Amazon Fire Stick Remote Control Not Working? What to Do

A Fire Stick has no buttons of its own, so when the remote stops responding you are stuck on the home screen. Most remotes come back with fresh batteries, a 60-second unplug or a re-pair, and your iPhone can run the stick while you sort it out.

Why is my Amazon Fire Stick remote control not working?

Three things cause nearly every case: weak batteries, a lost Bluetooth pairing, or a stick that has frozen. You can sort them in a minute.

• Batteries. Amazon recommends AAA alkaline batteries. Fit a fresh pair even if the old ones worked yesterday. Weak batteries are the classic cause of a remote that works one minute and not the next.
• The camera test, with a catch. The arrows, OK and Home talk to the stick over Bluetooth, and a phone camera cannot see Bluetooth. Only the infrared buttons (power, volume and mute, on remotes that have them) flash on camera. So try this instead: if the volume buttons still change the TV volume but the arrows do nothing, the batteries are fine and the pairing is gone.
• A frozen stick. Unplug the Fire TV from power for 60 seconds and plug it back in (more on restarts). If the home screen returns but the remote stays dead, the stick is fine and the remote is the problem.

A Hisense, Toshiba or Insignia TV with Fire TV built in uses the same kind of remote, so everything below applies, except that you unplug the whole TV instead of a stick. Toshiba owners also have a pairing guide of their own.

How do I re-pair or reset an Amazon Fire TV remote?

Start with the short version, which fixes most lost pairings:

1. Put in fresh batteries.
2. Unplug the Fire TV from power for 60 seconds, plug it in and wait for the home screen.
3. Hold Home for 10 seconds. On remotes with a light, it blinks blue when the pairing worked.

Still nothing? Run the full reset that Amazon lists for most Fire TV remotes:

1. Unplug the Fire TV from power and from the HDMI port, then wait 60 seconds.
2. Hold Left, Menu (the three-line button) and Back together for 12 seconds.
3. Let go, wait 5 seconds, then take the batteries out of the remote.
4. Plug the Fire TV back in and wait for the screen that says it cannot detect a remote.
5. Put the batteries back in and press Home.

The first-generation Alexa Voice Remote skips Back and uses Left plus Menu, and the old Basic Edition remote has a longer sequence of its own. Amazon’s help page for your remote model lists both.

How do I control a Fire Stick from my phone while the remote is down?

Two routes, and the first needs nothing set up on the stick.

Amazon’s free Fire TV app pairs with a code shown on the TV, with your phone and the stick on the same Wi-Fi. It works on iPhone and Android, can also pair a replacement remote, and may ask you to sign in with your Amazon account.

A Decent Remote takes a few minutes the first time and then stays. Fire TV accepts it over ADB, a debugging connection over Wi-Fi, so ADB debugging has to be on before the app can connect:

1. On the Fire TV, open Settings → My Fire TV → Developer Options and turn on ADB Debugging. With no working remote, get there with your TV’s own remote (on many TVs its arrows and OK drive the Fire TV through HDMI-CEC, which Samsung calls Anynet+ and LG calls Simplink) or with Amazon’s app as the stand-in.
2. No Developer Options? Open Settings → My Fire TV → About, select the device name seven times, then press Back. A message tells you the menu is unlocked.
3. Put your iPhone on the same Wi-Fi, open A Decent Remote and tap your Fire TV.
4. The prompt Allow USB debugging? appears on the TV. Tick Always allow and select OK.

That is the only time you need a working remote or a stand-in. After it, the phone handles navigation, playback, launching apps and typing into search with a real keyboard. If the stick dropped off your Wi-Fi after a router change, the lost remote guide has the hotspot trick for getting it back online.

What if my Fire TV has no ADB Debugging option?

Some newer Fire TVs do not have the setting, including Vega OS sticks such as the Fire TV Stick 4K Select. On those, A Decent Remote cannot connect, and Amazon’s own Fire TV app is the honest answer.

Volume is the other limit. A Fire Stick passes volume to the TV over infrared or HDMI-CEC instead of handling it, so we do not promise the volume buttons from the app. Use the TV’s own remote or buttons for that.

Is a replacement Fire TV remote worth buying?

A genuine Alexa Voice Remote costs about $30, and third-party ones start around $10. Check that the model fits your stick’s generation first. A new remote pairs through the Fire TV app (the Controllers and Bluetooth devices part of Settings has an option to add one).

Buy it if you use Alexa voice search, because a phone app does not replace the microphone button. If you would rather type than talk, the phone covers the rest: no batteries, a keyboard for search, apps in one tap, and the same app for the Samsung or LG TV in the next room.

A Decent Remote is on iPhone today, and the Android version is being built now. Leave your email and you get one message the day it is on Google Play. Android owners can use Amazon’s free app now (guide).