Why Your Roku TV Remote Is Blinking Green And How To Troubleshoot

When it comes to streaming sticks, streaming boxes, and smart TV operating systems, the biggest players — brands with their own OSes like Samsung, Vizio, and LG aside — are Roku, Google with its Google TV (previously Android TV) platform, and Amazon with Fire TV. All have different pros and cons to them, with the latter two arguably having the most flexible functionality as Android devices that can run traditional apps like web browsers, VPNs, and media players like VLC or Kodi. The longest-running player, though, is Roku, which was the first to market with streaming boxes and also the first with a licensable smart TV OS that seamlessly integrated streaming content and over the air channels into the same user interface.

However, an issue with the remotes on Roku TVs has surfaced on the company's official community support forum, and, curiously, it does not appear to have any kind of official support page covering it: Remotes malfunctioning while the LED light on it flashes green. The official Roku TV user guide only mentions the word "green" once, referring to the tint settings in the picture adjustment menus, and searching Roku.com with the relevant keywords only brings up the forum posts, so what's happening?

Based on what the Roku forum users say, the blinking green light is indicative of, at least broadly speaking, a Bluetooth pairing issue that's keeping your remote from properly syncing to your TV. Even if the remote also has an infrared output to the TV, that only works with a line of sight to the TV and works with just basic inputs, not advanced features like voice commands. A few different things can cause this, and some of the most basic remote control troubleshooting possible, like swapping in a fresh pair of batteries and even power cycling your Roku device, could fix it. If neither of those work, the most likely fix to work is probably resetting the Roku remote. To do this:

1. Open up the battery cover on your remote and take out the batteries.
2. Unplug your Roku TV or Roku Player from its electrical power source.
3. Wait 10 seconds.
4. Plug the device back into electrical power.
5. Once your device has booted to the Roku home screen, put the batteries back in the remote but don't replace the battery cover.
6. Locate the reset button at the bottom of the remote underneath the battery cover.
7. Press and hold the reset button for approximately five seconds.

At this point, the green light should blink for up to 30 seconds as the remote pairs with your Roku device. If this doesn't work, you may need to buy a new remote.