Some Samsung TV models occasionally experience a minor issue where the TV stops understanding voice commands. For instance, it may fail to recognize English commands but will respond to Russian ones. This issue surfaced in early 2025 with MU series TVs from 2017. It occurs sporadically and can be quite frustrating for users who don’t understand why it happens. They often try replacing the batteries in the remote, resetting the TV to factory settings, and reconfiguring everything, but nothing works. Here’s why this happens.
How Samsung TV Recognizes Voice Commands
During the initial setup of the TV, you first choose your country, which is required for apps to function correctly, and then you select your preferred language. Once you select a language, the TV is assigned to a corresponding voice server. For example, if you choose English, voice commands are sent to the English language server; if you select Spanish, they go to the Spanish server, and so on for other languages.
The issue occurs during the installation of a new OS update, when developers may mistakenly assign the wrong language server. For example, in the abovementioned case, English was mistakenly linked to the Russian server.
How to Resolve the Issue When Samsung TV Doesn’t Recognize Voice Commands
The most effective approach is to report the issue to Samsung support. If enough users report it, the problem will be escalated to technical support within three days. Generally, Samsung resolves the software bug within 2-3 weeks. During this time, voice control and voice search will remain unavailable.
If you’d like to try fixing the issue, resetting the TV to factory settings won’t help, as the server will still be assigned incorrectly. Here’s what you can try: Go to the language settings and switch to another available language, such as Spanish. Then, switch back to English. If the server assignment issue has been corrected, the TV should link to the correct server. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, you can use voice search to see which language server receives the requests. While a bit awkward, this can help determine the language server used. Try selecting that language, as the servers may have been swapped by mistake.
There isn’t much else you can do now, but the easiest solution is to wait for the fix. Once the issue is resolved, everything should work as expected. Until then, you can still control your TV with the remote.
