How to Program a Logitech Harmony Universal Remote

You used to have a billion remotes, but now you've got a logitech universal remote! Great, except how to you program it? Unlike the old days of entering a bunch of codes, the Logitech remotes use some software to control your devices and add activity settings to the controls. Using a Logitech Harmony 550 remote as the example, this how to article will show you hot to program your Logitech Harmony universal remote control. Get out that clicker and let's get set up.

Step 1. If you don't have the Logitech Harmony Remote software yet, you're going to need that.  Head over to the site and run a search for your remote.  From the How To tab you'll be able to find and install the software.  It's pretty painless and only takes a few minutes.

Step 2. If you've never used the software before, you're going to have to create a new account.  If you already have an account, simply login.  Harmony saves all your settings in an online account so no matter what happens your settings will be safe.  If you get a new remote, move, or uninstall the software it won't matter - your settings are saved on their end. Just remember your account name and password!

Step 3. Assuming you don't have anything set up yet, go to the devices tab.  Click the Add device button.  Select your device from the drop down menu.  It will then populate the manufacturer section with a list of vendors.  Select your, and type in the model number.

Step 4. If you have more to add, click the "Add another device" button and repeat the above action.  When you're done adding your devices, click the "Next" button.  You may be asked to verify your model numbers.  It's important that you get the right one!  When you're done with that, click the "Next" button to go to the review page.   Depending on your devices you may also need to click through through the input selection screen and verify various other settings.  When you're finally done with all that, you'll find your device tab is now populated with all your devices.

Step 5. If were were to finish now, we'd have consolidated all our remotes into one.  The Logitech Harmony remotes go a step further, allowing you to set up activities.  Each activity puts your remote in a customized state so different buttons control different devices.  That way you don't have to switch between devices to change channels on your tv, volume on your receiver, and hit pause on your DVR.  To set up an activity, hit the Activity tab and click the Add Activity button. Whether you select Yes or No to the wizard, you'll eventually be guided through a series of basic questions that allow the software to set up the activity for you. Answer the questions, review it's assessment, and click Done.

Step 6. Before you're done, you may want to click the Customize Buttons option from the activity panel. This will allow you to tweak every button on the remote for that particular activity.  While the software generally does a good job of setting the buttons up for you, this little bit of extra customization is always worth it.  From here you'll see a list of all the buttons.  For each one, you can pick a device specific command to execute.  When you're finished, click Done.

Step 7. So far, none of these settings are on the remote! Connect your remote to your PC using a USB cable. Click the Update Remote button, and then click Next. Once the progress bar fills up, your remote is ready.  Test it out! If something isn't working right, reconnect it and tweak some settings.

Additional Tips

• While the software is pretty good, universal control isn't an exact science.  There's a lot of trial and error to go through.  Leave the software up, go test the remote, and come back to change settings.
• You can change the order in which devices are powered on from the Devices Tab.  Simply click the "Settings" button and tell the software you'd like the change the order.
• From the device's Settings screen you can also change the name of the device and reconfigure it.