Universal remote controls became more necessary as our home theaters have been invaded by new electronic gizmos each year. Not so long ago, we simply had a television in the room. Then a box from the cable companyx was added. Next came the VCR to record all those shows. Then DVD players came on the scene, followed by Tivo and DVRs. You get the point. You probably have three or more devices—and their remotes—sitting in your living space. That’s why universal remotes are so appealing. If you can use one remote to operate all your home electronics, you can ease back on the clutter. Not to mention eliminating the 5 minute crash course you have to give house guests regarding how to switch on the TV if you are not around!

In case you are curious, universal remotes work by storing and sending the unique code that each of your devices use to communicate to their own remotes. It’s like a universal translator that speaks Sony, Samsung, or Sylvania.

But configuring a universal remote is commonly more work than it should be. And often one of the devices in your home theater is probably from a company not included in the list that came with your universal remote. To make this simpler (and to have a quick reference to send to your pals who come to you for tech support), here’s a simple step-by-step guide for finding universal remote control codes and ultimately programming your universal remote! You may check online for a video tutorial on how to program a universal remote.

  1. Pick the device you would like to program. In this simple demonstration, we’ll use a television set.
  2. Ensure your device is powered off.
  3. Press the button on your universal remote corresponding to the device you want to program (like your television set).
  4. Next press the POWER button on your universal remote.
  5. If the TV comes on, then the universal remote already has the proper codes loaded. Repeat these steps for your DVD player, your DVR, and anything else you want to control from your universal remote. If the television set does not come on, then continue with this process.
  6. Look for the maker of your device in the reference guide that came with the universal remote. Once you find the manufacturer (in this example Samsung), then you will see a code, maybe a list of possible codes. These will be 3 or 4 digit numbers. In the case of Samsung, you could see the following codes: 0060, 0702, 0030, 0178, 0019, 0056, 0766.
  7. If you are unable to find your manufacturer listed in the product manual for your universal remote, there are many online resources that list a lot of codes. For instance the guide at http://universal-remote-control-codes.com lists multiple manufactures, many with several different remote code options you can try if the first one fails to work.
  8. Press and hold the PROGRAM button on your universal remote. There will typically be a light on the remote which may flash, indicating you are in “program” mode. Press the button corresponding to the device you are setting up (the television button in this example) and then type in the code.
  9. Now press the POWER button on your remote and see whether the television set turns on. If it doesn’t turn on, try entering the next possible code listed for your manufacturer.

A word about 3 and 4 digit universal remote codes: It can be rather puzzling trying to choose between 3 and 4 digital universal remote codes. Most of the time the 4 digit codes are more common. But if your code is like this one for a Sylvania television set (0054) and you think the television is searching for a 3 digit code, you can try dropping the number one 0 and just entering 054 for your television set universal remote code. Alternatively, if you have a code of 054 for your television but you think it’s requiring for a 4 digit code, you can try adding a zero to the front making it 0054 for your code. Often you need to experiment a bit to get it to work.

Good luck setting up your universal remote codes. It can be a bit of an adventure getting it all working the first time, but once it is set up you’ll really enjoy just using one remote to control everything in your home theater. Enjoy your new remote!

Eric Jones is a tech writer who takes difficult technology subjects like how to program universal remote control codes and makes them easy. QUICK LOOK: a roundup of the best universal remote reviews.

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