How to record a sixth channel and watch a seventh on your Sky Q box

Sky has revealed that its changed the amount of recordings you can now do simultaneously on Sky Q, from four to six. 

This is something that Sky users have been asking for (and something Sky had promised) mainly because this functionality was introduced in the Virgin TV V6 box - and they didn't want to be left owning a system that's been one upped.

Thankfully Sky has listened to the masses and added this ability via a software update to Sky Q

It essentially means that there shouldn't be any recording clashes anymore - unless your favourite shows are all on at 9pm on a Monday, which is just bad luck really.

Even though Sky is adding this functionality, you do have to follow a few steps to make sure your box is primed for recording six shows. Oh, and please note: this functionality is only available for those with Sky Q 2TB set-top boxes.

This is what you need to do and what you will be losing by recording a sixth channel...

Update settings when prompted

Sky has made it so that you don't need to add this new functionality, until you actually need it. This means that you will only be prompted to update to record six shows when you actually want to record a sixth show. If this happens, then you will see a prompt. The prompt reads: "We can't record [your programme] because you have too many recordings scheduled, please go to settings..."

Set maximum number of recordings

Once prompted, you need to go to Settings>Setup>Preferences and then scroll to Maximum number of Recordings. This is usually defaulted to 5, but now you can up it to 6. This will allow you to record the sixth show and watch a seventh. Bonus. 

Change the default number of recordings

If you don't want to wait for the prompt to appear, then there is nothing stopping you from changing the default number of recordings on your Sky Q set-top box right now. Just head straight to Settings>Setup>Preferences and change the maximum number of recordings to 6.

There is a (slight) catch

There is a slight catch with using this setting. It will mean that the video thumbnail you see in the EPG will change to a static picture. It will also mean that if you are a fan of Sky Sports split-screen functionality, that this will also be disabled. This is why Sky has not made this recording functionality a default, rather something you can turn on and off when your recordings get a bit much. The new feature does mean that you can now record five channels, with all the functionality you had before. 

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.