What Do the Buttons on Your Fire TV Remote Do?

If you own a Fire TV stick, you may find yourself wondering about the various buttons on its remote control. It can be confusing to press a button without knowing its purpose. But fret not! In this article, we will explain the meaning of each button on your Fire TV remote so that you can use them with confidence. Let's dive in.

Power Button

At the top of the remote, you'll find the Power button. This button allows you to turn your TV off or on without using the TV’s remote.

Microphone Button or Blue Button

In older models, you will see a microphone button, but in newer models, it has been replaced by the blue Alexa button. Press and hold the Microphone or Alexa button on the Fire Stick remote to activate Alexa, Amazon’s personal voice assistant. Keep holding the button while you ask your question or give a command, and release it when you're done speaking.

You can use Alexa to navigate your TV using your voice. For example, you can open apps, search for an app, forward/rewind content, watch movies, pause, or go to a specific channel. Here are a few examples to help you get started:

  • Watch [movie name]
  • Pause
  • Rewind [X] minutes
  • Play next episode
  • Show me [actor name] movies
  • Open [app name]

Apart from controlling your TV, you can ask Alexa any question and it will provide a helpful answer. For instance, you can ask about the weather, track your order, request a song, learn about someone, and much more.

Circle

The big round button on your Fire Stick remote is the directional keypad. Press the right side of the circle to scroll right, the left side to scroll left, the top to scroll up, and the bottom to scroll down. These buttons work like the arrow keys on your keyboard.

Additionally, you can use the right and left navigation buttons to forward or rewind video or music playback. Pressing the right or left button once will forward or rewind by 10 seconds, respectively. Long-press the buttons to rewind or forward at a faster rate.

Button Inside the Circle

The black button inside the navigational circle, also known as the select button, allows you to choose the currently highlighted item on the screen. It functions like the Enter button on your computer's keyboard and can also be used to pause/play media.

Back Button

Press the Back button to return to the previous screen from the current one.

Home Button

The Home button takes you back to the Home screen of your Fire Stick from any screen. You don't need to press the Back button multiple times to exit an app; just press the Home button.

Three Bar Button

The three-bar menu button on the remote opens the menu or displays more options. For example, you can press this button while watching a show or movie to access settings like audio, subtitles, watch from the beginning, and next.

Similarly, on the home screen, you can press the menu button on a highlighted movie or show to watch its trailer or add it to your watch list.

Two Back Arrows

This button allows you to rewind the video. Press it once to go back 10 seconds, or long-press for faster rewinding. While the video is rewinding, press once or twice to rewind at 2x and 3x speeds, respectively. You may need to press the Select or Play/Pause button to stop the rewinding if it doesn't stop automatically.

Play/Pause Button

As the name suggests, this button allows you to pause or play video or music playback on your Fire TV stick.

Two Forward Arrows

Similar to the rewind button, the two forward arrow button lets you fast-forward the video. Press it once to forward 10 seconds or long-press for fast-forwarding at 1x speed. Press the button again while forwarding to increase the speed to 2x or 3x. Press the Play/Pause button to stop.

+ and – Button

These buttons control the volume of your TV. Press the + button to increase the volume and the – button to decrease it.

Speaker With X

This button mutes or unmutes your TV's volume.

Television Button

This button is present on some Fire TV remotes only. Pressing the Television button opens the guide for live TV channels from the installed apps. It functions similarly to the guide button on local TV remotes.

Apps Buttons

In addition to the above buttons, newer remotes have buttons to quickly open popular streaming apps like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, etc. Press the button for the desired app to open it from any screen.

We hope this article has helped you understand the meaning of all the buttons on your Fire TV remote. In addition to their primary functions, these buttons also provide quick access to certain shortcuts. Check out our article on Fire TV remote shortcuts for more information.