Why the Light on Your Apple TV Is Blinking & How to Fix It

Why the Light on Your Apple TV is Blinking

There are two potential causes of a blinking white LED on your Apple TV: Your Apple TV remote may be malfunctioning and sending repeated signals to your Apple TV, preventing it from working correctly. Your Apple TV could be experiencing a software or hardware issue that prevents it from starting up, possibly due to a power surge or loss, an update gone wrong, or other failure.

Move the Apple TV Remote Away from the TV

A glitching remote can cause the blinking white light on your Apple TV. To find out if this is the case for you, take your Apple TV remote into a different room, far away from the Apple TV. The goal is to make sure your remote cannot make contact with the Apple TV. You'll also want to be far away from all Apple TVs in your house, because if the remote is the culprit, it will cause the same symptoms in a different Apple TV. Leave the remote in the other room and check on your Apple TV. If the light on your Apple TV stops flashing: The problem is the remote, and you will need to replace it. For now, use your iPhone or iPad's built-in Apple TV remote to control your Apple TV, and don't bring the remote close to the Apple TV again. If the Apple TV is still under warranty, you should be able to get a free replacement from Apple. Some people have had success resetting the remote, but it's tricky—you'll need to be somewhat near the Apple TV to reset the remote, but block enough of the signal to prevent the Apple TV from freaking out again. To try it, take the remote back into the room with the Apple TV, but don't aim it at the TV. Instead, press the front of the remote against your body to block the signal, and press and hold the TV and Volume Down buttons at the same time for about 10 seconds. If you see "Remote Disconnected" on the TV, try pairing the remote again to see if you’ve fixed the problem. Otherwise, put the remote into a drawer in another room and get a replacement. If the light is still blinking: The remote is not the problem. Continue to cold-restarting your Apple TV.

Cold Restart Your Apple TV

Press and hold the TV and < buttons on the remote. Or, if your Apple TV remote has a MENU button, press and hold that button instead. Continue holding the button(s) down until the status light on the remote blinks quickly.

Unplug your Apple TV. Disconnect the Apple TV from power and wait about a minute.

Plug your Apple TV back in. Once you reconnect your Apple TV to power, wait a few minutes for it to boot up. Hopefully, this cold restart will force your Apple TV to boot normally and stop that annoying flashing LED.

Restore Your Apple TV

Connect your Apple TV to your PC or Mac. If you are using macOS Catalina or later, you can use Finder to restore your Apple TV. If you have macOS Mojave or earlier, or are using a Windows PC, you'll use iTunes. Unplug the HDMI cable (the one connecting the Apple TV to your TV) from the Apple TV. Connect a USB-C cable (Apple TV HD models) or Micro-USB cable (3rd Generation) to the port on the back of your Apple TV. Connect the other end of the cable to your PC or Mac's USB port. If you have a 3rd generation Apple TV, plug the power cord into a power source to provide power.

Open Finder (Mac) or iTunes (Windows). Click the Finder icon on your Mac's dock, or launch iTunes

Select your device. If you're using a Mac, you should see your Apple TV under "Locations" in the left panel. On a PC, click the device icon at the top. If your Apple TV doesn't show up, make sure it is connected to a power source (3rd generation) and that all cables are secured properly. Make sure your USB-C or Micro-USB cable supports data transfer—not all of them do, especially if they came with other devices.

Click the Restore Apple TV button and follow the on-screen instructions. This will restore your Apple TV to its original factory settings. It may take several minutes for the restore to complete. Once your Apple TV is restored, the blinking light should go away, and you can get back to streaming your favorite movies and shows. If you see Restore Error 1603 or 1611, it's usually because your USB-C or Micro-USB cable doesn't support data transfer. Not all cables do, especially if they came with other accessories.

Get Help from Apple

If the light is still blinking, there's a deeper problem. The issue could be hardware or firmware-related, and you won't be able to fix those problems at home. Fortunately, you can take your Apple TV to an Apple Store or any Apple Authorized Service Provider to get your Apple TV working again. To find an Apple Store or Authorized Service Provider near you, visit https://locate.apple.com. You can also contact Apple at https://getsupport.apple.com.