Look, Mom! No Battery Door!

Picture of Apple TV Remote asking to be charged and Charging cable

Recently I was asked to look at an Apple TV remote that was no longer responding. My technical troubleshooting instincts immediately kicked in. I wondered if the device had power and if it was connected. The remote doesn’t have a battery door, and I could see how someone who only uses an Apple TV occasionally could overlook checking to see if the remote was charged. The remote was not charged, and it was an easy fix.

I wrote this post for two reasons. I wanted to educate those who occasionally use Apple TV remotes (or Apple’s newer wireless keyboards and mice) that your remote/wireless device most likely charges with a lightning cable plugged into a power source. I also wanted to remind everyone that checking for power and whether the other wires are connected is a good place to start when troubleshooting an issue.

As a bonus, if you have an Apple TV and want to check your remote’s battery status, on your Apple TV, go to Settings -> Remotes and Devices -> Remote. On the following screen, you will see the battery level percentage. If your remote doesn’t work, charge it first to see if that helps before attempting to re-pair it to your Apple TV.

Ensuring a device has power and is connected solves 90 percent of the technical issues I see. How many times have you solved a similar problem by ensuring there was power and all wires were connected? Please share in the comments below.

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