If you own one of Amazon’s affordable media streaming sticks but have been experiencing issues with the remote control. This quick guide will take you through how to pair a Amazon Fire TV Stick with a remote as well as troubleshoot other issues you may be experiencing. Making sure you can once again skip through the control panel and adjust settings when needed. Enabling you to enjoy films and TV series from Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+, NowTV and more from your large screen TV.
The extremely affordable Fire TV Stick is available to purchase priced at £25 or $25 from Amazon, and the current generation is now 50% more powerful than the previous generation of media streaming sticks created by Amazon. To set up a new Firestick, all you need is a spare HDMI connection on your large screen TV, although sometimes the setup doesn’t always work. With users reporting, that occasionally they have no signal or sometimes experience a black screen or have problems loading media from a specific application. If you are experiencing issues with your Amazon Firestick, we will try to help you remedy the situation with these quick tips and tricks.
As always before, trying to troubleshoot any issues you are having with your Firestick. It is always worth checking that you have an Internet connection to your home and that the service from Amazon are running smoothly. Although it’s very rare the Amazon streaming service or servers will go down, it is worth checking first before anything else. If you have an Internet connection, check whether you can stream the Amazon Prime service to your mobile phone or tablet. If the service is available on other devices check your Firestick is correctly inserted into the HDMI port and connected to your home network if you can access the menu settings. If you can’t and you’re only see a blank screen trying the fixes below.
Black or blank TV screen
If you are experiencing a black or blank screen when trying to access your Amazon Firestick rather than the Amazon Menu pictured above. Make sure your TV is on the correct HDMI port. This input features is normally controlled by a button on your remote-control labelled source or input. Allowing you to cycle through all the HDMI ports, one after another.
Also check that your Firestick is securely and fully pushed into the HDMI slot and note the number allocated by your TV the port. This will help you select the right HDMI port using your TV remote-control. It is also worth making sure that your TV is turned on. I know this sounds obvious, but sometimes the TV may have gone into sleep mode or similar. Check this by going to a different channel and then returning to the HDMI port your Firestick is connected to using the TVs source or input button on the TVs remote.
Automatic software install
If you can see the main menu of your Firestick but are still having difficulties playing back media. Another area you should check is that the software on your stick is up-to-date and running the latest version released by Amazon. Normally this is automatically installed by Amazon during the boot-up process, so if you see the Amazon logo on boot and it seems to be there longer than normal. It is worth waiting at least 10 minutes to allow the Firestick to automatically install any software updates it might have automatically downloaded and is now trying to install for you. If after 15 minutes or so your stick is still stack on the Amazon logo it might be worth carrying out a reset to factory defaults as below.
Update the software
If you can access the main menu. To manually update the Firestick software, go to Settings > My Fire TV > About > Check for Updates. Here you will see your current software version installed and the last time it was checked. If this is up-to-date and you are still experiencing loading or playback issues and your Firestick is still not working correctly, next to try is resetting the Firestick to its factory settings.
Reset your Fire TV Stick
Before you reset your Firestick to its factory defaults. It is also worth simply restarting the fire stick by pressing “Select + Play” together on the remote-control for 10 seconds. This process will restart your stick correctly and may fix the issue you are experiencing. If it doesn’t reset your Firestick to its factory defaults following the instructions below.
1. Once again go to Settings > My Fire TV but this time select “Reset to Factory Defaults”.
2. This process will take a few minutes to complete but will reset your stick, allowing it to boot cleanly once again. Hopefully removing any remote pairing or playback issues you may have been experiencing.
Pair a Amazon TV Stick remote
If you are experiencing issues pairing the remote with your Firestick, the first thing worth checking are the batteries in your remote control are not dead. Simply pop off the battery cover and replace the batteries inside.
To pair a Amazon Fire TV Stick remote to the streaming adapter simply
1. Hold the Home button for 10 seconds or until the light at the top of your remote’s LED starts to blink rapidly.
2. You should then see on screen confirmation and your remote LED will flash blue three times confirming that you have now successfully paired your remote to the Apple Fire TV Stick.
If you are still having difficulties pairing your remote make sure that you are standing within 10 feet of your adapter which Amazon recommends. If you are still experiencing issues unplug your Amazon Fire TV Stick for one minute and then replace it. Next press and hold the left side of the circular control together with the menu and back buttons on your remote for 12 seconds. If you are using a first-generation Amazon Fire TV Stick only press the Left and Menu buttons together.
Once your completed this wait for a few seconds and then the remove the batteries from your remote. You have now reset the remote control and can once again pair it to your Amazon Fire TV Stick by pressing the Home button for 10 seconds.
Use your phone as a remote
If you would prefer you can also use your phone as a Fire TV Stick remote by downloading and installing the official Amazon Fire to app. Once installed the app will automatically try to connect to your Fire TV streaming adapter. If you do not see it listed simply Set Up New Device within the app and enter the four digit pin shown on your TV screen.
Adding a new remote to your Amazon TV Stick
If you already have a working remote control paired to your Amazon streaming Stick you can easily pair another by going to :
1. Settings and then Controllers and Bluetooth devices.
2. Amazon Fire TV Remotes and selecting Add New Remote
3. Press the Home button on your new remote and the select button on your old remote and your Fire TV Stick should now have recognised and paired your new remote.
App not loading
One of the issues that might cause playback problems is the cache, which is often used by apps to buffer content as it is streamed from the Internet to your TV.
1. To clear the cash on your stick once again go to the “Settings” menu and then select “Applications”.
2. Then select the “Manage Installed Applications” and then select the app you are experiencing problems with.
3. Here you will see a list of choices appear allowing you to clear the data and cache for that single app.
4. Select “Cache” and then return to the main menu to see if it has corrected the playback issue.
5. Unfortunately at the current time Amazon doesn’t provide a quick way to clear the cache on all your applications at the same time without carrying out a reset to factory defaults as explained previously.
Uninstall problematic TV apps
If clearing the cache of the app does not work, then perhaps a complete uninstall of the app from the Firestick and then reinstalling it may be the solution.
1. To do this once again go to Settings > Applications > Manage Installed Applications.
2. Then select the application from the list and choose “Uninstall” from the options provided.
3. Once the uninstall process is complete, reboot your Firestick by removing it from power or the TV depending on the version you have, and plug it back in.
4. Then, once the stick has rebooted, reinstall the application to see if it has corrected the issue.
If you are still experiencing problems with your Amazon Firestick or remote, you can always ask for more help from the official support team.
Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
