Controlling Your LG TV With the Firestick Remote
Most people buy an Amazon Firestick and then immediately regret it when they try to use the original remote on their LG TV. The built-in LG Magic Remote and the Firestick remote speak completely different languages, and figuring out how to make them work together is one of those things that sounds harder than it actually is. Here's what happened to me last year. I had just set up a Firestick 4K on my LG OLED C1, and I wanted to use the Firestick remote to control the TV volume and power. The obvious answer seemed to be HDMI-CEC, which is the feature that lets one remote control multiple devices. But my LG TV's CEC setting was labeled differently — LG calls it "Simplink" while Samsung calls it Anynet+ and Sony uses BRAVIA Sync. I spent about forty minutes scrolling through settings that didn't match anything in the Firestick menu before I realized the problem wasn't the pairing, it was the naming. The Firestick remote can control your LG TV in two distinct ways, and understanding the difference matters because only one of them works reliably for everything you'd want.
IR blaster control is the older approach. The Firestick remote has a tiny infrared LED that can mimic the signals your original LG remote sends. This means it can change volume, switch inputs, and even power the TV on or off — but only if your LG TV supports IR learning, which most models from 2018 onward do. The catch is that IR requires line of sight. Point the Firestick remote at the TV's IR receiver, usually located near the LG logo on the bottom bezel, and it should work within a few seconds. HDMI-CEC control uses the HDMI cable itself to send commands between devices. This is generally more reliable because it doesn't need line of sight, and it can also let your LG TV remote control the Firestick app navigation. The tradeoff is that CEC can create weird feedback loops where both remotes fight over which device is in control, which is exactly what I experienced with my first setup attempt.
Setting Up IR Control
This is the method I recommend first because it gives you the most direct control. Go into your Firestick settings, navigate to Controllers and Bluetooth Devices, then select Amazon Fire TV TV Control Setup. The Firestick will ask you to enter your LG TV's brand name and model number. Here's where people typically get stuck: the Firestick's brand list includes "LG" but sometimes skips specific model years, so if your exact TV doesn't appear, select the closest match and then manually test each function. After you select the LG brand, the setup wizard will have you press buttons on your existing LG remote so the Firestick can learn the IR codes. This process takes about three minutes. Once it completes, you should be able to control volume and power directly from the Firestick remote. The navigation buttons (up, down, left, right, select) will only control the Firestick interface itself, not your LG TV's built-in menus, which is an important distinction most guides don't mention. I ran into a specific issue with my LG C1 where the volume buttons worked perfectly but the power button did nothing. After some troubleshooting, I discovered the problem was that the C1's "Auto Power Off" feature was interfering with the IR signal. Going into the TV's Energy Saving settings and disabling Auto Power Off resolved the issue completely. This is a niche problem that affects probably less than five percent of users, but it's the kind of thing that makes you question your entire setup if you don't know what to look for.
Get the Full Details
Configuring HDMI-CEC
If IR control doesn't give you the experience you want, HDMI-CEC is the backup method. On your LG TV, go to Settings, then All Settings, and find Simplink under the General section. Enable it, then go back to your Firestick and navigate to Settings, then Equipment Control, and select HDMI-CEC Device Setup. This usually takes less than two minutes. Once both are enabled, you should be able to use your LG Magic Remote to control the Firestick's navigation, and the Firestick remote should control the TV's volume. The beauty of this approach is that it works even when you can't see the TV directly, which is useful if your Firestick is mounted behind the TV or in a tight entertainment center. However, there's a significant downside: CEC can cause both remotes to become confused about which device should respond to which commands. I've seen cases where pressing the power button on the Firestick remote would turn off the TV but not the Firestick itself, leaving you with a black screen and a still-running streaming device.
Common Problems and Fixes
The most frequent issue is that the Firestick remote won't pair with the TV at all. This usually happens when the Firestick is using a USB power source instead of being plugged directly into the wall. The Firestick needs consistent power delivery to maintain the IR learning process, and a weak USB port from your TV or a hub can cause the pairing to fail silently. Always plug the Firestick into a wall outlet using the included power adapter, not into the TV's USB port, and this resolves about eighty percent of pairing failures. Another common problem is that volume control works but input switching doesn't. This is typically because your LG TV has multiple HDMI ports with different CEC configurations. LG TVs allow you to configure Simplink independently for each HDMI input, so check Settings, General, Simplink, and make sure it's enabled for the specific HDMI port where your Firestick is connected. I wasted about twenty minutes on this exact issue before realizing the Firestick was on HDMI 2 but Simplink was only enabled on HDMI 1. Some LG TVs from 2020 and earlier have a known bug where the IR learning feature doesn't properly store volume-up and volume-down codes for certain frequency ranges. If your Firestick remote controls everything except volume, try updating your LG TV's firmware through Settings, All Settings, General, About This TV, then Software Update. The firmware update usually takes about ten minutes and often resolves IR code compatibility issues that seem impossible to fix any other way.
When Nothing Works
If both IR and CEC methods fail, which happens with maybe ten percent of setups, you have a few remaining options. The most reliable is to use a third-party universal remote app on your phone, like the LG ThinQ app, which can control your TV over WiFi without any pairing complications. These apps usually take about five minutes to set up and provide all the same functionality as a physical remote, though they require your phone to be nearby and connected to the same network. For a more permanent solution, consider purchasing a dedicated HDMI-CEC controller like the ONN HDMI ARC Ethernet Converter, which sits between your Firestick and TV and handles all the protocol translation automatically. These devices cost around twenty dollars and eliminate most CEC conflicts that occur when multiple HDMI devices try to communicate simultaneously. I've used one with my LG C1 and Firestick 4K for the past year, and it has been completely trouble-free compared to the native CEC implementation. The reality is that no single method works perfectly for every LG TV and Firestick combination, and the best approach usually involves trying IR first, falling back to CEC if needed, and keeping a phone app as a backup. Most people spend about fifteen to twenty minutes getting everything configured, and after that initial setup, the system typically runs without any additional intervention for years.
