SmartThings TV remote not working? Causes and fixes

What the SmartThings TV remote needs

The remote in the SmartThings app depends on a chain of conditions. Samsung's support page for the phone remote says that a Samsung Account and internet connection are required. Samsung's guide to adding a TV, updated in December 2025, gives the other conditions.

When every condition is met, Samsung's steps to open the remote are short:

1. Open the SmartThings app on your phone.
2. Tap Menu.
3. Tap All devices.
4. Select your TV.

An on-screen remote then appears. Samsung notes that the options on the remote change with the TV model. If the remote does not appear, or the buttons have no effect, check these conditions first. The app itself can also have a fault, and a later section covers that case.

Find the point of failure

Use the symptom to find the correct section.

The TV shows as offline in SmartThings

If the TV's card shows Offline, start here. Samsung's guide for an offline TV, updated in September 2026, gives the checks in this order:

1. Disconnect the TV's power cord.
2. Connect the power cord again and turn on the TV.
3. Open SmartThings and look at the status on the TV's card.
4. On the TV, open Settings, then All Settings, then Connection, then Network, then Network Status.
5. If the TV is not connected to a network, select Reset Network.
6. Connect the TV to your Wi-Fi again.
7. Make sure that the phone and the TV are connected to the same network.
8. If the status does not change, turn the Wi-Fi router off and then on.
9. In SmartThings, tap Menu, and then tap Offline diagnostics.
10. Tap Run next to the name of your TV and follow the instructions.

On some models, the network menu is in Settings, then General, then Network.

Samsung names two causes that are easy to miss. A TV that is not connected to a power outlet can show as offline. So can a TV that you did not use for more than one month.

Samsung also says that TVs older than 2019 can show as offline when they are off. This depends on how the TV connects to the network. SmartThings cannot turn on a TV in that state, so use the TV's remote.

Sometimes the phone and the TV use the same Wi-Fi name and the TV stays offline. Then the router can be the cause. Our guide to a phone and a TV on the same Wi-Fi that still do not connect explains guest networks, separate bands and device isolation.

If Offline diagnostics does not solve the problem, remove the TV and register it again. A later section gives those steps.

SmartThings cannot find the TV, or the TV is not in the app

First, make sure that the TV is not in a different place in the app. Samsung's guide for a registered TV that disappears tells you to look in each location:

1. Tap Devices at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap the name of the location.
3. Tap All devices and look for your TV.
4. If the TV is not in the list, tap the Home icon and select a different location.
5. Tap All devices again.

If the TV is in no location, add it again. For this step, connect the phone and the TV to the same Wi-Fi network. Sign in to the same Samsung Account on the phone and on the TV. Samsung gives one exception: TVs with Bluetooth made after 2017 can be found and set up when the phone is on a different network.

If the app does not find the TV automatically, Samsung's manual registration has these steps:

1. In SmartThings, tap Add (the plus icon).
2. Select Device, By brand, Samsung and TV, in that order.
3. Tap Start.
4. Select a location and a room for the TV.
5. Turn on the TV.
6. Select OK on the TV screen.
7. Enter the PIN that the TV shows.

Samsung's steps tell you to turn on the TV with its remote and to select OK on the TV. If you do not have the remote, read what to do when the TV remote is lost.

Samsung lists three other causes for a registration that fails:

• The router has too many devices. Samsung says that registration can fail if 10 devices are already connected to the router.
• The TV is far from the router. Slow or interrupted data can stop the connection procedure.
• The TV is registered to a different account. The app then shows the error Someone already connected this device. Samsung says to add the TV to your current account, and the app then moves the TV.

To see if your TV model is supported, tap Add, then Device, then By brand, then Samsung, then Supported Device.

The remote does not open, or the buttons do nothing

Here the TV is in the app and online, but the remote does not load or does not respond. Do these three things in order.

Update the app, the phone and the TV

Samsung's guide for a TV that disappears from the app tells you to update all three. A software update can contain the correction for your problem.

1. In SmartThings, tap Menu, and then tap the Settings icon.
2. Tap About SmartThings.
3. If an Update button shows, tap it.
4. Install the system updates that your phone offers.
5. On the TV, open Settings, then Support, then Software Update.
6. Select Update Now.

On newer Samsung TVs, select Settings and then All Settings to find Support.

Remove the TV and register it again

Samsung gives these steps in its guide for an offline TV:

1. In SmartThings, tap the Devices tab and select the location of the TV.
2. Touch and hold the TV's card.
3. Tap Remove, and then tap Remove again.
4. Turn on the TV.
5. Tap the Add icon (the plus sign).
6. Tap Add below Samsung devices, and then tap TV.
7. Select your TV when it appears and follow the instructions.

Users report the same result in a Reddit thread about a SmartThings remote that stopped. Two owners wrote in 2025 that the remote worked again after they removed and added the TV.

Send an error report

If the remote still does not work, the fault can be in the app. In SmartThings, tap Menu, then Contact us, then Error reports, and send the report to Samsung.

In 2023, the owner who started that Reddit thread wrote that the remote screen stopped loading on Android after an update. The same remote worked on an iPhone. In a SmartThings Community thread from 2024, a touchpad fault stayed until the owner did a factory reset of the TV. These are user reports, not statements from Samsung. Do a factory reset only as the last step, because it erases the TV's settings.

The TV's own remote stopped after you used SmartThings

This is a different fault with a similar name, and Samsung confirms it. Its page for a Samsung remote that is not working describes an issue with the SmartThings app on 2022 TVs (B models). After you register devices in the app, the app disrupts the infrared signal of the TV remote. Samsung gives a temporary correction:

1. Turn the TV off and on with the Power button on the TV.
2. Open the SmartThings app on the TV.
3. Select Settings in the top right corner of the screen.
4. Select About SmartThings, and then select SmartThings Guide.
5. Select Do not receive new device notifications.
6. Exit the SmartThings app.

Samsung's page has no date, and it says that an app update will correct the issue. For other faults of the physical remote, the same Samsung page covers batteries, a reset and pairing.

On an iPhone, check Local Network access

On iOS 14 or later, an app must ask for permission before it looks for devices on your local network. Apple's page about this permission gives the path to the setting:

1. Open Settings on the iPhone.
2. Tap Privacy & Security.
3. Tap Local Network.
4. If SmartThings is in the list, turn it on.

Samsung's pages do not name this permission. Use this as a fast check, not as a confirmed cause. Our article on the Local Network permission explains what the setting controls.

Control the Samsung TV without SmartThings

SmartThings is a smart home app. Samsung describes it as one place to control many connected devices, and the TV remote is one part of it. The remote thus has the conditions of the full app: an account, an internet connection and a registration.

A remote app that connects to the TV directly on your Wi-Fi does not have those conditions. 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.

The first connection needs one action on the TV. The Samsung TV shows a box that asks if you allow the phone to connect. Select Allow on the TV. 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.

Tivi has limits:

• Tivi has the arrow pad and OK, volume and mute, play and pause, back, home and menu. It has no input button. Use SmartThings or the TV's remote to change the HDMI input.
• The phone and the TV must be on the same Wi-Fi network. If your router keeps the two devices apart, Tivi cannot connect.
• Tivi does not control Roku devices or Apple TV.

The short version

The SmartThings TV remote needs a Samsung Account, an internet connection and a TV that is registered in the app. Find the symptom first. For an offline TV, check power and network, then run Offline diagnostics. For a TV that is not in the app, look in the other locations, then register the TV again with the same account. For a remote that does not open, update the app, the phone and the TV, then remove and add the TV.

If the remote still fails, send an error report to Samsung. The TV's own remote, and a remote app that connects directly on your Wi-Fi, do not use the SmartThings chain.

Common questions

Sources

• Samsung. Control your Samsung TV or projector with your phone using SmartThings.
• Samsung (2025). How to add my TV to the SmartThings app.
• Samsung (2026). Samsung TV is offline in the SmartThings app.
• Samsung (2023). What to do if a registered TV on the SmartThings app disappears.
• Samsung. SmartThings error: Someone already connected this device.
• Samsung. Samsung remote is not working.
• Samsung. Power on your TV with the SmartThings App.
• Apple (2026). If an app would like to connect to devices on your local network.
• Reddit, r/SmartThingsCommunity (2023). SmartThings TV remote stopped working (not showing its controls).
• SmartThings Community (2024). SmartThings app TV remote.