How to Use a Comcast Xfinity X1 DVR

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

DVR's have become such a part of our lives that ISPs like Comcast are providing them now. With your Xfinity X1 DVR you can record a program while you're watching another program, while you're at work, or even while you're watching that exact same program. You can record up to six shows at a time by setting the recorder ahead of the program. You can then watch and delete them when you're done.

This guide also covers getting to know the various remotes you may be given with your DVR.

Tools You'll Need:

  • A paperclip
  • iPhone charging cable
  • Access to a computer with iTunes installed
  • Any other non-consumable tools needed
  • Comment out tools section if no tools are necessary

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Supplies You'll Need:

  • Zip ties
  • Any other consumable supplies
  • Comment out supplies section if no supplies are necessary

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Before You Begin:

  • You must have access to a computer with iTunes installed.
  • You must have that thing for the other thing so you can do the thing.

You must have this thing before you whatever.

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xfinity

Determine What Remote You Have

Comcast offers a number of different remotes that are used with a number of different cable adapters.

XR15 - Voice Remote

Comcast XR15 Voice Remote

XR11 - Voice Remote

Comcast XR11 Voice Remote

XR2

Comcast XR2 Remote

XR5

Comcast XR5 Remote

Silver with Red OK & Select Button

Comcast Silver with Red OK button Remote

Silver with Gray OK & Select Button

Comcast Silver with Gray OK button remote

2. Understanding Your Remote

 

XR15

  

XR15 - Voice Remote

Comcast XR15 Voice Remote

TV Input

TV Input

Changes the input on your television, so you can choose between different devices connected. For example, your cable box, blu ray player, game console, etc.

Power

Power

Turns on your cable box and television at the same time.

Volume + / -

Volume Increase and Decrease

Increase and decrease the volume.

Mute

Mute

Mutes or silences the audio.

Channel Up / Down

Channel Up and Down

Change the channel up or down by one.

Rewind

Rewind

Rewinds live TV or a recorded program.

Play / Pause

Play Pause

Pauses live TV or a recorded program. Resumes the program if it's paused.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

Fast forwards a recorded program.

Exit

Exit

Exit the menu you are currently in.

Record

Record

Record the program you are currently watching to the DVR.

Pg Up

Page Up

Jumps up an entire page in the Guide.

Guide

Guide

Shows the programming guide, so it's easier to find a program you want to watch or record.

Xfinity

Xfinity Logo

Opens the main Xfinity menu with the Guide, saved programs, On Demand programming, apps, search and settings.

Pg Down

Page Down

Jumps down an entire page in the Guide.

Triangle A

A in Triangle

Shows help for the current program or menu you're using.

Square B

B in Square

Open Accessibility Settings menu, to turn on and off Closed Captioning and other features.

Circle C

C in Circle

Opens the Sports app to see scores even while watching television.

Diamond D

D in Diamond

Delete a recording from your DVR.

Up / Down / Left / Right

Directional Arrows

Navigate in menus and the Guide.
While watching a program, the Right Arrow brings up the mini-guide.
The Down arrow brings up the on-screen playback controls when watching something recorded.

Confirm / OK

Confirm

Select what you have highlighted on the screen in a menu. This button is at the center of the direction pad.

Back

Back

Go back one channel, or a list of channels and programs you've watched recently.

Microphone

Microphone

Push and hold to search for a program or access menus using voice commands.

Information

i for Information

Shows information about the current program or recording.

Number Pad

Number Pad

Directly tune to a specific channel by typing in its number.
Search for a channel using the built in predictive text input.

XR11

XR11 - Voice Remote

Comcast XR11 Voice Remote

TV Power

TV

Turns on or off just your television, not the cable box.

All Power

Power

Turns on your cable box and television at the same time.

Volume + / -

Volume Increase and Decrease

Increase and decrease the volume.

Mute

Mute

Mutes or silences the audio.

Replay

Replay

Jumps back 15 seconds on live television or a recording. This is so you can re-watch a segment of a game or show.

Channel Up / Down

Channel Up and Down

Change the channel up or down by one.

Rewind

Rewind

Rewinds live TV or a recorded program.

Play / Pause

Play Pause

Pauses live TV or a recorded program. Resumes the program if it's paused.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

Fast forwards a recorded program.

Exit

Exit

Exit the menu you are currently in.

Microphone

Microphone

Push and hold to search for a program or access menus using voice commands.

Record

Record

Record the program you are currently watching to the DVR.

Guide

Guide

Shows the programming guide, so it's easier to find a program you want to watch or record.

Xfinity

Xfinity Logo

Opens the main Xfinity menu with the Guide, saved programs, On Demand programming, apps, search and settings.

Page Up

Page Up

Jumps up an entire page in the Guide.

Up / Down / Left / Right

Directional Arrows

Navigate in menus and the Guide.
While watching a program, the Right Arrow brings up the mini-guide.
The Down arrow brings up the on-screen playback controls when watching something recorded.

OK

OK

Select what you have highlighted on the screen in a menu.

Last

Last

Go back one channel, or a list of channels and programs you've watched recently.

Info

Info

Shows information about the current program or recording.

Page Down

Page Down

Jumps down an entire page in the Guide.

Triangle A

A in Triangle

Shows help for the current program or menu you're using.

Square B

B in Square

Open Accessibility Settings menu, to turn on and off Closed Captioning and other features.

Circle C

C in Circle

Opens the Sports app to see scores even while watching television.

Diamond D

D in Diamond

Delete a recording from your DVR.

Number Pad

Number Pad

Directly tune to a specific channel by typing in its number.
Search for a channel using the built in predictive text input.

Setup

Setup

Pair the voice remote to your TV Box or program to control your television or A/V receiver to work with your remote.

TV Input

TV Input

Changes the input on your television, so you can choose between different devices connected. For example, your cable box, blu ray player, game console, etc.

XR2

XR2

Comcast XR2 Remote

TV Power

TV Power

Turns on or off just your television, not the cable box.

All Power

Power

Turns on your cable box and television at the same time.

TV Input

TV Input

Changes the input on your television, so you can choose between different devices connected. For example, your cable box, blu ray player, game console, etc.

Volume + / -

Volume Increase and Decrease

Increase and decrease the volume.

Mute

Mute

Mutes or silences the audio.

Search

Search

Search for programs.

Channel Up / Down

Channel Up and Down

Change the channel up or down by one.

Rewind

Rewind

Rewinds live TV or a recorded program.

Play

Play

Resumes the program if it's paused.

Pause

Pause

Pauses live TV or a recorded program.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

Fast forwards a recorded program.

Stop

Stop

Stops playback and returns you to the menu or live television.

Xfinity

Xfinity

Opens the main Xfinity menu with the Guide, saved programs, On Demand programming, apps, search and settings.

Record

Record

Record the program you are currently watching to the DVR.

Guide

Guide

Shows the programming guide, so it's easier to find a program you want to watch or record.

Page Up

Page Up

Jumps up an entire page in the Guide.

Up / Down / Left / Right

Directional Arrows

Navigate in menus and the Guide.
While watching a program, the Right Arrow brings up the mini-guide.
The Down arrow brings up the on-screen playback controls when watching something recorded.

OK

OK

Select what you have highlighted on the screen in a menu.

Last

Last

Go back one channel, or a list of channels and programs you've watched recently.

Page Down

Page Down

Jumps down an entire page in the Guide.

Info

Info

Shows information about the current program or recording.

Exit

Exit

Exit the menu you are currently in.

Fav

Fav

Opens your list of favorite programs and channels.

Triangle A

A in Triangle

Shows help for the current program or menu you're using.

Square B

B in Square

Open Accessibility Settings menu, to turn on and off Closed Captioning and other features.

Circle C

C in Circle

Opens the Sports app to see scores even while watching television.

Diamond D

D in Diamond

Delete a recording from your DVR.

Number Pad

Number Pad

Directly tune to a specific channel by typing in its number.
Search for a channel using the built in predictive text input.

Setup

Setup

Pair the voice remote to your TV Box or program to control your television or A/V receiver to work with your remote.

Swap

Swap

Swap between the program you are watching, and the last program you watched.

XR5

XR5

Comcast XR5 Remote

TV Power

TV

Turns on or off just your television, not the cable box.

All Power

Power

Turns on your cable box and television at the same time.

Volume + / -

Volume Increase and Decrease

Increase and decrease the volume.

Mute

Mute

Mutes or silences the audio.

Replay

Replay

Jumps back 15 seconds on live television or a recording. This is so you can re-watch a segment of a game or show.

Channel Up / Down

Channel Up and Down

Change the channel up or down by one.

Rewind

Rewind

Rewinds live TV or a recorded program.

Play / Pause

Play Pause

Pauses live TV or a recorded program. Resumes the program if it's paused.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

Fast forwards a recorded program.

Exit

Exit

Exit the menu you are currently in.

Search

Search

Search for programs

Record

Record

Record the program you are currently watching to the DVR.

Guide

Guide

Shows the programming guide, so it's easier to find a program you want to watch or record.

Xfinity

Xfinity

Opens the main Xfinity menu with the Guide, saved programs, On Demand programming, apps, search and settings.

Page Up

Page Up

Jumps up an entire page in the Guide.

Up / Down / Left / Right

Directional Arrows

Navigate in menus and the Guide.
While watching a program, the Right Arrow brings up the mini-guide.
The Down arrow brings up the on-screen playback controls when watching something recorded.

OK

OK

Select what you have highlighted on the screen in a menu.

Last

Last

Go back one channel, or a list of channels and programs you've watched recently.

Info

Info

Shows information about the current program or recording.

Page Down

Page Down

Jumps down an entire page in the Guide.

Triangle A

A in Triangle

Shows help for the current program or menu you're using.

Square B

B in Square

Open Accessibility Settings menu, to turn on and off Closed Captioning and other features.

Circle C

C in Circle

Opens the Sports app to see scores even while watching television.

Diamond D

D in Diamond

Delete a recording from your DVR.

Number Pad

Number Pad

Directly tune to a specific channel by typing in its number.
Search for a channel using the built in predictive text input.

Setup

Setup

Pair the voice remote to your TV Box or program to control your television or A/V receiver to work with your remote.

TV Input

TV Input

Changes the input on your television, so you can choose between different devices connected. For example, your cable box, blu ray player, game console, etc.

Silver

Silver Remote

Comcast Silver with Red OK button Remote

Aux

Aux

Selects the Aux device (such as a Blu Ray Player) to control.

TV

TV

Selects the Television to control.

Cable

Cable

Selects your Comcast cable box to control.

POWER

Power

Turns on or off the device you selected.

Setup

Setup

Setup your universal remote to control your TV or other device.

All On

All On

Turns on your Television and Cable box.

On Demand

On Demand

Opens the Comcast Xfinity video On Demand service.

Rewind

Rewind

Rewinds live TV or a recorded program.

Play

Play

Resumes the program if it's paused.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

Fast forwards a recorded program.

Stop

Stop

Fast forwards a recorded program.

Pause

Pause

Pauses live TV or a recorded program.

Record

Record

Record the program you are currently watching to the DVR.

Back

Back

Jumps back 15 seconds on live television or a recording. This is so you can re-watch a segment of a game or show.

My DVR

My DVR

Open your DVR recordings and features.

LIVE

Live

When watching a show you've paused or rewound, lets you jump to the current live broadcast.

A / Lock

A in Yellow Triangle

Block a channel or program.

B / Day -

B in Blue Square

Jump back 24 hours in the guide.

C / Day +

C in Red Circle

Jump forward 24 hours in the guide.

Page Up

Page Up

Move up a page in the menu, back when watching a program.

Page Down

Page Down

Move down a page in the menu, or forward when watching a program.

Arrow Pad

Arrow Pad

Navigate in menus and the Guide.
While watching a program, the Right Arrow brings up the mini-guide.
The Down arrow brings up the on-screen playback controls when watching something recorded.

Ok / Select

OK / Select button

Select what you have highlighted on the screen in a menu.

Guide

Guide

Shows the programming guide, so it's easier to find a program you want to watch or record.

Info

Info

Shows information about the current program or recording.

Menu

Menu

Opens the main menu for your cable box, giving you access to the DVR, On Demand, Search, and Settings.

Exit

Exit

Exit the menu you are currently in.

Help

Help

Opens the Help menu, to provide more information about using your cable television services.

Last

Last

Go back one channel, or a list of channels and programs you've watched recently.

Volume

Volume up and down

Increase and decrease the volume.

Mute

Mute

Mutes or silences the audio.

Favorite

Fav

Opens your list of favorite programs and channels.

Channel

Channel up and down

Change the channel up or down by one.

Number Pad

Number Pad

Directly tune to a specific channel by typing in its number.

TV/VCR

TV / VCR

When you select TV at the top

HD Zoom

HD Zoom

On an older standard-definition television, or with a standard-definition broadcast on a high-definition television, pressing this will cycle how the show is displayed on your television.

Picture-in-Picture On-Off

Picture-in-picture On-Off

Turns picture-in-picture mode on or off, showing a small window of the previous channel you were watching in the corner.

Picture-in-Picture Swap

Swap

Swap between the program you're watching, and what's in the picture-in-picture window.

Picture-in-Picture Move

Move

Moves the picture-in-picture window to a different corner of your screen.

Picture-in-Picture Channel +

Heavy Plus Sign

Changes the picture-in-picture window's channel up by one.

Picture-in-Picture Channel -

Heavy Minus Sign

Changes the picture-in-picture window's channel down by one.

3. Recording A Program

Recording ProgramsYour Xfinity DVR can record up to six different shows at the same time, so you'll never have to miss a moment of your favorite programs.

Your television doesn't even need to be on; your Xfinity DVR will take care of your recordings for you, including when you're at work, or even watching another program.

Record The Program You Are Watching

You may wish to record the program you are watching right at that moment.

Your DVR is 'always recording' what you are watching on cable TV, but does not save the recording by default. It does this to allow you to rewind or pause live TV, but only has a small buffer of about 25 minutes, and it disappears when you change channels.

  1. Press Record on your remote.
Record
  1. Select Just This Episode.
Record show with Just This Episode highlighted
  1. Your recording will start instantly at the time you pushed the record button.

Record a Show In The Future

  1. Press Xfinity on your remote.
xfinity
  1. Select Guide.
Xfinity menu with Guide button highlighted.
  1. Select the program you want to record.
Xfinity Guide with program highlighted.
  1. Select Record at the bottom.
Guide with program selected and Record highlighted.
  1. You can choose if you want Just This Episode, or All Episodes going forward.
Record options

4. Watch/Delete a Recorded Program

  1. Press Xfinity on your remote.
xfinity
  1. Select Saved.
Xfinity menu with Saved highlighted.
  1. Select Recordings at the top.
Saved with Recordings highlighted.
  1. You may then select an episode, to watch or delete.