What Are The Colored Buttons On An LG TV Remote?

As the top-rated brand in our list of major TV brands ranked worst to best by customer satisfaction, LG stands out for its smart features, user-friendly interface, and reliable performance. Like other modern TVs, each LG set comes with a remote in the box. You may expect a TV remote to be a pretty straightforward device, and a couple of decades ago, they generally were. However, today's remotes, like the ones LG produces for its TVs, are often loaded with so many options that they can leave even the most tech-savvy person feeling like they're solving a puzzle instead of controlling their television. Rather than try to figure out how to use the remote, you may be tempted to put it to the side and use the remote that came with your Roku or other streaming device you use to watch your favorite movies and TV shows.

But before you toss that LG remote aside, it's worth taking a closer look at, especially those four colored buttons near the bottom of it. While they may look like they serve no real purpose, they actually provide shortcuts to special functions in some menus and apps. You can't program these buttons, but in specific scenarios, you can use them to do things like go quickly to a menu on the home screen where you can perform an AV Reset by pressing the red button or use the green button to delete images in the Photo & Video app. Once you get the hang of how to use the colored buttons on your LG remote, you'll find they save you time and make interacting with your TV easier.

If you've found yourself scratching your head as you look at your LG remote, wondering exactly what the colored buttons do, you're not alone. LG doesn't provide much guidance on these buttons in the support document that comes with the remote. As with many of the hidden features you might not be using on your LG smart TV, these colored buttons are something the company seems to think users will figure out on their own.

Each one is designed to perform a specific action depending on what screen or app you're using. Tap the mute button three times to enable the colored button shortcuts on the TV's home screen. From the home screen, pressing the red button will open a settings menu where you can initiate an AV Reset; however, if you press that same button while accessing a webpage on your TV, it'll display the on-screen keypad so you can type. 

Pressing the remote's green button lets you auto-tune your TV from the home screen, while if you're using an app like the Photo & Video app, it'll allow you to select items for deletion. If you're on your TV's home screen, you can press the yellow button to turn on the set-top box and put the TV in select mode when using other apps. Finally, pressing the blue button while on the home screen lets you use LG remote service, which will allow LG technicians to connect to your TV if it needs to be serviced. The blue button can also be used to bring up the picture-in-picture when visiting a website.