Do you need to reset your Vizio TV, but you don’t have the remote control that came with the TV to do it? Don’t worry; there are two quick and easy ways to hard reset a Vizio TV without a remote and one way to soft reset a Vizio TV to fix bugs and get your TV working again.
Reset a Vizio TV without a remote: Turn the TV on, then simultaneously press the ‘volume down’ and ‘input’ buttons for 15 seconds. Press only the ‘input’ button for another 10 seconds when prompted. The TV will automatically reset and restart. Alternatively, use the SmartCast app to reset the TV.
Note: The above method is a hard reset. The great news about a hard reset is it will set the TV back to factory settings and remove any settings that may be causing it to misbehave. A hard reset will almost always fix any issue with the TV.
The downside to a hard reset for your Vizio TV is that you will also lose all your preferences and settings. You will need to input all your preferences again, something which will be hard to do if you don’t have a remote.
Depending on your problem, you may only need to soft reset or power cycle your Vizio TV to fix the issue. See the reasons for resetting your TV below and decide if a hard reset is necessary or if a soft reset or power cycle will potentially fix your issue.
Whatever you choose, these three options are available to you to reset your TV without a remote:
- Hard reset your Vizio TV using the ‘volume down’ and ‘input’ buttons.
- Soft reset (Power Cycle) your Vizio TV by unplugging the TV and pressing the power button.
- Use the SmartCast app to navigate the TV’s menu to hard or soft reset.
When Should I Hard Or Soft Reset My Vizio TV?
Deciding whether you should hard or soft reset your Vizio TV depends on the severity of the problem you are experiencing with it. More severe issues often require a hard reset, while minor issues may be fixed with a soft reset.
Use the list below to decide if you should hard or soft reset. In either case, many people recommend trying a soft reset first anyway, as there is nothing to lose by doing this. A hard reset is often the last resort as settings and preferences will be lost and will take time to input again.
Soft reset your Vizio TV for the following reasons:
- The TV is slow, lagging, or freezing while in use.
- Colors don’t display or change correctly on different screens.
- The power button on the remote control doesn’t work/turn the TV on or off.
- The Vizio TV Menu doesn’t display when selected.
- SmartCast apps (e.g., Hulu, Netflix) don’t load when selected or keep crashing when first opened.
- Some apps display a black or blank screen when opened.
- The TV cannot connect to a wireless network.
Hard reset your Vizio TV for the following reasons:
- You are selling your Vizio TV and want to erase personal information.
- You want to remove another user’s personal information.
- The audio or video playback is not working.
- You have lost your password.
- You have lost access to the home screen.
How To Hard Reset Your Vizio TV
To hard reset a Vizio TV, follow these steps:
- Turn the TV on.
- Simultaneously press the ‘volume down’ and ‘input’ buttons for 15 seconds.
- When prompted, press only the ‘input’ button for another 10 seconds.
- The TV will automatically reset and restart.
- A message should display on the screen saying, “Memory is being cleared. The display will reset shortly.”
- Use the TV setup wizard to input your preferences.
This is a quick and easy fix to clear all your settings and reset everything back to the factory defaults, which should fix your issue.
If your Vizio TV has navigation buttons on the TV, you can use these to complete the setup. If not, without a remote you will need to plug a USB keyboard into the USB port on the TV and use it to navigate the menu. Either a wireless or wired USB keyboard will work for this.
If you have the SmartCast app downloaded to a smartphone, you can then set up SmartCast as a remote and input your preferences.
Note: The SmartCast app doesn’t work with all models of Vizio TV; check if yours is compatible before relying on this method to input your preferences after a reset.
How To Soft Reset your Vizio TV
A soft reset is sometimes called power cycling. The biggest upside of a soft reset is that it doesn’t delete settings or remove preferences, but forcing the TV to reboot/restart can fix certain bugs and unresponsive remotes or TVs.
To soft reset or power-cycle a Vizio TV, follow these steps:
- Unplug the TV’s power cable from the wall socket or from the back of the TV
- Press and hold the power button on the TV for 60 seconds. Release the power button.
- Plug the power cable back into the TV and/or the power socket.
- Turn the TV on.
- The soft reset should be complete.
What If My Vizio TV Does Not Have Volume or Input Buttons?
Your model of Vizio TV might not have volume or input buttons. If that is the case, you will not be able to hard reset your TV using the hard reset method above.
All Vizio TVs at least have a power button, so you should still try a soft reset or power cycle to see if this fixes your problem. If not, try download the SmartCast app and hard reset your TV that way.
Conclusion
There are many reasons to reset a Vizio TV; sometimes, it is to fix a bug, others to factory reset to get the TV back to its original state. But how do you do this if you don’t have a remote control or the remote control is broken. There are three ways to soft or hard reset the TV using the buttons on the TV or the SmartCast app. All three ways should get your TV back to good working order again to allow you to get the best experience out of your Vizio TV. Hopefully, one of these quick and easy fixes to rest your Vizio TV without a remote has helped you!