LG Magic Remote Buttons Not Working? Fix AN-MR Issues on webOS

While pointing the remote at the TV, hold the Home button and the Back button simultaneously for 5 seconds until the LED at the top blinks three times. The Magic Remote will re-register its Bluetooth connection with webOS. If this fails, scroll to Settings → All Settings → General → Devices → External Devices → Bluetooth Remotes and Devices → Bluetooth Remote: Magic Remote, delete the existing pairing, then hold the Wheel button on the remote for 5 seconds to start a fresh pair.

The pointer function uses Bluetooth motion data while the confirm (OK/center) button on some AN-MR models transmits a separate Bluetooth HID keycode. If the pointer moves but OK fails, try registering the remote again via the Settings menu path above. Alternatively, a webOS firmware update may have introduced a Bluetooth HID regression — check Settings → All Settings → Support → Software Update and install any pending updates to resolve known Bluetooth issues.

Yes, and it's completely free. Our app connects over Wi-Fi using the same LG ThinQ LAN protocol that LG's own mobile app uses. You get full pointer simulation via your iPhone's gyroscope, all navigation buttons, Quick Settings access, input switching, and media playback controls. Multiple users report using the app permanently after their AN-MR remote hardware failed — avoiding the $30–$50 cost of an OEM replacement.

A single dead button on an AN-MR Magic Remote is almost always mechanical wear, not pairing — the wheel-click is the most-pressed switch on the remote and the first to fail on AN-MR18/19/20 units. Re-pairing (HOME + BACK for 5 seconds, then press the wheel) is still worth one try, but if the wheel stays dead, the switch itself is gone. The app route costs nothing while you decide: full webOS navigation from the iPhone, including everything the wheel-click did.

No — that combination means Bluetooth is alive (the pointer needs it) but webOS stopped accepting key events, usually after a firmware update or an HDMI-CEC conflict with a soundbar. Unplug the TV for 60 seconds, and if it persists, deregister and re-register the remote. CEC conflicts: try disconnecting HDMI devices one at a time. The iPhone app talks to webOS through a separate channel (port 3001), so it keeps working even while CEC misbehaves — a handy way to confirm the TV itself is fine.

LG ThinQ. LG retired the standalone LG TV Plus app in late 2023 and moved its remote features into ThinQ. ThinQ reaches the TV over local Wi-Fi using LG’s own protocol, so no infrared hardware is involved on either end.

LG puts a single joystick nub under the centre of the panel, directly below the logo, and on many sets it is recessed far enough that you locate it by touch rather than sight. A press powers the set; tilting moves through volume, channel, input and the power menu. Some models place it on the lower rear edge instead. The nub reaches basic navigation but not the full network menu on every model. ThinQ is LG’s intended path once the TV is on a network; Ethernet gets you through first-time setup when it is not.

LG’s pairing flow asks for either a PIN shown on the TV or the set’s Wi-Fi Direct password, which lives on the TV’s own device screen — a flow that has stayed broadly the same from webOS 2.0 through webOS 26. The usual reason nothing appears is a band mismatch: the TV on 2.4 GHz and the phone on 5 GHz of the same-named network, or mobile data quietly taking over. Put the phone on the 2.4 GHz band of the same network and switch mobile data off while pairing. If the app wants the Wi-Fi Direct password, read it from the TV’s own device or home dashboard screen.