LG TV volume not working? It is probably SIMPLINK.

The usual suspects, in order: SIMPLINK (LG's HDMI-CEC) misbehaving with a soundbar; the soundbar wired by optical, which carries audio but no volume-control channel; Auto Volume or AI Sound adjusting loudness on their own; or a dead remote. Phone volume over Wi-Fi bypasses every one of these, which also isolates the fault in seconds.

Nothing on the TV. The app reaches the set over the network (WebSocket, port 3001), while the remote's volume goes through IR and, with a soundbar, through SIMPLINK. A working network path with a dead remote path points at the remote or the CEC chain — re-pair the Magic Remote, toggle SIMPLINK, or update the soundbar firmware.

Because optical physically cannot: TOSLINK carries the audio signal one way and has no control back-channel. Volume over optical must be changed on the soundbar itself. To control soundbar volume from the TV remote, connect the soundbar via the HDMI ARC port with SIMPLINK enabled instead.

PCM. When an external audio device makes volume behave erratically, setting Settings → Sound → Digital Sound Out to PCM removes the format negotiation that often causes it. It is the standard first move before deeper troubleshooting.

Yes. Volume, mute, channels, D-pad and OK are free forever on LG TVs — the one-time 8-digit PIN pairing is the whole setup. Premium adds power, keyboard, touchpad and app shortcuts; a volume problem needs none of them.

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.