How to Change the Input on a Vizio TV

Jessie Richardson Read more February 17, 2020

Your Vizio TV has numerous physical inputs. There are inputs for signals that come from your satellite TV or cable TV. You may also plug in your game consoles, DVD players, Blu-ray players, external hard drives, and you may even plug in cords that link your TV to your desktop computer’s display.

However, you are likely to have more than one device plugged into your TV at any one time, so you’ll have to learn how to skip between them. This article explains how you change your input from one to another with your remote, and with the buttons on the side of your TV.

How to Change the Input with Vizio Remote Control

To change the input on the Vizio TV, you need to use the Vizio remote control. Start by pressing the input button, which you’ll typically find at the top of the remote. It’s the same on big-buttoned remotes for seniors.

On the Vizio-only remotes, the input button is on the very top left and is rather small when compared with the universal model for seniors. Press the input button and wait for the input menu to appear.

Using the Remote with the Input Menu

When the Input menu opens, you can use the up and down arrows on the remote to choose the input you would like to use. Press the OK button to confirm your pick. If your screen is not showing a picture, then clicking on the “TV” input may switch to whatever means you pick up your TV shows, such as via satellite or cable.

The Names of Your Inputs

Your other inputs will have names as determined by the programming the Vizio TV has installed. If you have a DVD player connected to your TV, then it will display a DVD. On the other hand, if you have something like a PlayStation or Xbox connected to your TV, then it probably will not show up as a named input. Instead, it will show up as the input source it connects to.

For example, if you have a USB hard drive connected to your TV, and you plugged it in USB port 2, then the input menu will show your hard drive as the name you gave your hard drive (if you ever named it), or it will show it as USB port 2.

Similar is true when adding game consoles. Let’s say you plugged your games console to HDMI port 1. When you use your input menu, it will not name your games console, but will instead say, “HDMI Port 1.” Plus, in many circumstances, if you turn on your console before you turn on your TV, then the TV will auto-select HDMI port 1 and show you your games console screen as soon as your TV comes on.

How to Change the Input Without the Vizio Remote

If your remote gets broken or lost, you can always change the input manually. You can do this with the buttons on the TV. In most cases, the required buttons are located on the side of the TV.

Clicking on the Menu button will take you to the OSD screen. To move left and right on the screen, you will need to use the volume buttons.

To go up and down in the OSD menu, you have to use the channel buttons on the TV. You may then choose your input on the on-screen menu. If this is too inconvenient, you could buy the same model’s remote control, or buy a universal remote. There is no activation button. You skip over to the required inputs, and then the input changes. After this, you press the Menu button again to remove the menu screen display from your TV screen.

It Is Easier with a Remote

Vizio knows that sometimes your remote gets lost, or the batteries run flat. Also, sometimes it is just more convenient to press a button while you are near the TV than having to run around looking for the remote. Nevertheless, it is far easier to change the input using the remote because it has the arrow buttons that allow you to skip through the menus with ease.

Have you had trouble with your Vizio TV inputs? Have you found another way to change them? Let us know in the comments.