote control close to your Amazon Fire TV device.
- When your remote is close enough you need to hold your fire TV remote’s Home button for a while. Your experience may vary but generally speaking you should hold the button for around 10 seconds.
- After a short while, you should let go of the Home button. Check if your Fire Stick device has paired with your remote.
If you find that your Fire Stick remote still isn’t working you should repeat this process.
Hold the Home button after bringing the remote closer to the device. Some users have reported having had to repeat the process multiple times to finally make the remote pair with the streaming device.
Furniture and Distance
As mentioned earlier, Amazon Fire TV remote controls are different from others because they use Bluetooth technology instead of the standard infrared. What that means is that you don’t necessarily need to align your remote with your Fire Stick to get it to work.
In fact, Bluetooth remotes work with streaming devices even when they’re pointed in the opposite direction. Bluetooth signal strength doesn’t depend on the direction of the remote and they have a range of about 30 feet.
Of course, this range is mostly theoretical. In the real world, you may have all sorts of obstructions between your remote and your streaming device.
We all know that obstructions can significantly reduce the range of your remote. Sometimes the effect is dramatic to say the least.
With that said, let’s take a look at some of the steps that you can take to fix this problem:
- Try getting closer to your Fire TV stick.
- If you can’t do that then try to eliminate as many obstacles between the Fire TV Stick and the Fire TV remote as possible.
- You may find that your remote only responds when you’re standing behind your TV or are close to it. In that case, buy an extension and use it to move your Fire Stick somewhere else. Most of the time, you can buy an extension that’s long enough to allow your Fire TV device to come out from behind your TV where it will be less obstructed.
- Many people have an entertainment cabinet where they place all their electronics. If you’re one of these people, try taking your Fire TV Stick out of the cabinet or remove the cabinet altogether. Then check to see if your Fire TV remote starts working.
Other Interference Problems
As we discussed earlier, you don’t have to worry about pointing your remote directly at your Amazon Fire TV Stick.
The obstacles in the way usually only reduce the theoretical range and shouldn’t prevent your remote from working. With that said, an advantage infrared remotes have over Bluetooth remotes is that they’re not interference prone. Interference is another reason why Fire Stick remotes don’t pair sometimes or may be a reason for your remote not working.
Note:
To minimize interference, you should do your best to keep wireless speakers, wireless phones, unshielded coaxial cables and microwave ovens away from your Fire TV Stick.These devices can cause interference and should be kept as far away as possible. Of course, that isn’t always possible.
In that case, you should shut these devices down when you’re about to watch something on your Fire TV Stick. While this is probably inconvenient, attempting to use your Fire TV Stick while these devices are turned off can show you if they’re the reason behind your remote issues or not.
Compatibility Issues
Let’s assume that you tried replacement remotes and changing the position of your Fire TV Stick, but nothing worked for you.
Well, this can be an issue with the replacement remote itself. You should try the remote on another Fire TV Stick device.
Try pairing the devices and then try pressing the Home button to see if it works. If that works try pressing another button to see if the pairing is complete.
Then try different remotes on different devices to see if your device is faulty or not.
Try the Fire TV App
If you’ve gone through the trouble of trying out all of the solutions above, it might be time to accept that your Fire TV remote isn’t working. Maybe it was faulty from the factory, maybe it got dropped.
Whatever the case, the best course of action is to purchase another remote.
However, we’re aware that you may not have the budget for that right now or you’ve already tried buying another remote and that one didn’t work either. Either way, you can use the Fire TV remote app as a replacement for the Fire TV Stick remote.
How do you do that? Well, you first need to install the Fire Stick Remote app on your phone.
For iOS, click here to get the Amazon FireStick remote app from App Store.
For Android, click here to get the Amazon FireStick app from the Google Play Store.
For Kindle, click here to get the Amazon FireStick remote app from the Amazon App Store.
- Once you’ve downloaded the app, plug in the Fire TV Stick device and allow it to boot up.
- Run the Fire TV app and then use your Amazon account to sign in.
- Choose your Fire TV device from the list.
- Your device will now show a code on your TV. Use that code on your app.
Your mobile device should now be able to function as a remote for your Fire TV. To ensure that it’s working, try clicking the Home button.
If that works, try hitting any other button and ensure that it does what it’s supposed to. If it works, congratulations! You now have a remote Fire Stick once again.
