A digital antenna can bring in free local channels, but plugging it in is only half the setup. Your TV has to scan broadcast frequencies and save the channels it finds.
This applies to TVs with built-in ATSC tuners, which includes nearly all TVs sold in the United States since the mid-2000s, and to indoor or outdoor digital antennas.
Does this affect you?
Use this if you connected an antenna but the TV shows no channels, or if you moved the antenna and want the TV to find more stations. The process is connect, select antenna input, scan, then adjust placement if needed.
Connect the antenna and run a scan
- Plug the antenna’s coaxial cable into the round ANT IN, RF IN, or Antenna port on the back of the TV.
- If the antenna is amplified, plug its power adapter into an outlet.
- Switch the TV to TV, Antenna, or Air input rather than an HDMI input.
- Open the channel or broadcast menu.
- Choose Auto Tuning, Auto Channel Search, Channel Scan, or a similar option.
- Select Antenna or Air, not Cable.
- Start the scan and let it finish completely.
A full scan usually takes three to ten minutes. When it finishes, the TV saves the stations it found so you can browse them with Channel Up/Down or the channel guide.
Find the channel scan menu by brand
Menu names vary. Samsung often uses Settings > Broadcasting > Auto Tuning. LG often uses Settings > All Settings > Channel > Auto Tuning. Vizio, TCL, and Hisense usually place it under Channels, Tuner, Live TV, or Auto Channel Search.
If you see a choice between Cable and Antenna, choose Antenna or Air. Cable mode scans the wrong frequency plan for an over-the-air antenna.
Improve the number of channels found
Antenna placement matters more than price in many homes. Place the antenna as high as possible, near a window if practical, and away from electronics. After every move, scan again; the TV will not automatically discover new stations just because the antenna position improved.
Use the FCC DTV reception map to check which stations are near your address and what signal strength to expect. That helps you decide whether you need better placement, an amplified antenna, or an outdoor antenna.
Fix channels that break up
If a channel appears but freezes, pixelates, or drops audio, the scan worked; the signal is just marginal. Try moving the antenna toward the broadcast towers, raising it higher, using an amplifier, or adding an inline signal amplifier if the cable run is long.
Some TVs offer a full scan and an update scan. A full scan rebuilds the list from scratch. An update scan adds newly found channels without deleting the old list.
Sources
- FCC – Digital TV reception (DTV.gov) (2025)
- Samsung Support – Scan for channels with an antenna (2025)
- LG Support – Auto-tune to find TV channels (2025)