Firestick remote buttons: use, instructions and shortcut keys

The Fire TV Stick remote has several buttons that help navigate and control the Fire TV experience. The remote layout varies slightly depending on the model of the Fire TV Stick remote, and the common buttons on the Fire TV Stick remotes are the power button, home button, navigation circle button, back button, menu button, play/pause button, fast forward/rewind buttons, volume control buttons, alexa voice button, settings button, mute button and channel / skip buttons (in some models).

The primary use of the Fire TV Stick buttons is to control and navigate through the Fire TV device in an efficient way to control the Fire TV Stick experience.

The Fire TV Stick remote also includes several useful shortcut keys that allow quick access to features or perform specific actions, including reset, restore, or unpair without navigating through menus.

How many buttons are there on the Fire TV Stick remote?

There are eighteen buttons on the new Firestick remote, out of which four are app buttons that open a particular App directly on the Firestick device. Amazon has made some changes to its new Alexa-enabled remote that you get with the latest Fire TV Stick 4K device. The older remotes of the 1st and 2nd generation Fire TV Stick had only a few buttons. The new Fire TV Stick remote has some new buttons that include power, volume, and mute, which were missing in the old Firestick remote.

The Fire TV Stick remote buttons are listed below.

• Power button
• Alexa button
• Navigation buttons
• Select button
• Back button
• Home button
• Menu button
• Rewind button
• Fast-forward button
• Play/Pause button
• Volume Controllers (+ and – button)
• Mute button (speaker with x)
• Television or guide button
• Application buttons

1. Power button

The power button on the Firestick remote (as shown in the above picture) is located on the remote’s top left corner and is used to turn off the TV when the HDMI-CEC option on the TV is enabled. The Fire TV Stick remote power button doesn’t turn the TV on or off, if HDMI-CEC is missing.

2. Blue or alexa button

The blue button on Firestick remote, also called the Alexa button, activates Alexa. The blue button on Firestick remote is pressed and held to give commands to Alexa to open a particular app, search an app, rewind or forward a movie/show, and many more.

The older Firestick remotes had the microphone button, but in the new Firestick remotes, a blue button is placed in place of the microphone button for voice search. The pressing and holding of the microphone button on the old Fire TV Stick remote starts voice search.

The examples of how Alexa is used on the Fire TV remote are listed below.

• Alexa, play movie [movie name]
• Alexa, pause the video.
• Alexa, forward/rewind the video or movie to [X] minutes.
• Alexa, play the next episode.
• Alexa, show me movies of [actor name].
• Alexa, open [app name].

Alexa also answers helpful questions apart from controlling the TV and shows, for instance, what’s the weather like today, where is my order, and other sorts of questions.

3. Navigation buttons

The navigation buttons on the Firestick remote allow interaction with the Fire TV Stick interface. Typically, these are four directional arrows (up, down, left, and right) arranged in a plus-sign shape, along with a central Select button (often labeled as the “OK” button). The navigational buttons allow moving through menus, selecting apps, scrolling through content, and performing other actions.

The navigational buttons are available on both old and new Firestick remotes. The navigation buttons, up and down directional keys, help scrolling through the page up and down while using a web browser. The left and right navigational buttons forward and rewind playing video or music, and long-pressing the buttons fast forward and rewind.

4. Circle or ring button (Select button)

The circle or ring button, also known as the Select button, is often found in the center of the Fire TV Stick remote and is a part of a directional pad. The Select button on the Firestick remote selects Menu or opens App, and also plays or pauses already playing media.

The circle/select button allows you to select what you want to watch or interact with.

5. Back button

The Back button on the Fire TV Stick remote is used to navigate backward in the interface. The back button also serves several purposes, including exiting screens and menus, closing or dismissing pop-ups, returning to the home screen, and canceling actions, which are listed below.

• Exit screens or menus: Pressing the Back button takes you to the previous screen when you are deep within a menu or app. For example, if you’re in the settings or browsing a specific category within an app, pressing the back button brings you back to the previous page or home screen.
• Close or dismiss pop-ups: Pressing the Back button dismisses or closes a pop-up, or a menu appears on screen.
• Return to home screen: If you press the Back button enough times, it will eventually bring you back to the Fire TV home screen.
• Cancel actions: If you’re in the middle of an action (such as starting a stream or entering settings), pressing the Back button will often cancel that action.

Generally speaking, the Back button helps navigate away from a screen without having to go all the way to the home button or menu.

6. Home button

The Home button on the Fire TV Stick remote quickly brings you to the main home screen of the Fire TV Stick and is one of the key buttons on the remote, serving a few important functions. The important functions that the Firestick remote’s home button performs are listed below.

• Return to the home screen: Pressing the Home button at any time takes you directly to the Fire TV’s main home screen, where you have access to apps, content recommendations, and settings.
• Exit apps or menus: Pressing the Home button exits the current screen and brings you back to the Fire TV home screen when you’re inside an app or deep within a menu.
• Navigate to recently used apps: Pressing and holding the Home button for a few seconds shows a list of recently used apps, allowing a quick switch between apps without needing to navigate through the menus.

Overall, the Home button acts as a shortcut to the Fire TV Stick’s main interface, making it easy to jump back to the home screen whenever needed.

7. Three-bar or menu button

The Menu button, also known as the Hamburger or 3-Horizontal line button, located on the right side just below the navigation button (see the above picture for reference), comes in handy while opening the Application menu or uninstalling apps quickly and directly from the Home Screen.

Pressing the Menu or three-bar button also displays setting options like audio, subtitles, watch from the beginning, and next while watching a movie or a show. This button also provides access to watch a movie trailer of the highlighted movie on the home screen or to add it to the watch list. The important functions of the menu button are listed below.

• Open the side menu: Pressing the three-bar button opens a side menu or options menu, depending on where you are in the Fire TV Stick interface, providing quick access to various settings and features specific to the screen or app you are currently on.
• Access app settings: Pressing the Menu button opens specific settings and options related to the app including playback controls, account settings, and other in-app functions when you are inside an app.
• Provide access to additional options: The menu button also provides access to additional options and actions, depending on the context. For instance, while browsing content or during playback, the menu button allows you to pause, resume, and access more details about the content.

Generally speaking, the three-bar or menu button is essentially a shortcut for accessing additional options and settings across the Fire TV Stick interface.

8. Two back arrows or rewind button

The two black arrow button, also called the rewind button, is used to rewind videos and is located on the left side of the second row under the navigation keys. When you press this button once, the playing video rewinds for 10 seconds, but when the button is long-pressed, the video rewinds faster. The rewinding speed increases to 3x or 4x when the button is pressed 1 time or 2 times while rewinding. The buttons rewind any movie or show playing on apps, including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, etc.

9. Two forward arrows or fast-forward button

The two forward arrows, or fast-forward button on the Fire TV Stick remote, is used to skip forward or fast-forward through content. The fast-forward button works the same as the rewind button while it fast-forwards a video or audio content in place of rewinding. Pressing the fast-forward button once fast forwards a video by 10 seconds, long pressing fast forwards at 1x speed, pressing one more at 1x speed takes it to 2x, and so on.

This button is used to fast-forward content while watching movies or shows on streaming platforms like Netflix, Prime, and Hulu, and media players such as VLC, MX Player, and others.

10. Play and pause button

The Play/Pause button on the Fire TV Stick remote is used to control the playback of content, has a triangle icon (►) for play, and two vertical bars (||) for pause. The play/pause button controls media playback while watching shows, movies, or listening to music on the Fire TV Stick.

• Play: Pressing the Play button starts or resumes playback from where you left off while watching a video, listening to music, or streaming content.
• Pause: Pressing the Pause button (or pressing the Play button when it’s already playing) pauses the playback, allowing you to take a break and resume later.

11. Volume Controllers (+ and – Button)

The Volume Controller buttons (+ and -) on the Fire TV Stick remote control the volume of the TV and external speakers. Simply speaking, the Volume (+ and -) buttons let you adjust the audio level directly from the Fire TV remote.

• Volume Up (+): Pressing the + button to increase the volume of the TV or connected audio system and continue pressing it to gradually raise the volume.
• Volume Down (-): Pressing the – button decreases the volume and allows lowering the sound to a comfortable level.

The volume control buttons work when the Fire TV Stick remote is set up to control the TV’s volume, usually through HDMI-CEC or via IR (infrared). These buttons are available on the latest Alexa-enabled 3rd Generation remotes, which Amazon provides with new Fire TV models and Fire TV Stick 4 K.

If the TV or soundbar doesn’t respond, you have to enable volume control settings in the Fire TV Stick settings menu, which is a part of the setup for controlling the TV volume via the remote.

12. Mute button (speaker with x)

The Mute button on the Fire TV Stick remote is represented by a speaker icon with an “X” silences the audio of the TV or audio system. The Mute button also allows quick toggling of the sound on and off.

• Mute Audio: Pressing the Mute button immediately turns off the sound, allowing you to temporarily silence the audio, and is useful when you have to mute the TV quickly.
• Unmute Audio: Pressing the Mute button again restores the volume to its previous level, allowing the sound to resume.

The mute button was missing on the older Fire TV remotes, but now it is available on the new Fire TV Stick remote.

13. Television or guide button

The Television or Guide button on the Fire TV Stick remote is used to access the live TV guide or channel listings when you’re using a live TV service or app that supports it (such as Amazon’s Prime Video with live TV, or through services like Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, etc.). The use of the TV or guide button is listed below.

• Access live TV guide: When you’re subscribed to a live TV service, pressing the Guide button will open up a TV guide or a list of available live TV channels and programs, similar to the traditional cable or satellite guide. This lets you browse through current or upcoming live shows and channels.

Pressing this TV or guide button doesn’t lead anywhere when you’re not subscribed to a live TV service on your Fire TV Stick, but it’s useful when you are using a service that supports live TV or guide features.

14. Application buttons

The Application buttons on a Fire TV Stick remote are dedicated buttons designed to provide quick access to specific streaming apps such as Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, etc., allowing instant launch of favorite apps without navigating through the Fire TV interface.

The Application buttons are designed to save time and provide one-touch access to popular streaming services, making it easier to launch apps without having to search for them each time.

What are the FireStick remote shortcut keys?

The Fire TV Stick remote shortcut keys allow you to quickly perform various functions directly without navigating through menus, including resetting the Fire TV Stick, restoring to factory settings, and unpairing the remote.

The important and useful Firestick remote shortcut keys are given below.

1. Right navigation and back buttons

Pressing the Right navigation key + Back button restores the Fire TV Stick to factory settings. This shortcut to restoring the device to factory settings is useful when the Fire TV becomes unresponsive or freezes, and you are not able to navigate to settings.

Restoring Fire TV Stick to factory settings removes everything, including preferred settings, downloaded apps, saved files, and even the Amazon account from the device.

2. Left Navigation key, menu, and back buttons

Pressing the Left Navigation Key + Menu + Back buttons simultaneously resets the Firestick remote. This shortcut key is useful when you are having issues with the remote and the TV connection.

3. Back, home, and menu buttons

Pressing the Back + Home + Menu buttons simultaneously and holding them unpairs the Fire TV Stick remote from the device. This remote shortcut is useful to use while pairing a new remote and unpairing the previously paired Fire TV remote.

What should you do if you can’t pair your Fire TV remote?

If you can’t pair your Fire TV remote, restart your Fire TV Stick from the Settings menu. Once the Fire TV device starts and you are on the Home Screen, press and hold the Home button for 10 seconds to pair your remote with the Fire TV. You also have the option to use the Fire TV App to pair the remote with the device.

Can I change the buttons’ functions on the Fire Stick remote?

No, you can’t customize buttons on your Fire TV Stick. In the past, it was easy for users to remap buttons on the Firestick by using remapper apps to open the App of their choice, which was blocked in early 2023.

A news article titled ‘Amazon just killed this hack to remap shortcut buttons on Fire TV remotes‘ was published on Android Police, which clearly conveys that Amazon blocked the Remapper app.

Now, the Fire TV owners directly use Alexa Voice Remote Pro to launch any app using the voice of their choice, customization is not required.

Can I use my smartphone as a Fire TV Stick remote?

Yes, you can use your smartphone as a remote for your Fire TV Stick. Amazon provides a Fire TV Remote app that allows users to control their Fire TV Stick using their phone. The steps to use your phone as a Fire TV Stick remote are given below.

• Pair your phone with the device.
• Download the Fire TV App.
• Connect your phone to the same Wi-Fi network.
• Launch the Fire TV app.

What do the different lights on the Firestick remote mean?

The different lights on the Firestick remote mean different things. For example, the Red (slow blinking) indicates a low battery, the Red (fast blinking) indicates a remote issue, and the Orange light indicates that the remote isn’t paired with the Fire TV Stick.