TIP: Record an entire series from the DIRECTV guide

It really is that easy. If you find a show you want to record and you think you’ll like the entire series, go to the guide and press the record button twice after highlighting the show you want to record.

You’ll see the icon next to the show title change to indicate that all episodes will be recorded. On an older DVR it looks like this…

and on a newer Genie system it looks like this:

How recurring recordings work on DIRECTV

In the world of DIRECTV, a recurring recording is called a “series link.” You’ll get all the episodes on that channel from now on. When you get the DVR, it’s set so that pressing record twice will only record new episodes.

Changing the defaults on an older DIRECTV DVR

If you want to change that behavior, press MENU then arrow to “Recordings,” then “Manage Recordings,” then “Record Defaults.” You can set how many episodes to keep, when to start and stop, and whether or not to record only new episodes.

You don’t have to press OK or anything, just change the settings and press EXIT to go back to live TV.

Changing the defaults on a newer Genie system

The setup is pretty similar on a newer Genie system. It starts with pressing LIST, then arrowing up to Recording Manager. Press SELECT. You’ll need to arrow all the way down to get to Typical Recording preferences. You’ll think it doesn’t appear on the screen, but it does, you just have to arrow down a bit.

With Typical Recording Preferences highlighted, press SELECT.

Again, when you’re done, just press EXIT to go back to live TV.

And, if you want more control…

If you want even more control, you can search using the menus, but for finding something and choosing to record… this is awesome. It takes no time at all and you can do it so fast that you won’t even miss anything you’re watching!

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About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.