The Tivo Experience
QUICK TOUR – THE HOME SCREEN
The Home screen is the starting point for just about everything you do with your TiVo box. From the Home screen, you can easily access popular destinations in the TiVo experience; get personalized recommendations from the SmartBar and What to Watch, and watch/control the currently playing show. You’ll learn more about these options later in this guide, but remember — it all starts from the Home screen. To get to the Home screen from live TV or any TiVo screen, just press the TiVo button on your remote control.
HOME SCREEN MENU ITEMS
Home screen menu items across the middle of the screen take you to commonly used screens in the TiVo experience. Use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow buttons on your remote control to move between menu items, and press OK to choose one. Use BACK to go back to the previous screen.
- My Shows takes you straight to your recorded and streaming videos, all ready to watch instantly, no matter if they’re TV recordings, on-demand shows, or streaming from apps like Netflix or Hulu.
- What to Watch lets you browse shows available to stream, watch live, bookmark, or record, divided into popular categories.
- TiVo+ brings you the best free shows, movies, and videos previously available to you only online or from separate apps — all gathered in one place.
- Apps lets you access your favorite streaming and music apps directly.
- Search searches by title, actor name, or keyword — across TV, video on demand, and popular streaming apps all at once.
Easily add your own items to the menu as well; for example, to get quick access to a streaming app like Netflix or Hulu. Just press the A button on your remote, and enter an available shortcut number for the item you want. The new item will appear in that position on the menu.
THE SMARTBAR
The SmartBar predicts shows to watch based on what your household usually watches at a particular time or day. For example, if you normally watch the previous night’s late-night talk show the next morning, you’ll see it in the SmartBar when you wake up. If the kids tend to watch shows while dinner’s cooking, those shows will be waiting in the SmartBar at that time each day. Use the DOWN arrow on your remote control to move to the SmartBar, then select a show to watch it.
Background video on
VIDEO WINDOW & BACKGROUND
By default, the video you were watching when you entered the Home screen continues to play in the background. Similarly, on most other TiVo menu screens, a video window located in the upper right corner plays the current video as well. Press PAUSE on your remote to pause the video background or window, and press PAUSE again to resume playing. To temporarily hide the background video or video window, press the SLOW button. To bring it back, press the SLOW button again. To watch the video in full screen, press EXIT.
You can choose how to display a video on the Home screen or choose to turn it off completely. Just select Menu > Settings > User Preferences > Video Window & Background. To turn video off on all screens, including the Home screen, set Display Video to No. When Display Video is set to Yes, choose how to display it on the Home screen:
- Full screen (background): The currently playing video is shown as a full-screen video in the background of the Home screen.
- Video Window (top right): The currently playing video is shown in the top-right corner of the Home screen.
SETTINGS & MESSAGES
To manage your recordings and OnePass searches and to control your settings, move to Menu and press OK. Here, you’ll be able to customize your options, including User Preferences, OnePass priorities, manual recordings, and Parental Controls settings. Note that some settings are available only for DVRs, not for TiVo Minis. To view messages from the TiVo service, select the envelope icon .
Video window on
Background video & video window off 
GUIDE
The on-screen program guide displays up to two weeks of TV programming at the touch of a button — press GUIDE the button on your TiVo remote. When you’re viewing the guide, press A to display Guide Options (see below). The mini guide is a smaller version of the program guide. Press UP while watching TV to view it. The mini guide shows you what’s coming up on the channel you’re watching; press UP/ DOWN to view other channels. See Quick Tour – QuickView for more.
Icons in the guide help you navigate to the shows you want. New shows are marked with a NEW icon. Shows that are currently recording have a red circle icon next to the title, while shows that are scheduled to record are marked with a check mark (for individual shows) or double check mark (for OnePass recordings.)
To move around in the guide:
- Press FAST FORWARD to move the displayed time ahead two hours (one page), or press REWIND to move it backward.
- Press ADVANCE to jump 24 hours ahead, or REPLAY to jump 24 hours back.
- Press to move up or down one page, or press and hold to skim quickly up or down through multiple pages.
- Press on a show in progress, and the channel changes to that show. Press RECORD to record it.
- Press OK on an upcoming show, and you’ll see a screen with recording options. Set up your recording or press to go back to the guide.
- Press OK on a past show, or a show in progress with a Restart & Catch Up icon, and you’ll see Restart and Catch Up options. (Availability depends on your cable provider.)
GUIDE OPTIONS
Press A to display Guide Options, which lets you customize the guide.
- Date: Choose the starting date for the guide.
- Time: Choose the starting time for the guide.
- Show category: Select which categories of shows to display in the guide.
- Channels: Choose which channels to display.
- Channel List: Display only the channels that are checked in the Channel List (recommended).
- Favorites: Display only the channels you chose as your favorites. To choose favorite channels from within the guide, select a channel cell (not a show title), then select Add to Favorite Channels.
- All: Display all channels available from your service provider, even channels you don’t receive.
- Show channel logos: Turn channel logos on or off.
SEARCH
Search by show title, episode title, show description, or person name (actor, director, etc.). The TiVo service searches upcoming TV shows and movies, streaming videos (from sources like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, Prime Video, and more), and video on demand from your cable provider (if available) all at the same time. You can even search for a particular channel by its network name or call sign (e.g., NBC or ESPN).
KEYBOARD SEARCH
- From the Home screen, select Search.
- Use the letter grid to spell out the title, person, or word you’re looking for. Press OK the arrow buttons to move around, then press on each letter you want. As you select letters, a list of possible matches sorted by popularity appears on the right. For example, if you enter the letters HOW, you might see matches for the TV show “How I Met Your Mother,” the video-on-demand movie “How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days,” and the director Ron Howard. Results are sorted by popularity, with better matches higher in the list.
- Keep selecting letters until you see what you’re searching for. If you make a mistake, you can press CLEAR to erase everything, or REWIND to erase one letter at a time. Insert a space by pressing FAST FORWARD.
- Use the RIGHT arrow to highlight the show or person’s name.
- Press OK to view details set up a recording or OnePass, or bookmark the show.
VOICE SEARCH
- From any screen, press and hold the blue voice button on your remote, and speak into the microphone.
- Say a show/movie title, actor name, director name, or genre. You can even say a famous movie phrase if you’ve forgotten the name of a film! For example, “Arnold Schwarzenegger,” “The Terminator,” and “I’ll be back” will all return results for “The Terminator” movie. See Quick Tour – Voice for more about voice commands.
NUMBER PAD SEARCH
- From the Home screen, select Search.
- Before entering any letters or numbers, press UP on your remote.
- Note the letters associated with each number key displayed on the screen. Press the number buttons on the remote that correspond to the letters you want to enter. For example, if you want to search for NCIS, enter 6-2-4-7.
- To switch back to the on-screen keyboard, press DOWN to highlight a letter.
VIDEO APPS
Your TiVo box has access to an array of TV, movie, and other video apps. To find them, from the Home screen choose Apps. Video apps include Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, EPIX, YouTube, and more. Simply browse the app, and when possible, sign in with your existing username and password for each app for
the best experience. To choose a favorite app, highlight it and press THUMBS UP.
USER PREFERENCES
From the Home screen, choose Menu > Settings > User Preferences to customize the Home screen, video apps, display of closed captioning, video window, and much more.
HOME SHORTCUTS
Assign a remote control number to a shortcut by highlighting the shortcut and pressing a number available for shortcuts. To un-assign a number, highlight the shortcut and press CLEAR.
Note: You can also assign Home screen shortcuts when you’re on the Home screen by pressing A.
ADD & MANAGE APPS
Use this screen to select the video apps (like Netflix or Prime Video) that you would like included in your results when searching for TV shows and movies.
Note: OnePass works best when this list is up to date, with as many video apps as possible selected.
REORDER FAVORITE APPS
Use this to reorder apps you’ve chosen as favorites.
ONEPASS & RECORDING OPTIONS
Use this screen to set OnePass and recording options that will apply to all OnePasses and WishList searches you set up, and all shows you record that are not part of OnePasses. You can change the default values at any time. For more information, see OnePass & Recording Options.
MY SHOWS OPTIONS
Use the available options to customize My Shows to your preferences, including sort order and preferred views. See My Shows options for details about each item
SKIPMODE
SkipMode skips commercial breaks on eligible recorded shows. Choose to skip them automatically or manually. When you set this option to Manual, you will need to press SKIP or D on your remote to jump over commercial breaks.
AUTOPLAY NEXT EPISODE
Choose whether to allow the next episode in a group to begin automatically when the previous one ends. If you turn this option off, the countdown timer will no longer appear, you’ll need to select PLAY in the Auto Play panel to start the next episode.
MENU LANGUAGE
Choose whether to display the TiVo menus in Spanish or English.
VIDEO WINDOW & BACKGROUND
Use this setting to control how video appears on all TiVo menu screens. To turn video off on all screens, including the Home screen, set Display Video to No. When Display Video is set to Yes, the video will always appear on the Home screen. Choose how to display it by setting the Video on the Home screen option to one of the following:
- Full Screen (background): The currently playing video is shown as a full-screen video in the background of the Home screen.
- Video Window (top right): The currently playing video is shown in the top-right corner of the screen.
To prevent full-screen background images from appearing on TiVo menu screens, set Display Background Images to No.
CLIP OVERLAPPING SHOWS
Choose whether to clip or cancel a recording if a conflict occurs.
TIVO SUGGESTIONS
Choose whether to record TiVo Suggestions automatically when space is available.
EXTEND LIVE RECORDINGS
When this setting is turned on, you’ll be reminded to add extra time when recording live events.
THUUZ SPORTS RATING
Thuuz ratings tell you which games are most exciting. When you turn on this setting, a rating will be displayed when you highlight a sporting event on any affected TiVo screens (like My Shows, What to Watch, and the Guide). Note that these ratings are displayed for live games, they may reveal spoilers. If you prefer to watch sports without knowing what to expect, turn this option off.
TROUBLESHOOTING
This screen is the place to start if you are having trouble with your TiVo box. Find helpful troubleshooting advice for common issues.
RESTART BOX
Use this screen to shut down the TiVo box and start it up again. This will not affect recorded shows, OnePass or WishList® searches, or TiVo Suggestions. You may need to restart your TiVo box as a routine troubleshooting step.
ACCOUNT & SYSTEM INFO
The Account & System Information screen provides information about your TiVo box and account. From the Home screen, choose Menu > Help > Account & System Information. System Information You’ll need some of the information provided here if you contact TiVo Customer Support. This screen contains your TiVo service number, TiVo box manufacturer, model number, software version, storage capacity, and information about recent connections to the TiVo service. Use the CH UP/DOWN button to see the rest of the screen. Media Access Key Your Media Access Key keeps your recordings secure and prevents them from being played or transferred outside your home network. Do not share this key with anyone outside your household.
Video Provider Accounts Here you’ll find account information about your video provider accounts (e.g. Netflix or Prime Video).
Copyright & Trademarks This screen contains copyright, trademark, and other information related to the TiVo service.
Tuning Adapter This screen displays information about your tuning adapter if one is connected. Please contact your cable provider if you are not sure whether you need a tuning adapter.
Diagnostics This screen contains information about tuners and other TiVo box functions. You may be asked to provide some of this information if you contact TiVo Customer Support.
CableCARD Decoder This screen contains information about the installed CableCARD decoder, if used.
RESET TO DEFAULTS
Options on this screen include:
Repeat Guided Setup. You must repeat Guided Setup if you move or if you change your cable provider. Repeating Guided Setup will reset your channel lists. This will not affect recorded shows, OnePass recordings, WishList Searches, or TiVo Suggestions.
Clear Guide Data & To Do List Clears all Guide information and cancels all upcoming recordings. This does not delete shows in the My Shows list or delete OnePass selections. The TiVo boxTiVo box acquires new program information during the next connection to the TiVo service. Completing this process may take over an hour.
Clear & Delete Everything This option restores the TiVo box’s original factory settings. It clears all settings, OnePass and WishList Searches, My Shows list, program information, To Do List and setup information, including CableCARD pairing info, channel lists, and Parental Controls. Completing this process may take over an hour.
STANDBY
To conserve power, you can put your TiVo box into Standby mode From the Home screen, choose Menu and then select the power icon, and then choose Enter Standby. To return to normal mode from Standby, press the TiVo button or the LIVE TV button on the remote.
You can choose from several levels of power saving when your device enters Standby. See Power Saving Settings to learn more. When the TiVo box is in Standby:
- Your TV shows a black screen and the lights on the front of the TiVo box go out.
- Shows that are being recorded or are scheduled to be recorded will still be recorded.
- The TiVo box will still connect to the TiVo service.
- If you temporarily turn off Parental Controls, Standby mode re-enables them.
- If live TV is paused when Standby is selected, the TiVo box will remain paused for up to 30
minutes. - TiVo Suggestions may be recorded, depending on your power-saving setting. See Power Saving Settings for details.
GETTING HELP
Got a question? Here’s how to find answers:
- Watch Tips & Tricks videos on your TiVo box. Handy short videos will help you get to know the TiVo Experience, including new features as they are released. From the Home screen, choose Apps > Tips & Tricks.
- Use the help screens on your TiVo box. For general troubleshooting, go to the Home screen, choose Menu > Help > Tips & Troubleshooting.
- Get how-to information online. You’ll always find the latest information about what you can do with your TiVo box online at tivo.com/howto.
- Use online support. Visit TiVo Customer Support at support.tivo.com.
- Call Customer Support. If you still have questions, contact a TiVo Customer Support representative at 877-367-8486.
REMOTE CONTROL
REMOTE BUTTONS
- The TIVO BUTTON takes you to the Home screen.
- If programmed, TV PWR turns your TV on or off. Go to the Home screen, choose Menu > Settings > Remote, CableCARD, & Devices > Remote Control Setup to program.
- If programmed, use INPUT to select the input for your TV.
- BACK goes back to the previous screen.
- Use the ARROW BUTTONS to navigate the TiVo menus. In live TV, press UP for the one-line guide, DOWN to see personalized predictions, LEFT for your favorite channels, and RIGHT to see what’s on other tuners.
- If programmed, VOLUME and MUTE control the volume on your TV or AV receiver.
- Press and hold the VOICE button to issue voice commands.
- REPLAY repeats the last eight seconds of the show. Press and hold to jump to the beginning of a show. When browsing, press to jump to the first item in a strip.
- Use the THUMBS UP and THUMBS DOWN to confirm certain commands, as instructed on screen.
- The A, B, C buttons set options and sort and filter views, and turn accessibility features on or off. Press and hold A for the screen reader, B for closed captioning, or C for audio description.
- CLEAR dismisses items appearing over live TV and deletes titles from My Shows and the To-Do List.
- LIVE TV takes you to live TV and lets you cycle through tuners.
- INFO shows the info card while watching a show; press this button again to make it disappear.
- Press OK to choose menu items.
- Use EXIT to go to full-screen video on the Home screen and to close certain apps.
- Use CHANNEL UP/DOWN to change the channel or move quickly through lists and the Guide.
- GUIDE takes you to the on-screen Guide.
- Press RECORD to record the show you’re watching, or to set up a recording for a show selected in the guide.
- While watching shows, use these buttons to control playback. Press up to three times for three speeds. In TiVo menus, use REWIND and FAST- FORWARD to move quickly through strips. Press PLAY and then OK to start/stop QuickMode.
- ADVANCE moves forward in 30-second increments; press and hold to jump to the end of the show. Or, press to jump to the next tick mark when fast-forwarding or rewinding. Use to enter a dash
when tuning to OTA sub-channels. - The SKIP button initiates the SkipMode function while watching a SkipMode-enabled recording.
Look for the on-screen tips. - Press the NETFLIX button to launch the Netflix app.
- ENTER/LAST returns to the last channel viewed on a tuner.
For more manuals by TiVo, visit ManualsLibraryy
The Tivo Experience-FAQs
How does TiVo work on my TV?
TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) that lets you record, pause, rewind, and replay TV programs. It stores recorded content on an internal hard drive, making it easy to access and manage your favorite shows.
How do I turn off QuickMode on TiVo?
Press the Play button on your remote to bring up the status bar, then press Select to activate QuickMode. To turn it off, press Play and Select again to return to normal speed.
How many shows can I record at once with TiVo?
With TiVo Service from Breezeline, you can record up to 6 shows simultaneously, ensuring you never miss your favorite programs.
Can I use TiVo without cable?
Yes! You can enjoy TiVo without cable by using an HD antenna for free over-the-air channels. Proper antenna placement is key for optimal reception.
How do I record a show with TiVo?
While watching live TV, press the RECORD button on your TiVo remote. You can choose to record the episode, set up a OnePass, or access more recording options.
How can I control TiVo remotely?
The TiVo app turns your mobile device into a remote control, allowing you to search for shows, change channels, and access detailed cast and crew information from anywhere.
Is TiVo just a DVR?
TiVo is more than just a DVR—it offers advanced recording features, streaming apps, voice control, and smart recommendations, making it a complete entertainment hub.
Does TiVo have an app?
Yes, the TiVo app allows you to browse content, schedule recordings, get recommendations, and even use your phone as a remote control with gesture-based navigation.
How do I fix a frozen TiVo device?
If your TiVo is frozen, unplug it for 15 seconds and then plug it back in. If the issue persists, try connecting your cable or satellite box directly to your TV to check for signal problems.