How to Pair a Roku Remote, Simple and Voice Models

To pair a Roku remote, get the Roku device to its Home screen (unplug it, wait 5 seconds, plug it back in if you have no working remote), then hold the pairing button under the battery cover for 5 seconds until the status light flashes. If your remote has no pairing button, hold Back + Home together for 5 seconds instead. Roku's voice remote page documents both.

Before you hold anything, turn the remote over. If there's no voice button with a microphone or magnifying-glass icon near the purple pad, you have a simple remote, and Roku says simple remotes don't pair at all. They use infrared, they need fresh batteries and a clear line of sight, and that's the whole setup. Knowing how to pair a Roku remote starts with knowing whether yours can.

Which Roku Remote You Have

Roku's identification page and its simple remote page give the tells. I've put them side by side because the wrong assumption here wastes more time than any other step.

Roku also calls the simple remote a Standard remote, an IR remote, or a Roku Players remote. Same thing.

If you have a simple remote and it doesn't work, skip every pairing section below and go to the not-responding list. Pressing Back + Home on an infrared remote does nothing except make you doubt the batteries you just put in.

Pair a Roku Voice Remote

Pairing has two sides, and Roku's troubleshooting line says the device and the remote have to be in pairing mode at the same time. That's the detail the shorter guides skip, and it's why holding the button while the Roku is still booting fails.

Device side. Two ways to get there.

1. With a working remote or the Roku mobile app, press Home, then go to Settings > Remotes & devices > Add devices > Remote > Continue.
2. With nothing that works, unplug the Roku's power cord, wait 5 seconds or more, plug it back in, and wait for the Home screen. Roku says to pair once the Home screen appears. I'd use the menu route whenever a second remote or the app is available, because it doesn't reboot anything.

Remote side. Once the Home screen is up, do one of these.

1. Open the battery cover, find the pairing button, and hold it for 5 seconds until the status light flashes.
2. No pairing button? Hold Back + Home for 5 seconds until the status light flashes.

Then wait and watch the screen. If the light flashes and the remote still does nothing after a minute or so, which is my cutoff rather than Roku's, Roku says to restart the device and try again, and to check for interference, obstacles, or distance. I'd move the remote within a metre of the Roku for the attempt, then walk it back to the sofa afterwards.

The Reddit thread ranking for this search mentions pressing the sync button with a paperclip. On some remotes the button is recessed, so that's fine, but a fingernail usually reaches it. Don't force anything into the compartment.

Pair a Replacement or Second Remote

A replacement remote pairs exactly like the original, and the device-side menu is the cleaner route because the old remote or the app can drive the menu while the new one sits in pairing mode. Settings > Remotes & devices > Add devices > Remote > Continue, then hold the new remote's pairing button.

If the replacement is a simple remote, there's nothing to activate. Pull the battery tab or insert batteries, point it at the front of the Roku, press Home. If nothing happens, it's line of sight or batteries, not pairing.

For a Roku Streaming Stick tucked behind the TV, a simple remote often can't see it. That's a physical problem no pairing step fixes, and it's the main reason I'd buy a voice remote for a stick.

Roku TV Not Responding to the Remote

Work down this list in order. It's arranged by how likely each cause is and how little it changes.

1. Batteries, done Roku's way. Roku's remote fix page doesn't just say replace them. For a simple remote, remove the old batteries, press any two buttons to reset the remote, then insert a fresh matching pair. For a battery voice remote, remove both, press any two buttons, and reinsert them negative end first. The two-button press is the part people skip, and it's the step I'd repeat before believing a remote is dead. For a rechargeable remote, charge for at least 5 hours with the cable that came with it. Battery level is under Settings > Remotes & Devices > Remotes > your remote > About once you can reach the menu.

2. Line of sight, simple remotes only. Nothing between the remote and the front of the Roku. Roku specifically says not behind the TV or in a cabinet. A voice remote doesn't need pointing, per Roku, so line of sight isn't the answer for it. Move on to the next step.

3. Restart the Roku. Unplug it, wait 5 seconds, plug it in, wait for the Home screen. Cheap and reversible.

4. Re-pair a voice remote. The steps above. Do this after the restart, not before, because the restart is the device-side pairing trigger anyway.

5. Distance and interference. Move closer, clear the shelf, retry.

6. Use the app while you sort it out. Roku's own advice while contacting support is to use the mobile app as a remote. The app looks for Roku devices on the same Wi-Fi network as the phone. If the phone can't find the Roku, the Wi-Fi disconnecting guide covers the network side; a Roku that's dropped off Wi-Fi is invisible to the app.

Stop as soon as the Home button moves the cursor. The remaining steps change more and prove less.

Resync Versus Re-Pair

People say "resync" and mean one of two things. If the remote worked yesterday and doesn't today, that's the not-responding list, and step 1 solves most of it. If the remote has never worked with this Roku, or you did a factory reset on the Roku, that's a pair from scratch. Roku doesn't document a separate resync command; re-pairing is the resync. My concern with jumping straight to re-pairing is that it skips the battery reset, which is faster and fixes a remote that was never actually unpaired.

Make the Remote Control TV Power and Volume

This is a separate setup from pairing, and it only exists on the Roku Voice Remote, Voice Remote Pro, and Voice Remote Pro 2nd Edition per Roku's TV control page.

1. Go to Settings > Remotes & devices > Remotes.
2. Choose your remote.
3. Select Set up remote for TV control.
4. Follow the prompts. Roku says the TV plays a few sounds while the device finds the right settings, and you answer whether you heard them.

Two things from Roku's pages explain most failures here. The remote talks to the TV over infrared for the buttons, so the front of the TV's IR receiver has to be unobstructed. And voice commands for volume use HDMI-CEC rather than infrared, so if CEC is off in the TV's settings, "Hey Roku, volume up" fails while the physical volume button works. Roku's power and volume page gives a test I like. Point the remote at the TV and try the volume. Then cover the front of the remote, point it away, and try again. If volume stops when covered, the buttons are on infrared and something in the room was blocking them.

If the Roku player runs through a soundbar or receiver, Roku says to connect it directly to the TV during this setup so the TV brand is detected, then put the soundbar back. The remote can't control the soundbar directly.

Universal Remote Codes for a Roku TV

The PAA asks for four-digit codes, and Roku publishes them on its universal remote page. This is for controlling a Roku TV with a cable, satellite, or universal remote, which is the reverse of everything above.

Roku's procedure is to hold the remote's Setup button until the red light stays on (or TV + Power if there's no Setup button), enter the code, watch the red light blink or go out, and test Power and Volume. If it doesn't work, try the next code. Roku says to try the first one first because it's usually the most common.

Those are the codes on Roku's page as of 2026-09-15. Roku's list is longer, and if your remote brand isn't in the table, check the page rather than guessing. Once a code works, I'd write it on a strip of tape inside the battery cover, because you'll want it again and won't remember which of six numbers worked.

Find a Remote Before You Replace It

Roku's lost remote finder page says any voice remote with a built-in speaker, such as the Enhanced Voice Remote and the Voice Remote Pro 2nd edition, can be pinged. Three triggers. Say "Hey Roku, where's my remote?" on a Voice Remote Pro with hands-free on. Or in the Roku app, tap the Devices icon, your Roku, the three dots, then Ping Remote. Or press the finder button on a Roku Ultra.

The remote plays a sound for up to 60 seconds. It won't if the batteries are dead, the rechargeable is too low, or the remote is out of wireless range, which is the polite way of saying the sofa cushion is the likely answer and the neighbour's house is not.

I'd try this before buying a replacement, obviously, but also before re-pairing. A remote that went quiet because it fell behind the cabinet doesn't need pairing. It needs finding.

Once the Remote Works Again

Check the software while the menu is reachable. The Roku app update guide shows the Settings > System > Software update route, and I'd rather run it now than discover a pending update the next time the remote misbehaves.

If the reason you needed the remote was to reach a hidden menu, such as the Netflix sign-out code, the Netflix on TV guide has the sequence; it needs a remote that registers every press, so do the battery reset first.

The Short Version

Identify the remote. Simple remotes never pair; give them batteries and a line of sight. For a voice remote, get the Roku to the Home screen, then hold the pairing button or Back + Home for 5 seconds until the light flashes. When a remote stops responding, do Roku's two-button battery reset before anything else, restart the Roku, then re-pair, and use the phone app as the remote while you work.