How to turn on an LG TV without the remote

The LG Magic Remote is a lovely thing to lose down the side of a sofa. Here's how to switch the TV on without it, and how to make sure you never need to crawl under it again.

The joystick under the logo

Almost every modern LG — OLED, QNED, NanoCell — has a single joystick button on the underside of the panel, directly behind the LG logo at the bottom centre. Reach underneath from the front and you'll feel it.

• Press once: the TV switches on.
• Press and hold: it switches off.
• Push left and right: volume. Push up and down: channel or source, depending on the model.
• Press again while it's on: a small on-screen menu appears with power, input and settings.

Some wall-mounted OLEDs put the same control on a short stalk behind the lower edge rather than flush under the logo — same joystick, slightly further back.

Or switch it on from your iPhone

LG's webOS sets keep their Wi-Fi radio awake in standby if you let them, which means a Wake-on-LAN packet can boot them. In the TV's settings, open General → Devices → TV Management → Mobile TV On (older model years call it Quick Start+ or hide the switch under Network) and turn it on.

After that, LazyBinger tapping power sends the wake packet to the TV's MAC address, waits for webOS to come up, and reconnects — no remote in the loop.

Pairing an LG once

LG speaks a WebSocket protocol called SSAP. The first time an app connects, the TV puts a prompt on screen asking whether to allow it; you accept with the remote or the joystick, and the TV returns a reusable client key. From then on LazyBinger connects silently, including after a wake.

Frequently asked

Where is the power button on an LG TV? Underneath the panel, at the bottom centre, behind the LG logo — it's a joystick, not a button you can see from the front.

Can I use my iPhone as an LG Magic Remote? For everything that travels over the network, yes: D-pad, volume, playback, power, launching apps. The Magic Remote's air-pointer gesture is the one thing that stays with the physical remote.

The TV won't wake even with Mobile TV On enabled. Some LG sets only keep the network alive over Ethernet, not Wi-Fi. If yours is wired, try again; if it's wireless, the joystick is the fallback.

More: LG remote not working and controlling a TV with no remote at all.