How to turn on a VIZIO TV without the remote

VIZIO is the brand people most often assume has no physical button at all, because it's rarely on the front, the bottom or anywhere you'd feel for it first.

Where VIZIO puts the button

• On the <strong>back of the panel, lower left</strong> as you face the screen — this is the usual spot, and the button is flush and unmarked.
• On the left edge, behind the bezel, on some V-Series and M-Series sets.
• Bottom-right underneath, on a few of the larger Quantum models.

Hold it for a couple of seconds to switch on. On sets with a cluster of buttons rather than one, power is at the end of the row and the others cycle input and volume.

SmartCast wants a PIN — and that matters here

This is the one thing worth knowing before you lose the remote. VIZIO's SmartCast doesn't let a new device in quietly: it shows a four-digit PIN on the TV screen that the app has to send back. Once that's done the TV issues a reusable token and never asks again.

So the sequence matters. Pair your phone while you can still read the screen and navigate — it takes twenty seconds — and the phone becomes a full replacement. Try it for the first time with no remote and you'll still be able to read the PIN, but you'll want the TV already on the right screen.

LazyBinger handles the PIN exchange and stores the token, so it's a one-time step.

Frequently asked

Where is the power button on a VIZIO TV? Almost always on the back, lower left as you face the screen. It is unmarked and flush, so feel rather than look.

Can I control a VIZIO without the remote? Yes, over Wi-Fi, after the one-time PIN pairing. There's no IR involved, so line of sight doesn't matter.

Does it work if the TV is on a different Wi-Fi band? Only if your router bridges them. A TV on 5 GHz and a phone on a guest network won't see each other — that's the single most common reason a VIZIO doesn't appear.

More: VIZIO remote not working and when no devices are found.