How to Turn On a Bose Soundbar Without the Remote, Model by Model
Here’s how to turn on a Bose soundbar without the remote on most models: unplug the power cord and plug it back in, since Bose’s guides say the bar powers on when it gets power.
That beats hunting for a switch, because the smart soundbars have only a microphone button and a voice assistant button on top, and the Solo and TV Speaker guides put every control on the remote.
Once it’s on, you can set up a route that skips the plug trick, from the Bose app or your voice to the TV’s remote, auto-wake or a programmed remote.
The table below shows which of those six routes Bose documents for each bar, from the Smart Soundbar 300 to the Solo 5 and SoundTouch 300.
Find your model there, then set up the route that matches how your bar connects to the TV.
Is There a Power Button on a Bose Soundbar?
That hunt for a switch is where most owners get stuck. On most Bose soundbars the only power button is on the remote, and Bose’s help page for the Smart Soundbar says plainly that the bar itself has none.
Its two top buttons belong to the voice assistant: the left one turns the microphone off and on, and the right one wakes Alexa once it’s set up. The Smart Soundbar 700 and Soundbar 500 guides show the same pair on top, an Action button and a Microphone off button.
The Solo 5, Solo Soundbar Series II and TV Speaker guides describe only status lights on the bar, with every control on the remote. That also settles the common question about the Soundbar 700: its Power button sits on the Bose Soundbar Universal Remote that ships in its box.
The exception is the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar, which comes with no remote at all: its box holds the bar, a power cord and an HDMI cable. Its guide says a tap on the Bluetooth, Action or Play/Pause button on top wakes it from standby.
How to Turn On a Bose Soundbar Without the Remote: Which Way Fits Your Model?
Those missing buttons are why each Bose bar needs its own route. To turn on a Bose soundbar without the remote, find your model in this table and use the first route that fits your setup, since each cell lists only what that bar’s own guide or Bose help pages document:
| Bose model | Plugging it in turns it on | Phone or voice | TV or auto-wake | Another remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra, Smart Soundbar 600 | Yes | Bose app; Alexa or Google Assistant, even with the bar off | Optical auto-wake (hold Power 10 seconds, or the app); Roku TV remote (Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra) | Not in their guides |
| Smart Soundbar 700, Smart Soundbar 900 | Yes | Bose Music app; voice assistant, even with the bar off | Optical auto-wake (900: hold Power 10 seconds or the app; 700: the app) | Programmed third-party remote (700) |
| Soundbar 500 | Yes | Bose Music app; voice assistant, even with the bar off | Optical auto-wake, set in the app | Programmed third-party remote |
| Smart Soundbar 300 | Yes | Bose Music app; voice assistant, even with the bar off | Optical auto-wake (hold Power, or the app) | Programmed third-party remote |
| TV Speaker | Yes | A phone’s Bluetooth menu, if paired before | HDMI-CEC; auto-wake over optical or analog; Roku TV remote | Infrared universal remote; a TV remote taught volume and mute |
| Solo Soundbar Series II | Yes | Not in its guide | Auto-wake (optical or coaxial; no HDMI port) | Programmed third-party remote |
| Solo 5 | Not stated in its guide | Not in its guide | Auto-wake (optical or coaxial; no HDMI port) | Programmed third-party remote |
| SoundTouch 300 | Not stated in its guide | SoundTouch app | Most HDMI ARC links wake it by default; auto-wake for optical | Programmed third-party remote |
| Lifestyle Ultra | Yes | Bose app; voice assistant; its own top buttons | Turning on the TV with the TV remote; Roku TV remote | Ships without a remote |
Read “not in its guide” as a gap in Bose’s documents, not proof that a route fails; the smart soundbars’ HDMI link to the TV is the clearest case, covered in the TV section below. Bose’s help page for the TV Speaker (2nd Gen) lists the same HDMI-CEC, universal remote, remote-learning and auto-wake routes as the original TV Speaker.
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No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.How Do You Manually Turn On a Bose Soundbar?
That first column is the quickest fix tonight. To turn a Bose soundbar on by hand, unplug its power cord for a few seconds and plug it back in, because the guides for the Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra, 300, 600, 700, 900, Soundbar 500, TV Speaker, Solo Soundbar Series II and Lifestyle Ultra all say the bar powers on automatically when it’s plugged in.
You’ll know it worked when the bar answers back. The Solo Soundbar Series II and TV Speaker play a tone, the Lifestyle Ultra’s status light slowly pulses white, and a smart soundbar that was never set up glows solid amber, a setup state that this model-by-model light table explains alongside every other amber signal.
The bar then picks its source by itself. The Smart Soundbar and 600 default to the TV source, while the 900, Soundbar 500, 300, Solo Soundbar Series II and TV Speaker return to the last source you used.
The catch is that the trick doesn’t last: the smart soundbars drop into network standby after 20 minutes without audio or a button press, and the Solo Soundbar Series II switches off after 60 minutes of inactivity. Treat the plug as tonight’s fix, and use the sections below for one that lasts.
The Solo 5 and SoundTouch 300 guides don’t say whether those bars power on when plugged in. On those two, the remote-free routes below matter even more.
Can Your Phone Turn On a Bose Soundbar?
Pulling the plug every evening gets old fast, and on the smart soundbars your phone is the easier switch. Yes, on the bars that use the Bose app: Bose’s Smart Soundbar help page says to tap the Power button in the app, and if it isn’t showing, to tap the product control icon in the lower-left corner first.
If you own more than one Bose product, tap the My Bose icon in the upper-left corner and pick the soundbar. Bose’s guides set these bars up in the Bose app, which then controls the bar from a phone on the same Wi-Fi network, as the Lifestyle Ultra’s guide puts it.
A smart soundbar in network standby also wakes when you play or resume audio from your phone or the Bose app, which every smart soundbar guide lists. The 300, 700, 900 and Soundbar 500 guides call it the Bose Music app, and the SoundTouch 300 has its own SoundTouch app, which its guide says turns your phone into a remote for the bar.
The TV Speaker’s guide uses the Bose app only to link it with another Bose speaker or soundbar, but Bose’s TV Speaker auto-wake help page gives it a phone route anyway. Open the Bluetooth menu on a phone you’ve connected before, select your Bose TV Speaker, and the speaker powers on, even with auto-wake off.
A phone that has never connected needs pairing first, and Bose’s guides for the TV Speaker and both Solo bars describe pairing only from the remote. Once the remote is back, its Bluetooth button does the pairing, and putting a Bose soundbar in pairing mode shows the press, the hold and the blue light for each model.
The Solo 5 and Solo Soundbar Series II guides also use the app only for linking to another Bose product, so on those bars the TV and remote routes further down are the ones to set up.
Can Alexa or Google Assistant Turn On a Bose Soundbar?
That same app setup opens a second hands-free route on the smart soundbars: the voice assistant. Yes, once Alexa or Google Assistant is set up in the app, because the Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra and 600 guides say you can still use your voice to control the bar when it’s powered off, and the 300, 700, 900 and Soundbar 500 guides say the same.
To bring the TV along too, Bose Voice4Video on the Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra, 300, 600, 700 and 900 lets you say “Alexa, turn on TV” to power up the TV and the soundbar together. You set it up in the app after Alexa, it works only with TVs, cable and satellite boxes, and the Smart Ultra’s guide adds that the bar must be connected by HDMI.
If Alexa doesn’t answer, look at the Microphone off light first. When it glows solid red the microphone is off and Alexa can’t hear you, so tap the Microphone off button on top to turn it back on.
How Do You Make a Bose Soundbar Turn On and Off With the TV?
Voice still means talking to the bar, while the TV route works without you doing anything at all. Over HDMI, turn on your TV’s HDMI-CEC setting, because Bose’s TV Speaker help pages say the TV’s CEC can turn the speaker on or off, and that remotes for CEC devices might control its volume, mute and power.
Bose’s guides describe that link on other bars too. The Lifestyle Ultra wakes when you power on the TV with the TV remote, the TV Speaker switches to its TV source whenever an HDMI-connected TV powers on, and the SoundTouch 300 guide says most HDMI ARC connections already switch the bar on with the TV.
The same CEC switch wakes other makers’ bars, and Burton Acoustix’s guide to making any soundbar turn on with the TV gives its name and menu on Samsung, LG, Sony, Vizio, Roku and Hisense TVs.
The smart soundbar guides don’t spell the power link out, but they point the same way. Their troubleshooting tables ask for CEC to be on whenever the bar sits on the TV’s HDMI eARC or ARC port, and the Smart Soundbar’s sends only optical users to auto-wake when the bar and the TV don’t switch on together.
Those tables also warn that your TV may call CEC something else. LG’s soundbar manual lists the names: LG SIMPLINK, Sony BRAVIA Sync/Link, Philips EasyLink and Samsung Anynet+, so on a Samsung TV the setting to look for is Anynet+.
If the bar isn’t on HDMI yet, our guide to setting up HDMI ARC for a soundbar shows which port to use and which settings to change. Bose’s steps for wiring each bar, over HDMI or optical, are in our guide to connecting a Bose soundbar to your TV.
The TV Speaker comes with an optical cable but no HDMI cable, which its guide lists as not provided, so a TV Speaker owner who wants CEC needs one. An eARC-rated cable such as the Silkland 8K HDMI ARC/eARC cable fills that gap.
Silkland 8K HDMI ARC/eARC cable
Roku TVs take it a step further. The Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra, TV Speaker and Lifestyle Ultra are Roku TV Ready, so after an HDMI setup on a Roku TV the Roku TV remote controls the bar, though Bose notes a bar may need a software update first and the feature isn’t available in every region.
The Roku side is covered in setting up a Roku remote for a soundbar. If your bar sits on optical instead, Burton Acoustix’s HDMI vs optical breakdown explains what you give up by staying there.
Which Bose Soundbars Have Auto-Wake?
CEC needs an HDMI cable, so bars on optical, including both Solo models, rely on auto-wake instead. Bose documents it for every bar in the first table except the Lifestyle Ultra, and you switch it on once, with the remote or, on the smart soundbars, in the Bose app under Settings, then Power, then Optical Auto-Wake.
Once it’s on, the bar powers up whenever a sound signal reaches it over that cable.
The Smart Soundbar owner’s guide limits it to the optical connection, and each model confirms the change its own way:
| Bose model | How to switch auto-wake on or off | What confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| Smart Soundbar, Smart Ultra, Smart Soundbar 600, Smart Soundbar 900 | Hold the remote’s Power button for 10 seconds, or use the app | A tone, then the light bar pulses white twice |
| Smart Soundbar 300 | Hold Power (5 seconds in its guide, 10 in Bose’s help page), or use the app | A tone and two white pulses |
| Smart Soundbar 700, Soundbar 500 | The Bose app, per Bose’s help pages (their guides have no auto-wake section) | The app’s toggle |
| TV Speaker | Hold Power for about five seconds | A tone and amber blinks; a rising tone means on, a falling tone off |
| Solo 5 | Hold Power for five seconds | A tone; a dim amber light while the bar is off |
| Solo Soundbar Series II | Hold Power for about five seconds | Three tones; the light flashes amber for on, red for off |
| SoundTouch 300 | Hold Power until the bar sounds a tone | A rising tone means on, a falling tone off |
Every remote hold needs the remote, so if yours is only misplaced, switch auto-wake on the day it turns up, and on a smart soundbar use the app now. The TV Speaker’s help page adds that over HDMI the TV’s CEC overrides the auto-wake setting, and its auto-wake listens to the optical or analog cable.
Auto-wake pairs well with the Solo bars’ own timers: both switch off after 60 minutes of inactivity, then wake again when the TV sends sound. A dim amber light on a Solo 5 or Solo Soundbar Series II while it’s off is that standby state, not a fault.
Can a TV Remote or Universal Remote Turn On a Bose Soundbar?
Auto-wake handles power, but a spare remote brings the volume back too. Yes, if it sends infrared: the Smart Soundbar 700 owner’s guide and the Soundbar 500, 300, Solo 5, Solo Soundbar Series II and SoundTouch 300 guides say a programmed third-party remote, such as a cable or satellite box remote, handles basic functions such as power on and off and volume, and most of them add that it must send infrared (IR) signals.
Radio-frequency remotes won’t work, Bose’s TV Speaker help page says, and not every universal remote controls every function. Nothing needs changing on the bar, say Bose’s help pages for the Solo Soundbar Series II, Soundbar 500 and Smart Soundbar 700, and the first two add that you follow the universal remote’s own instructions and try each code it lists for Bose.
On the 700, keep the far left and right ends of the bar clear, because Bose says that’s where its infrared sensors sit. The Solo Soundbar Series II and Soundbar 500 have one sensor on the front.
The TV Speaker can also learn your TV remote, but Bose lists only the volume and mute buttons, so pair it with auto-wake or CEC for switching on. You start from the Bose remote, which makes this a job for the day the remote turns up:
- On the Bose remote, press and hold the TV button until the speaker’s TV and Bluetooth lights blink three times, then glow white.
- Press Volume + on the Bose remote.
- On your TV remote, press and hold Volume up (2 seconds, the guide says) until the speaker plays a tone: the TV light blinks amber twice if it learned the button, red twice if it didn’t.
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 for Volume down, then for Mute.
If the lights never reach programming mode, Bose’s TV Speaker remote help page says a speaker bought around the middle of 2020 may need a firmware update first. After a few failed tries, it adds, the speaker can’t learn that particular remote.
If your TV runs through a Fire TV box, using a Fire TV remote with a soundbar covers the Fire TV side.
If you’d rather replace the remote, Bose’s help page lists its RC-PWS III universal remote, sold separately, as compatible with the Solo Soundbar Series II. Third-party copies also exist: OMAIC’s replacement remote for the Bose TV Speaker and Solo Soundbar Series II and Motiexic’s remote for the Bose Solo 5.
OMAIC’s replacement remote for the Bose TV Speaker and Solo Soundbar Series II
Why Won’t Your Bose Soundbar Turn On?
Every route so far assumes the bar is getting power, so if none of them wakes it, check the power path next. Bose’s Smart Soundbar help page starts there: make sure the cord is secure at both ends, that a wall switch isn’t turning the outlet off, and that the outlet powers a lamp, then plug the bar straight into the wall instead of a power strip or surge protector.
Then unplug the bar, along with any bass module or surround speakers, for 30 seconds and plug it firmly back in, as the smart soundbar and TV Speaker guides say. The SoundTouch 300 guide asks for 15 seconds and the Solo 5 guide for at least one minute.
Next, try each control on its own, as Bose suggests: the buttons on the bar, the remote and the Bose app. If one works and another doesn’t, the bar is getting power, which points to that one control rather than the bar.
Bose’s Solo Soundbar Series II help page adds two checks. Listen for a tone within a few seconds of reconnecting power, which shows power is reaching the bar, and look at the remote’s top edge through a phone camera while you press a button, since many cameras show the infrared flash your eyes can’t.
If nothing responds, Bose’s last step is a reset, which it compares to rebooting a smartphone. Our guide to resetting a Bose soundbar model by model covers the button combinations for each bar.
If the lights come on but there’s no sound, that’s a connection issue rather than a power one, and Burton Acoustix’s no-sound troubleshooter walks through it. If the bar misbehaves in other ways, this reset rundown covers clearing stuck settings.
A red light is a different message: the Solo 5 guide lists a red status light as a system error and says to call Bose customer service. If the bar has truly failed and a repair isn’t worth it, these three current Bose models are the like-for-like replacements.
The simplest is the Bose TV Speaker, the bar covered throughout this page.
Bose TV Speaker
The Bose Smart Dolby Atmos Soundbar has Alexa built in, per its listing, for the voice route described earlier.
Bose Smart Dolby Atmos Soundbar
For a bigger system, the Bose Smart Ultra Dolby Atmos Soundbar lists Alexa and Google voice control and HDMI eARC.
Bose Smart Ultra Dolby Atmos Soundbar
Can You Turn a Bose Soundbar Off Without the Remote?
Getting it on is the hard part, and switching it off mostly takes care of itself. Yes: Bose’s Smart Soundbar help page says the Bose app powers the bar off as well as on, and over HDMI the TV’s CEC can turn the bar off with the TV, as Bose’s TV Speaker page and LG’s SIMPLINK guide both describe.
Several bars also switch off by themselves. Bose says the TV Speaker powers off after 20 minutes without interaction, the Solo 5 and Solo Soundbar Series II guides give 60 minutes of inactivity, and the SoundTouch 300’s auto-off timer cuts in after 20 minutes without audio or a button press.
The smart soundbars drop into network standby after 20 minutes instead, ready for your voice or the app, and the Bose app can turn that timer off. On the Lifestyle Ultra, touching and holding the Action and Volume down buttons for 5 seconds puts it into standby on the spot.
Which Way Should You Set Up Before the Remote Goes Missing?
Those timers mean the bar will be off again tomorrow, so pick one lasting route now. Choose by how the bar connects to the TV:
- Connected by HDMI: turn on CEC in the TV’s menu under whatever name it uses, and the TV remote handles power.
- Connected by optical or coaxial: switch on auto-wake, with the remote or in the Bose app, so TV sound wakes the bar.
- Used mostly for music: keep the Bose app or SoundTouch app set up, or keep your phone paired with a TV Speaker.
- One remote for everything: program an infrared universal or cable box remote, or teach a TV Speaker your TV remote’s volume and mute.
Then test it once: switch the bar off, turn on the TV or play a sound, and check that the bar wakes with it.
The Bottom Line
So the quickest way to turn on a Bose soundbar without the remote is the plug, and the lasting one depends on your bar: the app or your voice on the smart soundbars, CEC over HDMI, auto-wake over optical, or a programmed infrared remote. Set one up while everything works, and the next lost remote won’t leave you in silence.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I turn on a Bose Solo 5 without the remote?
Bose’s Solo 5 guide powers the bar from its remote and doesn’t say whether it switches on when plugged in. If auto-wake was switched on earlier, shown by a dim amber light while the bar is off, sound from the TV over the optical or coaxial cable wakes it. Otherwise, a programmed non-Bose remote, such as a cable or satellite box remote, handles power on and off and volume, its guide says. The Solo 5 has no HDMI connection, so HDMI-CEC isn’t an option, and a replacement remote is the other fix.
How do I turn on a Bose TV Speaker without the remote?
Unplug it and plug it back in: its guide says it powers on automatically, with a tone. A phone you’ve connected before can also switch it on from the phone’s Bluetooth menu, Bose says, even with auto-wake off. Over HDMI, the TV’s CEC setting can turn it on and off with the TV, and on a Roku TV the Roku TV remote controls it. With auto-wake on, sound over an optical or analog cable wakes it, and Bose says it powers itself off after 20 minutes without interaction.
Can I use my phone as a remote for a Bose soundbar?
On the smart soundbars, yes: the Bose app (Bose Music in the older guides) wakes them when you play audio from it and switches auto-wake, and on the Smart Soundbar it has its own Power button. The SoundTouch 300 uses the SoundTouch app, which its guide says turns your phone into a remote for the bar. A TV Speaker can be switched on from the Bluetooth menu of a phone it has connected to before. The Solo 5 and Solo Soundbar Series II guides use the app only to link them with another Bose product, so use auto-wake or a programmed remote there.
Why does my Bose soundbar stay off when the TV turns on?
Usually because the link that wakes it isn’t set up. Over HDMI, make sure CEC is enabled in the TV’s system menu, under whatever name your TV uses, such as Anynet+, SIMPLINK or BRAVIA Sync. Over optical or coaxial, switch on auto-wake, since CEC runs over HDMI. The Smart Soundbar guide gives exactly that advice for a bar on the TV’s optical port that doesn’t switch on with the TV.
Does a Bose soundbar turn off by itself?
Several do. Bose says the TV Speaker powers off after 20 minutes without interaction, the Solo 5 and Solo Soundbar Series II switch off after 60 minutes of inactivity, and the SoundTouch 300’s auto-off timer turns it off after 20 minutes without audio or a button press. The smart soundbars go into network standby after 20 minutes instead, and the Bose app can turn that timer off.
