If your Apple TV has suddenly become unresponsive, refuses to work, or incessantly blinks without any sign of functionality, you’re not alone in facing these frustrating issues.
In this article, I have listed various solutions to address issues such as unresponsiveness, malfunctioning, or persistent blinking lights, helping you navigate through the troubleshooting process to revive your Apple TV and get back to enjoying seamless streaming and entertainment.
How Apple TV works in normal conditions
Apple TV is an HDMI-compliant streaming media player. It can stream various TV shows, movies and other media to HD TV via HDMI cable. Its software is optimized to work with real-world conditions without any troubles.
In normal conditions, the Apple TV light glows when turning on the device. It will stay glowing while the device is running. When receiving signals from the remote, the Apple TV light blinks.
Firmware updates or some hardware/software issue can make the light keep on blinking as a sign of the mishap. Sometimes the Apple TV may stop responding to remote. There are multiple reasons why your Apple TV may keep on blinking or stop responding.
Step-by-step instructions to fix Apple TV Not working or Blinking
Restart your Apple TV device.
When using the streaming devices, we do not turn them off very often. Most of the time, they stay ON from days to weeks without a reboot. This extended on-time along with, changing weather & temperature and circuit heating can cause the device to malfunction temporarily. Most of these issues can be fixed by restarting the device.
To restart,
- Unplug the Apple TV from power socket.
- Wait for all the lights to go off.
- Wait for 10 – 20 seconds and plug it back.
- Alternatively, you can also restart it using the built-in feature. Just use the grey Settings icon, then choose System/General(based on version) and then select “Restart”. It will restart your Apple TV.
Restarting your Apple TV, the operating system will reboot and check for any errors and automatically fix any possible issues.
After the above steps, if restarting the Apple TV brings the Home screen, you should wait 2-3 minutes before using the Apple TV otherwise it may start re-blinking.
Restarting the Apple TV will fix the problem in more than 50 percent cases.
Check your HDMI cable and HDMI receiver port.
If rebooting the device does not solve the issue, there could be a connection issue. The bad HDMI cable connection may cause the issue. To check, unplug both ends of the cable. Clean the HDMI cable and socket terminal with some pressured Air or IPA. Carefully re-plug the cables and make sure the contacts are not loose.
If there are more than one HDMI Inputs or Source on your TV; make sure you have selected the correct one. Usually, the source port number is written under the socket in most TVs. You can also try with switching to other available HDMI ports manually.
If you are using some sort of HDMI switch or HDMI recording dongle in between the TV and your Apple TV, try removing it to check if it is causing the problem.
If your TV has multiple input HDMI or other Apple TV supported ports, give them a try. If the issue is related to the specific port, it will resolve the problem.
It is always recommended to have an extra pair of HDMI cable in your home, Just try using a new wire to check if your HDMI cable is working or not.
Apple TV Flashes White for three times Or Apple TV blinks but does nothing.
When blinking, you should check if your Apple TV is blinking with white light exactly three times whether it is on or off.
This happens when you connect more than one remote control to your device. The device gets confused if there are multiple TVs in the same place.
To fix the problem, disconnect one of the remote controls from your television to solve this problem.
To unpair the remote control follow the below steps:
- Hold the remote pointing towards the device
- Press the “back” and “menu” buttons at the same time
- Keep them pressing for at least 6-7 seconds, and an icon with a broken chain will be displayed, indicating the unpairing process.
Reconnect another Remote to your TV by:
- Hold the remote pointing towards the device
- Press the “right” and “menu” buttons at the same time
- Keep them pressing for at least 6-7 seconds, and an icon with the chain link will be displayed, indicating the pairing process.
Improper Resolution may cause the blinking
Older versions of TVs do not support many HD and UHD resolutions like 2K,4K or 8K. It is possible that the HD resolution generated by your Apple TV is not supported by your older version TV. So, It does not show anything on the screen. Hence, changing the Apple TV resolution may fix this issue for you.
Tip: To change Apple TV resolution without connecting to other TV or device follow this trick
As you cannot view the screen, there is a handy manual trick that can help you reset the resolution.
Grab your Apple TV remote and just hold the Menu and Volume Down buttons together for approximately 5 seconds and then release them. If done properly, it will make your Apple TV automatically change the resolution one by one. It will keep on changing resolutions and display on the screen one by one switching every 20 seconds. When you feel like the correct resolution, press OK on your remote to set it to default.
Update Firmware and Restore Apple TV to default factory settings.
If rebooting, fixing wires and resetting resolution do not fix your Apple TV blinking problem, you should try to reset your device to factory settings. It will override any misconfiguration and set it to the configuration of the newly purchased device’s settings.
To restore your Apple TV to factory settings follow the given steps:
- Turn off your Apple TV.
- Use a micro-USB cable and connect your Apple TV to your Computer or Laptop with iTunes installed.
- iTunes will automatically detect the Apple TV connection and start.
- Click on the “Restore Apple TV” button
- Click on “Restore and Update”
- iTunes will automatically download the latest available firmware and install it on your Apple TV. (Your Apple TV may keep on blinking during the whole update process)
- Disconnect Apple TV from your PC and re-connect with your TV
Following the above steps will update your Apple TV firmware to the latest version and reset it to the factory version.
Visit the nearest Apple Service Center
If none of the above works and you still have warranty left, Apple will fix it for free. If it’s no longer covered by warranty, you might have to pay to get it fixed at a service center.
Conclusion
There’s not much we can do to fix our Apple TV blinking issue, but it usually works for us.
Just follow these steps to fix any simple issues with misconfiguration, cables, or software bugs.
If it’s still not working and there are problems like no picture or sound; visit Apple service center to get it repaired.
Quick Troubleshooting tips for small issues
Firstly always try changing your HDMI port, blow clean the port and wire connector before plugging it.
If you have trouble connecting your Apple TV to your PC/Laptop, try changing the Micro-USB or USB-C cable. Always have a handy extra pair of wires like HDMI cables, USB-C cables and micro-USB cables. Someone universally used them with multiple devices, from computers, TVs to streaming devices.
If you have an HDMI switch or receiver, check it first. It is most likely the culprit.
If possible, always connect your Apple TV directly to your television with any switch or receiver in between. In case you need to do so, first, plug in your Apple TV and check it is working. One by one add other devices ensuring that they are not interfering with the Apple TV streaming.
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