[Updated!!]- How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb (Without a Bridge & With one)

You might have branched here looking for how to reset your Philips hue bulb probably, you don’t have a bridge installed with the device, or maybe you have one and maybe you are faced with issues like not being able to add a new Philips hue bulb, or you have a bridge installed but the device isn’t seeing the bridge or maybe your Philip hue bulb light is unreachable, and you’ve tried other troubleshooting steps with no avail and you’re here looking for how to reset Philips hue bulb.

You’re in the right place. Resetting it with a Hue bridge is pretty easy to do since the majority of hue users supposedly have a hue bridge installed with the bulb, however, resetting it without a Hue bridge might be more of a bottleneck 

If you’re here looking for how to reset Philips hue bulb with a bridge or without a bridge in this article I will be delving into how you can do both.

Firstly starting with how to reset Philips hue bulb with a bridge

NOTE: Use the table of contents to navigate to how you can reset it without a bridge.

How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb with a Bridge

there are different ways you can follow if you want to reset your Philips hue hub if it has a bridge, you can decide to use the app or use virtual assistants. the process is quite easy and short

But for Philips hue light coming with a bridge installed, your best line of action is to do that through the hue app, and here’s how to do that.

How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb with the Hue app 

 how to reset Philips hue bulb 

  1. Launch the Hue app.
  2. On the bottom side of the screen tap on the setting icon.
  3. Now, tap on Lights to show your available bulbs
  4. Push the blue + icon on the screen right corner
  5. Now, connect your bulb by Selecting Search. Over here you can also use the serial number to add the bulb although that might take a while since you are doing that manually or else continue with the next step.
  6. Wait for the app to connect with the unassigned bulb
  7. Finally, tap on Start configuration once your light is found

Moving, on let’s delve into how you can reset it using Virtual assistant specifically google assistant and Alexa

How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb with Alexa 

Resetting your Philips hue bulb with Alexa won’t perform a full reset what it does is simply reset the connection the Philips hue bulb has with the Alexa app.

Now, let’s dive into it:

Firstly, launch the Alexa app.

  1. Locate and tap on the Devices tab.
  2. Now, choose the light or bulb you want to reset.
  3. At the upper right corner click on the trash can icon.
  4. Finally, confirm that you want to delete the light from your system. and choose “yes”

In You are using the google home as a virtual assistant instead, here is how you can use your google home app to reset the Philips hue bridge

How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb with Google Home

Resetting your Philips hue bulb using the google home app might be a bit challenging however I will do my best to break it down in the simplest way

  1. Launch the Google Home app.
  2. Ensure that you are logged in to the right google account, it’s easy to verify by simply looking at the top corner of the app
  3. On the home, the name is highlighted across the top of the app you want to be double sure you are in the correct Home
  4. Now, Select the light or bulb you’d like to reset
  5. In the upper right corner, click the Setting icon.
  6. Select Unlink Philips Hue from the menu that pops up.
  7. Confirm Unlink to complete the process.
  8. Select Philips Hue from the list of apps.
  9. Finally, confirm that you want to Unlink your account

Since you’ve figured out how to reset Philips hue bulb with a bridge using the hue app or virtual assistant apps, here is how you can do the same with a dimmer switch.

How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb with a Hue Dimmer Switch

This step works perfectly if you want to reset your Philips hue bulb one by one, since you have to bring the dimmer switch within 6 inches of the bulb to reset it, there is no need to use the Hue app. 

Moving on let’s delve into how you can do that with the dimmer switch

  1. Get the dimmer switch and bring it within a distance of at least 6 inches with the bulb.
  2. Next, long-press the switch’s power button located at the top and the Hue button at the bottom. For older switches, use the power and power off buttons instead.
  3. After doing this, wait till the light bulb blinks three times. This indicates that the bulb has been reset to factory default settings.

BY now, you should have been well enlightened on how to reset Philips hue bulb, now let’s proceed to the different ways you can do that without a bridge.

How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb without a Bridge

If you are using your Philips hue bulb without a bridge you might not be able to access its advanced features just as Philips hue made mention of 

“According to Philips Hue, you can make use us a Philip’s Hue without a hue bridge, however, you might not be able to access advanced features without a hue bridge. So, the hue bridge is an integral part of Philip Hue’s bulb and other gadgets to function properly.”

moving on, here are different approaches you can apply to reset your Philips hue bulbs without a bridge

Delete the Hue bulb light from the App

  1. launch your hue app and go to the setting tab.
  2. Locate the light under the bridge section and Click it.
  3. Now, choose the light you want to reset.
  4. tap on Delete.
  5. Confirm your decision.
  6. Now, Add the bulb again by clicking the three dots icon on the Hue app Home tab.

NOTE: The hue app should be automatically detected by your smart bulb else you can add it using the Hue bulb serial number usually located at the base of each bulb.

Reset Using Timed Sequence

This is a common practice however it has worked for some Philips hue users, so if you’ve not thought of it, follow the steps below.

  • Firstly, turn off the light Start with and wait for 5 seconds.
  • Now, switch it on and leave it for 8 seconds.
  • And then turn off for 2 seconds.
  • Repeat this process 5 more times, it could be lesser than that, however, you should stop once the light bulb flashes.

NOTE: The light bulb has to flash three times before you can be sure of a successful reset.

How to factory reset your Philips Hue bulb with bridge

This approach to performing a factory reset differs from others. It performs a full reset on the device, and you need the Philips hue bridge to carry this out, Let’s delve into how you can do that.

  1. get your hue bridge and power it on, ensure the power’s status light is ON.
  2. Unplug the ethernet cable from the bridge, but keep the power plug in place.
  3. At the back of your Hue bridge, you will see a pinhole on the back just as demarcated by the picture below.how to reset philips hue bulb
  4. Over there you will see a label that says “restore factory settings”.
  5. Now, take a pin and press the button in the hole for at least 5 seconds.
  6. After doing that, your hue bridge will perform a full reset, now you have to set up all your lights all over.

Since we’ve been able to resolve the issues of how to reset Philips Hue bulb let’s delve into related questions to this topic from Philips hue users

Reset Hue Bulb, Alexa

To reset your hue bulb with Alexa follows these steps below

  1. launch the Alexa app.
  2. got to the Devices tab.
  3. choose the bulb you want to reset.
  4. Click the trash can icon.
  5. Lastly, confirm that you want to delete the light from your system

How to put Philips hue bulb in pairing mode

If you want to put your light bulb in a pairing mode switch it on and off till it starts blinking then follow the directions in the app you are using. When it is paired it will change back to its original state.

How to Delete a Single Hue Light

  1. Open the Hue app.
  2. Head on over to the Settings tab at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Select Lights to show your available bulbs
  4. Pick which light you’d like to reset.
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of that screen and hit the big red Delete button.
  6. Confirm that you want to delete the light.

Philips hue bulb not connecting

If your Philips hue bulb isn’t connecting to your hue bridge you might want to check if your hue is distant from your bridge, if it isn’t then probably there, might be an interference in the wifi, since this is a common cause.

Here’s is what you can do

  • Launch your Hue app:
  • Go to settings > Hue Bridges
  • Now, select your bridge by clicking the ‘i’.
  • Navigate to ‘ZigBee channel change
  • Finally, adjust the channel and ensure your lights are on while doing this.

Conclusion

Figuring out how to reset your Philips hue might be challenging especially if you don’t have a bridge installed with it however, you should ensure to get a bridge if you don’t have one.

In addition, if you haven’t been able to reset your Philips hue bulb and you don’t have a bridge installed, check here for a more comprehensive way to do that.

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