How to Connect Google Home to Your TV

Although you can't physically connect a Google Home to a TV, you can use it to send voice commands through your home network to a TV, allowing you to stream content from selected apps and control some TV functions.

Use Google Home With TV via Chromecast

One way to connect Google Home with your TV is via a Google Chromecast or Chromecast Ultra media streamer that plugs into any TV with an HDMI input.

Typically, after you set up a Google Chromecast, a smartphone or tablet is used to stream content through the Chromecast so that you can see it on a TV. However, when a Chromecast is paired with Google Home, you have the choice to use Google Assistant voice commands through your smartphone or Google Home.

To get started, make sure the Chromecast is plugged into your TV and that it, your smartphone, and Google Home are on the same network. (This means that they are connected to the same router.)

Connect Your Chromecast

The following instructions are for Android. (There may be slight variations between the Android and iOS apps.)

1. Turn on the TV and make sure the Chromecast screen appears on your TV.

2. Open the Google Home app on your smartphone.

3. Tap the plus sign (+) at the top.

4. Choose Set up device.

5. Tap Set up new devices in your home.

6. Pick an existing home or make a new one, and then tap Next.

7. Wait while your phone searches for the Chromecast. Tap Next when the app finds the Chromecast.

8. Confirm that the code on the TV matches the one in the app, and then tap Yes.

9. Choose I agree to continue.

10. Tap Yes, I'm in (or No thanks, if you prefer).

11. Choose a room to help identify where the Chromecast is, and then tap Next.

12. Connect Chromecast to Wi-Fi by following the on-screen steps.

13. Tap Next to link your Chromecast to your Google account.

14. Follow any additional on-screen steps to set up your Chromecast.

Link Chromecast to Google Home

If you set up Google Home in the same house as your Chromecast, you shouldn't have a problem immediately pairing the two to play music and videos.

However, if you can't get your Google Home to communicate with the Chromecast, try this:

1. From the Google Home app, tap the TV that Chromecast is plugged into.

2. Select the gear icon at the top.

3. Tap Default TV and make sure the Chromecast TV is selected.

4. Tap Home and then choose the home that you added the Chromecast to in the above steps.

   On the settings page, tap Default TV and make sure the Chromecast TV is selected.

5. Tap Next.

6. Choose Move device.

   Still not working? Go back to Settings, tap Default TV and make sure the Chromecast TV is selected.

Use Google Assistant Commands on Your TV

Once the Chromecast is linked to Google Home, you can use Google Assistant voice commands to stream (cast) video to your TV via one of Google's compatible streaming apps.

You cannot use Google Home voice commands to watch (cast) content from apps not supported by Google. To view content from any additional desired apps, they must be sent to the Chromecast using your smartphone.

On the other hand, you can use Google Home to ask Chromecast to perform additional TV functions (may vary with app or TV). Some commands include pause, resume, skip, stop, play, and turn subtitles/captions on/off. Also, if the content offers more than one subtitle language, you may be able to specify the language you want to be displayed.

If your TV also has HDMI-CEC and that feature is enabled (check your TV's HDMI settings), you can use Google Home to tell your Chromecast to turn the TV on or off. Your Google Home can also switch to the HDMI input the Chromecast is connected to on your TV when you send a voice command to start playing content.

This means that if you are watching a broadcast or cable channel, and you tell Google Home to play something using the Chromecast, the TV will switch to the HDMI input that the Chromecast is connected to and start playing.

Use Google Home With a TV That Has Google Chromecast Built-in

Linking Chromecast with Google Home is one way to use Google Assistant voice commands to stream video to your TV. Still, there are a number of TVs that have Google Chromecast built-in. This allows Google Home to play streaming content, as well as access some control features, including volume control, without having to go through an additional plug-in Chromecast device.

You can set up a TV with Chromecast built-in using an Android or iOS smartphone to perform the preliminary setup via the Google Home App. To link Google Home with the TV that has Chromecast built-in, follow the same steps as above.

The services that Google Home can access and control with a Google Chromecast are the same as those that can be accessed and controlled on a TV with Chromecast built-in. Casting from a smartphone provides access to more apps.

Use Google Home With a Logitech Harmony Remote Control System

Another way you can connect Google Home to your TV is using one of the best universal remotes, such as a compatible Logitech Harmony remote.

By linking Google Home with a compatible Harmony remote system, you can perform many of the control and content access functions for your TV using Google Assistant voice commands.

1. Tap the plus sign at the top of the Google Home app.

2. Select Set up device.

3. Choose Have something already set up.

4. Tap the search icon at the top and enter Harmony.

5. Tap Harmony from the list.

6. Follow the on-screen directions to link your account.

Using Harmony to Turn a TV On and Off

If all you want to do is use Harmony to turn your TV on or off, install the IFTTT app on your smartphone. The steps below link the "OK Google, turn on/off the TV" commands to your Google Home and a compatible Harmony Remote control system.

Once you've installed the app:

1. Tap Get more at the bottom of the IFTTT app.

2. Search for Harmony, and then select it from the list.

3. Choose Connect.

4. Log in with your credentials.

Use Google Home With Roku Via the Quick Remote App

If you have a Roku media streamer plugged into your TV, you can link it to Google Home by downloading the Quick Remote app (Android only).

To get started, download and install the Quick Remote app on your smartphone, then follow the instructions outlined on the Quick Remote App download page to link Quick Remote to your Roku device and Google Home.

Once you have successfully linked Quick Remote with your Roku device and Google Home, you can use voice commands to tell Quick Remote to execute menu navigation on your Roku device so that you can select any app to start playing. However, the only apps you can address by name directly are the ones mentioned previously that Google Home supports.

The Quick Remote app works the same way on both plug-in Roku devices and Roku TVs (TVs with Roku features built-in).

Quick Remote can be used with either the Google Home or Google Assistant apps. This means if you don't have a Google Home, you can control your Roku device or Roku TV using the Google Assistant app on your smartphone.

If you aren't near your Google Home, you also have the option to use the Quick Remote app keypad on your smartphone.

Quick Remote is free to install, but you are limited to 50 free commands per month. If you need more, subscribe to the Quick Remote Full Pass for $.99 per month or $9.99 per year.

Use Google Home With URC Total Control System

If your TV is part of a custom installation that is centered around a comprehensive remote control system, linking it to Google Home is a little more complicated than the solutions discussed so far.

If you want to use Google Home with your TV and URC Total Control 2.0, an installer is required to set up the link. (Visit the URC website to learn more.) Once linked, the installer then develops the entire command infrastructure you need to operate and access content on your TV.

You have the choice of letting the installer create the needed voice commands, or you can tell it what commands you would like to use.

For example, you can go with something basic, such as, "Turn on the TV", or something more fun like, "OK, it is time for movie night." The installer then makes the phrases work with the Google Assistant platform.

Using the link between Google Home and the URC Total Control system, the installer can combine one or more tasks with a specific phrase. "OK, it is time for movie night" can be used to turn on the TV, dim the lights, switch to a channel, turn on the audio system, and maybe start the popcorn popper if it is part of the system.

Beyond Google Home: TVs With Google Assistant Built-in

Although Google Home, in combination with additional devices and apps, is a great way to connect and control what you see on TV, Google Assistant is also incorporated into select TVs.

LG, beginning with its 2018 smart TV line, uses its ThinQ AI (Artificial Intelligence) system to control all TV and streaming functions, as well as control other LG smart products, but switches to Google Assistant to reach out beyond the TV to perform the functions of a Google Home, including control of third-party smart home devices.

Both the internal AI and Google Assistant functions are activated via the TV's voice-enabled remote control. You don't need a separate Google Home device or smartphone.

On the other hand, Sony takes a slightly different approach by using Google Assistant on its Android TVs to control both the internal TV functions and linking with external smart home products.

With Google Assistant built into a TV, instead of Google Home controlling the TV, the TV is controlling a "virtual" Google Home.

However, if you have a Google Home, you can link it to a TV that has Google Assistant built-in using any of the methods discussed above. Although, this is redundant.