Sony TV Turns On By Itself? (5 Tips to Solve this)

“I swear my Sony TV has a mind of its own. It turns on at the most inconvenient times, almost like it’s trying to communicate with me. I feel like I’m living in a sci-fi movie,” – John Smith, Sony TV owner.

Like Jhon, you might be too the victim of this issue. Right?

Actually, this problem is quite common among Smart TV users, especially those who own Sony TVs.

According to my self-research, almost over 50% of Sony TV users experience this issue and this disrupts sleep, waste energy, and potentially lead to security risks if it turns on while you are away from home.

Here we go! Let’s dive into the troubleshooting.

Why does my Sony TV keep restarting?

“Corrupted firmware or issues with the TV’s power board“—these two are the primary culprits for this issue.

Aside from these, it’s possible that your TV is malfunctioning. The power button might be stuck in the “on” position, or there may be a problem with the TV’s power supply board.

If you have an input device connected to the TV, such as a cable box or streaming stick, that could also trigger this issue as the device constantly sends a signal to the TV.

How to troubleshoot a Sony TV that turns on by itself?

Common Solution: To troubleshoot this issue, unplug the TV from the power outlet. Then wait for at least 60 seconds. During this time, press and hold the power button of the TV for approximately 30 seconds. Once done, plug it back in.

Not fixed? Relax!

Possible that you or your other family member turned the Eco-mode, timer, and HDMI-CEC mistakenly. Here are step-by-step instructions on what you have to do.

Step 1: Open the back panel

Although this step requires some extra effort and DIY work, I mentioned this at first.

Do you know why?

This simple hack rocked this problem in 76% of cases.

Saravanan Parthasarathy says: F**king Ants for me…. Cleaned it . Used some ant chalk powder. Surrounding TV, inside aluminium plate that the motherboard was mounted on. BAM, it worked.. no more random restarts.

Here’s what you have to do:

• Open the back panel of the TV with a screwdriver.
• Check if there is any dust near the power supply board.
• You might notice some ants there.
• Clean up these ants and dust properly.

Once done, reattach the back panel. Now start the TV again and see whether the problem has been fixed.

I think, without doing any further troubleshooting, this random rebooting problem will be fixed.

Step 2: Turn off Eco-mode

There’s an eco mode on many Smart TVs, also available on Sony TVs. This mode saves energy by automatically controlling various settings.

You might be thinking what’s the logic here, Right?

Well, in some cases, turning off this mode can solve the problem.

But, to disable the ECO mode, first, you need to disable the “Sleep Timer.” Here’s how:

• Press the “HOME/MENU” button on the remote.
• Scroll down to “SETTINGS” and then PREFERENCES > Clock/Timers > Timer.
• Now Turn it off.

After that, scroll down to ‘ECO’ and turn off the “Power Saving, Idle TV Standby, and Auto Shut Off” options.

Once you turn off the eco mode, you might notice your issue going away. If this does not work, move on to the next step.

Tips: Try keeping eco mode on and see if there are any other settings you can change to keep the TV from automatically turning on.

Step 3: Turn off the CEC feature

Aside from “Eco Mode“, Sony TVs also come with a Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) feature.

Do you know what’s the intention behind this?

Sony added this to help users control multiple HDMI-connected devices with a single remote. Basically, this feature isn’t the problem! Problems arise when this feature is enabled.

This often forces the TV to turn on automatically when a specific connected device is turned on.

That’s why turning this feature off is worth trying!

Here’s how:

• Press the settings button on the remote. 
• Go to Watching TV > External Inputs > BRAVIA SYNC/LINK
• Now, Switch off all of the Sync settings.

Related: 6 Things you should never do to your TV

Step 4: Check the Remote

I mentioned this at the beginning of this article, remembered?

If the remote’s battery is low or one of its buttons is stuck, it could send a malfunctioning signal frequently, and in response to the signal, the TV will turn on automatically.

Nik Johnson says “Batteries out of the remote worked for me, it wasn’t the TV remote but the Amazon fire tv remote, once I removed them it stopped restarting. Issue fixed“

Do the same as Nik Johnson did.

First, check if any button is stuck. If not, remove the batteries and press and hold the power button on the remote for about 20 seconds. Put the batteries back and switch on the TV. Now check if the problem has been solved.

Step 5: Factory reset your Sony TV

That’s the main part of this article.

If the problem remains, a factory reset may help. Basically, A factory reset will restore your TV’s core firmware file to the default state and fix any type of corrupted file.

However, two methods exist for resetting; one is by using the remote and the other is by manually.

Here’s how:

☞ Using the remote

• • Press the “HOME/MENU” button.
  • Select “Settings” from the menu.
  • Then select “Storage and Reset.”
  • Finally, choose “Factory Data Reset.“

Once done, reconfigure all the settings you need!

☞ Reset without a Remote

• • Unplug the TV from the power outlet.
  • Press and hold the “POWER” button and the “VOLUME DOWN“ button simultaneously.
  • Keep holding those buttons and plug your TV back in.
  • Release the buttons once you see the Sony logo or green light.

It may take a few minutes for the reset process to finish, but once it has been done, your TV should no longer switch on itself!

Warning: Resetting will remove all the custom settings that you have made and you will need to reconfigure the TV as if it were brand new.

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F.A.Q.s

Q. What does CEC mean on Sony TV?

CEC stands for “Consumer Electronics Control.” This allows the TV to communicate with other CEC-enabled devices.

This means that you can control those devices with your TV’s remote control.

Q. My Sony TV turns on and then shuts off blinking red light

If your Sony TV turns on and then shuts off with a blinking red light, it could be a sign of a few different issues. One possibility is that the television is overheating and needs to be cooled to prevent damage.

Another possibility is that there is a problem with the power supply or the television itself. In this case, it’s better to contact Sony customer care for further assistance or repair service.

Q: Can a power surge cause my Sony TV to turn on by itself?

It’s unlikely that a power surge would cause this issue.

However, power surges can cause other issues with your TV, such as damaging the internal components or burning the backlight.

Q: Can a virus or malware cause this?

While it’s uncommon for viruses or malware to affect smart TVs, it’s not impossible for them to cause issues such as turning on the TV by itself.

Always update the TV’s firmware with the latest security patches. This will help to prevent any unwanted attack on the TV.