Samsung TV Accessibility Shortcuts keeps popping up? How to stop it

Why does Accessibility Shortcuts keep popping up on a Samsung TV?

Accessibility Shortcuts is a Samsung menu that gives fast access to functions such as Voice Guide, Captions, High Contrast and Picture Off. It is not a setting that turns itself on. The TV opens the menu each time it receives one specific button press, and that press depends on the remote.

On a Smart Remote without a Mute button, the Volume button also mutes the TV. Samsung's guide to the Smart Remote buttons says that a press of the Volume button mutes or unmutes the TV. A press and hold of the same button opens Accessibility Shortcuts. A button that stays down gives the long press without you. Samsung also notes that the buttons and functions of its remotes differ by model and region.

Thus the question is not which setting to turn off. The question is which remote, or which control, sends the long press.

Close the menu and undo what it changed

Close the menu first. Samsung says that the Return button goes back to the previous menu. Press Return on the remote, or Back in a phone remote app.

The menu can leave changes behind. Each item in it turns a function on or off, and an unwanted press in the menu can select one. Check these functions:

• Voice Guide. Samsung says that the voice guide for Accessibility Shortcuts works even if Voice Guide is set to Off. A voice that reads the menu aloud is thus normal. If the TV still talks after the menu closes, Voice Guide is on.
• Picture Off. The screen goes black and the sound continues. Samsung Australia says that a button other than Volume and Power turns the screen on again.
• Grayscale, Color Inversion and High Contrast. These change the colors of the picture or of the menus.
• Captions. Text shows at the bottom of the picture.

To turn off Voice Guide on a model with an All Settings menu, do the steps from Samsung's Voice Guide page:

1. Press Home and open Settings.
2. Select All Settings.
3. Select General & Privacy, then Accessibility.
4. Select Voice Guide Settings, and turn off Voice Guide.

On some models, Samsung's US page gives the path Settings, General, Accessibility, Voice Guide Settings. The other functions are in the same Accessibility menu.

Find the remote that sends the signal

Test the remotes one at a time. The test needs no tools, and it shows the cause directly.

1. Find each remote that can control the TV. Include the Samsung remote and the remotes of an Apple TV, a Fire TV, a cable box or a universal remote.
2. Remove the batteries from all of them. If a remote has a built-in battery, such as an Apple TV remote, put it in a different room. Also disconnect the device that it belongs to from power, because that device can control the TV through HDMI.
3. Use the TV for as long as the menu usually takes to come back.
4. If the menu does not come back, one of the remotes is the cause. Continue with step 5. If the menu comes back, go to "If no remote is the cause".
5. Put the batteries back in one remote. For a remote with a built-in battery, bring it back and connect its device to power again.
6. Use the TV again. If the menu comes back, that remote is the cause.
7. Do steps 5 and 6 for each remote.

Include the remote of a second Samsung TV. A Samsung infrared remote reaches every Samsung TV it points at. Thus a remote for a different Samsung TV in the same room can open the menu on yours.

While the remotes have no batteries, you can control the TV from your phone. The last section shows how.

Fix the Samsung remote

Samsung's page for a remote that is not working says: "If it seems like it's pressing buttons by itself, your remote's buttons may actually be dirty." Samsung also gives steps for a TV that changes the volume or the source by itself:

1. Check the remote for buttons that are stuck or that do not work correctly.
2. If the remote uses batteries, take them out. If it is a solar remote, let it charge for some time.
3. Disconnect the TV from the wall outlet. If the TV has a One Connect Box, disconnect it too.
4. Clean the touch controls on the bezel of the TV with a microfiber cloth.
5. Connect the TV to power again, and turn it on with the controls on the TV.
6. Put new batteries in the remote and try it again.

Samsung says that if the problem starts again after these steps, the remote has a fault and you must replace it.

Weak batteries are a cause too. Samsung Canada says that weak batteries "may cause intermittent functionality". Before you replace the remote, reset it. Samsung's US page gives two methods:

• For a remote with batteries, remove the batteries. Press and hold the Power button for 8 seconds, then put the batteries back in.
• For a solar remote (2021 and later TVs), press and hold Return and Enter for 10 seconds. Enter is the center of the navigation pad. Then pair the remote again.

To pair a Smart Remote, stand within 1 foot of the TV. Press and hold Return and Play/Pause at the same time for at least 5 seconds, or until the TV shows that the remote is connected. Samsung's Singapore page gives 3 seconds or more for the same step, so hold the buttons until you see the message.

Fix an Apple TV remote that opens the menu

In an Apple Community thread from April 2022, the owner wrote that the Apple TV 4K remote was "the culprit". The Samsung TV showed the mute symbol even when a hand only came near that remote. On that post, 1,375 users selected "Me too". A Reddit thread from 2023 reports the same problem, with replies until 2026. These are user reports. The Apple and Samsung pages that we read do not describe this problem.

Owners stopped the menu in three ways.

First, restart the remote. Apple gives these steps for a Siri Remote or an Apple TV Remote:

1. Press and hold the TV/Control Center button and the Volume Down button at the same time.
2. Hold them for about 5 seconds, or until the status light on the Apple TV turns off and on again.
3. Release the buttons.
4. Wait 10–15 seconds for the Remote Disconnected notification on the TV.
5. Press a button on the remote. You can use the remote when Remote Connected shows.

Second, charge the remote. One owner on Reddit wrote: "Charge your remote! It will stop."

Third, stop the Apple TV remote from controlling the TV's volume. On Reddit, one owner wrote that the restart helped only for about two weeks at a time. Another owner turned off volume control in the Apple TV settings, and the problem stopped. Apple's guide to TV and receiver control gives the setting:

1. On the Apple TV, open Settings.
2. Select Remotes and Devices.
3. In the Home Theater Control section, select Volume Control.
4. Select Off.

Apple says that Off disables volume control for devices other than the Apple TV. After this change, the Apple TV remote does not change the TV's volume. Use the Samsung remote or a phone app for the volume.

Check other remotes and HDMI devices

Other remotes that control the TV's volume can send the same long press. Owners report these cases:

• A Fire TV remote with weak batteries. In the iFixit thread, two owners stopped the menu when they changed the batteries of their Fire TV remote.
• An Xfinity X1 Voice Remote. An owner in the same thread found that a long press of Mute opens the menu. A tap of Mute does not.
• A Virgin Media box remote. An owner in the Reddit thread removed one battery from that remote, and the menu stopped immediately.

Devices on HDMI can also control the TV. Anynet+ is Samsung's name for HDMI-CEC. Samsung says that Anynet+ lets you control HDMI devices with the TV remote. It adds: "The other way around works too." To see if an HDMI device is part of the problem, turn off Anynet+ for a test:

1. Press Home and select Settings.
2. Select General, then External Device Manager.
3. Select Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) to turn it off.

If the menu stops, an HDMI device is the probable cause. Turn Anynet+ on again. Then disconnect the HDMI devices one at a time to find the device. Samsung's page is from 2021, and the menu path can be different on newer models.

If no remote is the cause

Sometimes the menu comes back when no remote has batteries. Then look at the TV:

• The touch controls of the TV. Samsung tells you to clean the touch controls on the bezel when the TV changes the volume by itself. Do steps 3 to 5 in "Fix the Samsung remote".
• A restart. Disconnect the TV from power for 30 seconds, then connect it again. With a Smart Remote, you can also press and hold the Power button until the TV logo shows. Samsung says that this restarts the TV.
• A software update. Samsung's Voice Guide page says that a software update can contain a correction for a problem with the TV. Look for a software update in the settings of the TV.

The Samsung pages that we read show no setting that turns off the shortcut itself. If the menu still comes back, contact Samsung support.

Use your iPhone as the remote while you test

The test leaves you with no working remote for some time. A phone remote app lets you use the TV during that time.

Tivi, a universal TV remote app for iPhone from Nefarius Apps, finds the TVs on your Wi-Fi. It controls Samsung, LG, Android TV and Google TV sets and needs no account. Commands go from the phone to the TV on the local network, so Tivi works when the remotes in the room have no batteries. Back in Tivi sends the TV's Return command, so you can also close the Accessibility Shortcuts menu from the phone.

Connect the app before you remove the batteries. On the first connection, the Samsung TV asks if you allow the phone to connect. Select Allow with the TV's remote. After that, the TV does not ask again for that phone. The article on Samsung's allow-this-device prompt explains the box. The guide on how to control a Samsung TV with your iPhone gives the full procedure. If no remote works at all, read what to do without a TV remote.

Tivi has limits:

• The phone and the TV must be on the same Wi-Fi network.
• The free version gives the full remote on one TV.
• Tivi does not control Apple TV or Roku devices.

The short version

The Accessibility Shortcuts menu opens when a Samsung TV receives a long press of Mute, or of the Volume button on remotes without Mute. If the menu keeps popping up, a remote or a device sends that press. Close the menu with Return, and turn off Voice Guide if the TV still talks.

Then remove the batteries from each remote, and put them back one at a time to find the cause. Clean, reset or pair a Samsung remote. Restart or charge an Apple TV remote, or set its Volume Control to Off. Change the batteries of a Fire TV or cable box remote, and test with Anynet+ off. If no remote is the cause, clean the TV's touch controls, restart the TV, update its software and contact Samsung.

Common questions

Sources

• Samsung. Accessibility settings on your Samsung TV.
• Samsung Australia (2025). Using the Accessibility Feature Settings on a Samsung TV.
• Samsung Gulf (2026). Use Accessibility on Samsung TV.
• Samsung Hong Kong (2026). How to use Shortcut Buttons on the Samsung Smart Remote.
• Samsung Caribbean (2026). How to disable the Voice Guide function on your Samsung TV.
• Samsung. Samsung remote is not working.
• Samsung Canada (2026). Pair your Samsung Smart Remote to your Samsung TV.
• Samsung Singapore (2025). Connect the Samsung Smart Remote to your Samsung TV.
• Samsung Singapore (2021). What Is Anynet+ And How Do I Use It?
• Apple (2025). If the volume buttons on your Apple TV remote aren't working.
• Apple. Use the Apple TV 4K remote to control your TV and receiver.
• Apple Community (2022). Accessibility shortcuts keeps showing up on Samsung TV.
• Reddit r/appletv (2023). If you're using Apple TV with a Samsung TV and the accessibility menu keeps opening on your Samsung: Here's your fix.
• iFixit (2017). Why does accessibility shortcuts keep popping up.