Are you having trouble using your Sky Q remote, tried basic troubleshooting, but it still does not respond or does not have a red light?
My problem started with Sky Q’s remote when I replaced the batteries, but after troubleshooting and browsing multiple forums, I learned that I wasn’t alone and it’s a quite common issue Sky Q users experience.
In many cases, Sky Q remote stops working if its internal settings are glitched and if the batteries are running low. To fix this, press the “?” button on the remote to see if the red light blinks before resetting the remote.
It is possible to have other minor underlying issues that are causing your Sky Q remote to stop responding, and in this guide, I have laid out a step-by-step outline for how to solve it before buying a new one.
Table of Contents
Why Is my Sky Q Remote Not Working?
First, you need to figure out where the issue is. For example, its “volume” button might not work, its “select” button may not work, or it could have simply gone dead and stopped responding or showing no red light.
The following are the main issues that Sky Q users have with their remote, whether it’s a normal remote or the new voice remote:
- Sky q remote frozen
- Remote voice control stopped working
- Sky q box not responding to remote
- Remote touchpad not working
- Sky q remote Bluetooth not working
When troubleshooting issues with my remote, I found these main problems that Sky Q users face with their remotes.
In most cases, the root causes of these problems are the same and can be resolved with common steps, however, in other cases, you may have to find a good replacement for it.
Now that we know the main issues, let’s go to the main troubleshooting part of this guide if you are experiencing any of the issues mentioned above with your Sky Q remote, this guide will be a great help to you.
How To Fix Sky Q Remote Issues?
As I was troubleshooting, I also contacted Sky support to see if they could help. It wasn’t a pleasant experience as I waited quite a long time before getting a simple “did you reset your remote, if not, please do”.
It is true that doing a remote reset typically fixes any minor problems, however, it didn’t fix the issue on my end because that mostly depends on the issue you are facing.
Nevertheless, I continued troubleshooting and did try my part which ultimately resolved the issue.
To get your Sky Q remote working again, press the “?” button on the remote to see if it is turning on and showing a red light, and then manually hard reset the remote.
I have provided a step-by-step guide here, so please follow them in the correct order.
- Replace Batteries
- Inspect Remote
- Reboot Devices
- Soft Reset
- Hard Reset Remote
These are the most common fixes that can resolve any minor issue you may be experiencing with your Sky Q remote.
Moreover, if you are having problems with voice control, volume, touchpad, etc., the following steps in the guide will help you.
Touchpad is not working
Ensure that touch control is turned on if the touchpad on your Sky Q remote isn’t working when you swipe it.
Using the touchpad you can pause, fast-forward, rewind, rewind, and browse by flicking the touchpad.
To use it and turn it on, follow these steps:
- On your Sky Q remote, press Home.
- Choose Settings, then Setup, and then Remote Control.
- Pair remote, To pair the remote with Sky Q Touch Remote, press 1 and 3 together if you haven’t already.
- If you have paired your remote, select Touch Control to turn it on.
Touchpad is too sensitive
The sensitivity of the touchpad on your remote can’t be changed. If, however, your remote has buttons on it, you can turn off the touch control and use the buttons instead.
Turning off the touch function on your Sky Q remote is similar to turning it on as stated above, make sure you select “turn off” instead of “turn on” in the final step.
Voice control not working
For voice control to work, you need to connect your Sky Q box to an active internet connection.
Moreover, Whenever the voice control on your Sky Q remote stops working, you need to reboot and reset the remote again to ensure that any updates are installed and any glitches are fixed.
To check if your Sky Q box is connected to the internet, follow these steps:
- On your remote, select Home, then Settings, followed by Status.
- Be sure both Internet Connection and Router Connection are ticked under Network connection.
- If you get a cross instead of a checkmark on any of those, you need to get your Sky Q box connected to the internet.
The Sky Q box remote must be factory reset if the Sky Q box is connected to the internet and the connection is in good condition but still the voice control doesn’t work.
To hard reset your Sky Q remote and pair it again, follow these steps:
- To factory reset your remote, hold down the 7 and 9 buttons until the light flashes four times.
- When you are able to turn the volume up and down with the remote, you will need to pair it.
- You will be instructed whether to select Yes if you have a Sky Soundbox or speaker.
- If you don’t have a Soundbox or speaker, select No then select Finish.
Once you have re-paired your remote, try using voice search again.
Sky Q remote not controlling box
The first thing you should do if your Sky Q box is not responding to the Sky Q remote is to check the batteries and any pressed buttons on the remote.
So, Make sure that your Sky Q remote doesn’t have any stuck buttons. If any do appear stuck, push and move the button to release it.
When this has been checked, make sure there are no problems with your Sky Q box. It won’t respond to the remote if there is an issue with your Sky Q box.
You can verify this by pressing the standby button on the front panel of your Sky Q box. The light should either turn from green to amber, or from red, amber, to green.
In case your Sky Q box is in good condition and you’re not experiencing any issue, then you’ll need to re-pair your Sky Q remote with the box to rule out any pairing issues.
Here’s how to re-pair a Sky Q remote:
- Hold down 1 and 3 at the same time.
- You will then be prompted to select Continue and enter the brand of your TV.
- Select “Find it for me” and your TV will be automatically paired with your Sky Q remote.
In case you have followed and inspected all the above steps and are still having problems, you need to do a complete reboot of your devices.
Your Sky Q box and TV can be rebooted by removing the main source cable and plugging it back in after 4-5 minutes, and for your remote, you need to remove batteries and press each button once before re-plugging.
Conclusion
A Sky Q remote that does not work due to a minor glitch on your Sky Q box, or because the batteries have run out of juice, or for any other reason can be incredibly annoying.
It’s usually possible to fix the problem at home before purchasing a replacement remote since most issues can be fixed with basic troubleshooting.
Whether it’s the voice control that isn’t working, Sky Q not responding to the remote control, the touchpad not responding, or buttons like “volume” and “select” not responding, the troubleshooting steps are the same.
To summarize, here’s what you should do if any of these happen:
- Reboot your Sky Q box and TV.
- Inspect Remote.
- Replace Batteries.
- Factory Reset Sky Q Remote.
- Re-pair remote with Sky Q box and TV.
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Kazhiko Kuro is the Founder of StreamingStash.com. Over a span of 8+ years, He has tested, researched, and written hundreds of articles and guides on how to fix common issues with TVs, streaming media players, streaming services, and related devices. See our Editorial Guidelines and Content Integrity.
