No Remote? Where Your TV's Hidden Button or Joystick Is
Practically every television includes a physical control on the chassis, but manufacturers no longer label it and its position varies by brand, model and year. Here is where to feel first, what that control can realistically do, and which shortcuts are dead ends.
Quick answer
Practically every TV has a physical control, but it is hidden rather than labelled. Feel under the logo first, then the lower-right corner of the back panel. Samsung and LG typically use a five-way jog stick that opens a real on-screen menu; Sony and many budget sets use plain power and volume keys. Phone apps do not help here: they need the TV already switched on and already joined to your Wi-Fi.
- 1.Feel underneath the brand logo on the front bezel
- 2.If nothing is there, reach around the lower-right rear corner
- 3.Press once for power; hold or push sideways to reach a menu
The control is there. It is just designed not to be seen
Slim bezels killed the button row. To keep the front of the panel clean, manufacturers moved the physical controls to places you cannot see from the sofa: underneath the logo, behind the lower edge of the bezel, or around the back near a corner. Nothing was removed, it was only hidden.
That matters the moment you need to switch the set on. A television that is switched off is not on your network, so nothing that travels over Wi-Fi can reach it. In that moment the only thing that exists is the chassis in front of you.
There is also a real split between brands that generic advice ignores. Some sets concentrate everything into a five-way jog stick that can open a proper on-screen menu, which means you can navigate settings and change inputs. Others give you three plain keys that do little more than power and volume. Which camp your TV falls into decides whether this is a five-minute annoyance or a genuine dead end.
The four ways in, ordered by how fast they work
Work down this list. The first item is the only one that works immediately, without depending on the network or on extra hardware.
- 1The physical control on the TV itself. Instant, needs nothing, works from cold. Start here, always.
- 2A remote you already own for another HDMI device, via HDMI-CEC. Fast, but only if CEC was already switched on before the remote disappeared.
- 3The manufacturer's phone app over Wi-Fi. Useful once the set is running, useless for waking it up or for a first-time setup.
- 4A USB keyboard, or a wired Ethernet cable if you are stuck on the Wi-Fi password screen. Slower, and support varies by platform.
Where the physical control sits, brand by brand
Locations below reflect what each manufacturer documents. Placement still varies between model years and screen sizes, so treat this as where to feel first, not a guarantee.
| Brand or platform | Where the control usually sits | Type of control | What it lets you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung | Back panel, near the bottom-right corner seen from behind. Some models place it under the centre or the right of the front bezel | Single control stick, often called the jog controller | Samsung documents that the stick toggles up, down and side to side, and that pressing the centre brings up a menu |
| LG | Underneath the LG logo, below the centre of the screen on most sets | Jog or joystick button | LG documents that the button distinguishes a short press from a press-and-hold, and that pressing it while the TV is on opens a menu |
| Sony BRAVIA | Varies by model: side, back, front or bottom. Often beside the Sony logo, or with the power key sitting between volume up and volume down | Separate physical keys, commonly power, plus and minus | Power, volume and input selection. Sony notes that some settings can only be reached with a remote |
| Roku TV builds (TCL, Hisense, Onn and others) | Back or underside, commonly toward the lower right as you face the screen, or beneath the front logo | Usually a single button, a stick on some models | Often power only. Roku's own guidance leans heavily on the mobile app for everything else |
| Other brands: Hisense, Vizio, Philips, Panasonic, Toshiba | No single documented location. Check under the logo first, then the lower-right rear corner, then the underside | Button or stick depending on the model | Assume power only until your model's manual says otherwise |
If you cannot find the control by feel, the fastest confirmation is your model's manual. The model number is printed on a sticker on the back of the panel and on the box, and manufacturers publish manuals free on their support sites.
How to find the control without a torch and without guessing
Do this in order, and avoid the usual mistake of poking at ports and thinking they are buttons.
- 1
Check the front bezel under the logo
Run a fingertip along the underside of the bezel directly beneath the brand logo, and along the strip just below the screen. On many sets the control is a recessed nub or a soft dome you feel rather than see. This is the first place to check on LG televisions.
- 2
Follow the standby light
Use the standby indicator as a starting point. If you can see where the light glows, feel around that area of the bezel before searching the rest of the chassis. If nothing turns up there, your model's manual gives the exact position.
- 3
Sweep the lower-right rear corner
Standing behind the TV, run your hand along the back panel near the bottom-right corner. This is where Samsung documents its control stick. Note that from the front, this is the bottom-left side, which is why people searching from the sofa often miss it.
- 4
Check the underside and the sides
Some sets recess the controls into the bottom edge of the chassis or a side panel. Sony documents power buttons appearing on the side, back, front or bottom depending on the model.
⚠ Do not press connector pins, screw heads or the IR receiver window hoping they are buttons. Forcing a recessed connector can bend a pin and turn a missing remote into a repair.
- 5
Learn the two gestures
Once you have found it, test both. A short press is normally power or select. A longer press, or a push to one side on a jog stick, is what opens a menu or shuts the set down, though the exact hold time varies by model. LG documents this short-press versus press-and-hold distinction explicitly.
Which methods survive a switched-off TV
Anything marked No needs the television to be on already, so it cannot help you at this point.
| Method | Works with the TV off? | What it actually requires |
|---|---|---|
| Physical button or jog stick on the TV | Yes | Nothing beyond mains power and physical access to the bezel or back panel |
| Manufacturer phone app over Wi-Fi | No, with narrow exceptions | The TV already switched on and already joined to the same network as the phone. A Roku TV that is switched off stops responding to the app once its network connection drops, and whether it stays reachable at all depends on settings such as fast start |
| Another device's remote via HDMI-CEC | Sometimes | CEC already enabled on the TV before the remote went missing, plus a live HDMI connection to a CEC-capable device |
| USB keyboard | No | The TV already on, and a platform that accepts USB input. Not all TV operating systems do |
| Phone infrared blaster | Yes, where present | A genuine infrared emitter in the handset. Only some models include one, so check your phone's specifications first |
| Replacement or universal remote | Yes | The correct remote for your model, and the days it takes to arrive |
The circular problem nobody mentions
These apps carry a condition that is easy to miss: the app talks to the television over your local network. A TV that is switched off is not on the network, so there is nothing for the app to talk to.
The same trap catches first-time setup. A brand-new TV, or one you have just factory reset, has not joined any Wi-Fi yet. The app cannot find it, and the app is not what puts it on the network in the first place. You need the physical control, or a remote, to get through the initial setup screens.
Phone apps are a good permanent replacement for a lost remote. They are not a rescue tool. Those are different jobs, and conflating them is why so much advice on this fails at the exact moment you need it.
Emergency: power on and change HDMI input using only the TV
This is the minute-zero procedure. It gets a picture on screen so you can decide what to do next.
- 1
Confirm the set has power
Look for the standby indicator. If there is no light at all, check the wall socket and the power lead before assuming the control is broken. A dead set and a missing remote are different problems.
- 2
Press the control once
A single press on the button or a press inward on the jog stick normally wakes the TV from standby. Give it several seconds: a smart TV boots an operating system before it shows a picture.
- 3
Open the on-screen menu
On a jog-stick set, press and hold the centre, or push the stick in one direction, to bring up a menu overlay. Samsung documents that pressing the centre of its control stick brings up a menu. On a three-key set, there is usually no menu at all, only power and volume.
- 4
Navigate to the input or source list
On jog TVs the overlay typically offers power, volume, channel and source. Push the stick left or right to move between them and press to select. Move through the overlay one step at a time, since on some models it is easy to overshoot into a settings submenu.
⚠ If you land in a settings menu you did not intend to open, back out rather than pressing blindly. A factory reset is reachable from these menus on some sets, and it will wipe your accounts, apps and network settings, leaving you worse off than when you started.
- 5
Select the HDMI port you need
Choose the input matching the physical port your device is plugged into. If the ports are unlabelled from where you are standing, cycle through them one at a time until the picture appears. There is no faster way without a remote.
The Wi-Fi password screen, with two buttons and no remote
This is the hardest version of the problem, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a workaround that does not exist.
If your TV has a five-way jog stick, you can usually do it. An on-screen keyboard is navigated with up, down, left, right and select, which is exactly what a jog stick provides. It is slow and irritating, especially for a long password with mixed case and symbols, but it is possible. Budget extra patience for the case-shift and symbol keys.
If your TV has three plain keys, you generally cannot. Power, plus and minus give you no way to move a cursor around a grid of letters. Accept this early instead of spending an hour on it.
The cleanest way out is to sidestep the password entirely. If your TV has an Ethernet port, connect it to your router with a cable. A wired connection needs no credentials to type, and many setup flows detect it and let you skip the wireless step. Check the back panel for an Ethernet socket before assuming it is not an option.
A USB keyboard is the other option worth trying, since plugging one into a USB port costs nothing to test. Support is inconsistent between TV platforms, and a keyboard will not wake a set from standby, so it only helps once you already have a picture.
Turning an emergency fix into a permanent setup
Once the TV is on and connected, you have real choices, and the physical control stops being the point.
The manufacturer's app is now genuinely viable. With the set powered on and on the same network as your phone, apps like SmartThings, LG ThinQ or the Roku app work as full remotes. Our companion piece on using a phone as a TV remote covers the trade-offs between infrared and Wi-Fi control in depth. Keep one thing in mind: if you ever switch the TV off at the wall, or it drops off the network, you are back to the chassis button.
HDMI-CEC is the option most people overlook. If you own a Fire TV Stick, a games console or a Blu-ray player, its remote can often power the TV and switch inputs through the HDMI cable. Samsung calls its implementation Anynet+ and documents it within the external device settings, although the exact menu path varies by model year. The catch is documented by Samsung itself: Anynet+ settings and devices can only be set up and operated with the Samsung TV remote. So if CEC was already on, you inherit a working workaround. If it was never enabled, you cannot enable it without the remote you have lost, or without navigating there using the jog stick.
A replacement remote is still the durable fix, and there is no shame in it. Order by your exact model number, taken from the sticker on the back of the panel, not by the model family. A remote from a different range may not be compatible, even when it looks identical.
Mistakes that waste the most time
- Searching the front of the TV only. On Samsung sets the control is documented as sitting on the back panel near the bottom-right corner, which is invisible from every seat in the room.
- Getting left and right backwards. Bottom-right seen from behind the TV is bottom-left seen from the sofa. Search the wrong corner and the control can seem not to exist at all.
- Pressing once and giving up. Many controls need a longer press to do anything beyond power. LG documents this hold behaviour on its jog button.
- Downloading the manufacturer's app first. If the TV is off, the app cannot see it, and you will conclude the app is broken when it is behaving exactly as designed.
- Trying to pair a universal remote before the TV is even on. Pairing usually requires an on-screen response, so you need a picture first.
- Assuming a dark screen means a dead TV. Confirm the standby light before deciding this is a hardware fault. Diagnosing an actual failure is a separate job from a missing remote.
Signs this approach will not get you there
Your set has only power, plus and minus keys, and you need to type a password
There is no cursor to move. Use an Ethernet cable, try a USB keyboard, or get a remote. Do not keep hunting for a hidden menu that is not there.
The standby light is completely dark
Check the socket and the power lead. If there is still nothing, this is a power fault rather than a remote problem, and it needs a different diagnosis.
The button is physically unresponsive
A control that clicks but does nothing, or feels mushy and sunken, may have a failed membrane or a loose ribbon connector. Do not open the TV to investigate. Panels carry stored charge, and opening the chassis normally voids the warranty.
You need the TV on a new Wi-Fi network and only have a single button
First-time network setup effectively requires directional input. A wired connection is the realistic path if the port exists.
CEC was never enabled and you have no jog stick
You cannot switch it on without reaching the settings menu, and a single-button control will not get you there. A replacement remote is the answer.
The short version
Feel under the logo, then the lower-right rear corner. Press once for power, hold or push sideways for a menu. If you find a five-way stick, you can do almost everything, slowly. If you find three plain keys, you can turn the set on and little else.
Treat the physical control as an emergency tool, not a permanent one, and use the working picture it gives you to set up something better: the manufacturer's app, an HDMI-CEC device remote, or a correctly ordered replacement. Whichever you choose, remember the constraint that started all this. Every network-based solution assumes a television that is already on.
Check these before you buy
- Take the exact model number from the sticker on the back of the panel, not the model family name, before ordering any replacement remote
- Check whether your TV has an Ethernet port if you are stuck at a Wi-Fi password screen, since a cable removes the need to type credentials
- Confirm whether a universal remote requires an on-screen pairing step, because that means you need the TV powered on and showing a picture first
- Verify in your phone's specifications that it actually has an infrared emitter before planning to use it as a remote
Signs it will not fit
- The TV has only power, plus and minus keys and you need to move a cursor around an on-screen keyboard
- The standby indicator is completely dark, which points to a power fault rather than a missing remote
- The control clicks but produces no response, suggesting a failed membrane or a loose internal connector
- HDMI-CEC was never enabled, and you have no directional control to reach the settings menu that would enable it
- The television has never joined any Wi-Fi network, so no phone app can discover it regardless of what you install
A visual match does not guarantee compatibility. Check the exact reference printed on your TV or on the original part before ordering anything.
Frequently asked questions
Does every smart TV still have a physical power button?+
In practice, yes: sets ship with a physical control somewhere on the chassis. What changed is its visibility: it is now typically a recessed nub under the logo or a stick around the back, rather than a labelled row of keys on the front. If you cannot find one, you have almost certainly not checked the back panel near the lower-right corner as seen from behind.
Can I change the HDMI input without a remote?+
It depends on the type of control. A five-way jog stick usually opens an on-screen overlay that includes a source or input option, so you can move through the HDMI ports and select one. A TV with only power, plus and minus keys often has no input control at all, in which case a CEC-capable device remote or a replacement remote is the route.
Why can't I use the SmartThings or Roku app to turn my TV on?+
Those apps reach the television over your local network, and a television that is switched off is not on the network. On a Roku TV, the app stops finding the set once its network connection drops after power-off, and whether it stays reachable at all depends on settings such as fast start. Roku's support article covers the behaviour for your model. The same limitation applies to a brand-new or freshly reset TV, which has not joined any network yet.
How do I enter my Wi-Fi password with no remote?+
With a jog stick you can navigate the on-screen keyboard using the four directions and the centre press. It is slow but workable. With only two or three plain keys there is no practical way to move a cursor. The better answer is to plug an Ethernet cable into the TV if it has a port, since a wired connection requires no password entry at all.
Will another device's remote control my TV?+
Sometimes, through HDMI-CEC. If CEC was already enabled, a Fire TV, console or Blu-ray remote may power the TV and switch inputs over the HDMI cable. The limitation is real: Samsung states that its Anynet+ settings and devices can only be set up and operated with the Samsung TV remote, so you cannot enable CEC after the fact without a remote or a jog stick.
Is the physical button a permanent replacement for a remote?+
Not a comfortable one. On jog-stick models it technically covers power, volume, inputs and some menus, but you have to walk to the TV and navigate blind for every action. Treat it as the way to get a picture on screen, then set up a phone app, a CEC device remote or a replacement remote for daily use.
Sources
- Official source: Samsung Support — How do I use a Samsung TV without a remote? · 2026-07-20www.samsung.com
- Official source: Samsung Support — Understanding Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) on your Samsung TV · 2026-07-20www.samsung.com
- Official source: LG Support — LG TV: How to Use the Joystick Button · 2026-07-20www.lg.com
- Official source: Sony Support — How can I use my Sony TV without the remote control? · 2026-07-20www.sony.co.uk
- Official source: Roku Support — What to do when you have lost your Roku remote · 2026-07-20support.roku.com
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