There are several ways in which you can reset Philips Hue white bulb in case you encounter any issue while trying to pair your bulb to either Alexa, Google Home device, or any other compatible devices. This article will take you through several ways in which you can reset Philips Hue White bulb.
The Philips Hue is popular to be one of the best home lighting appliances in the World. It provides LED lights with different colors that you can as well set up for your special occasions. To learn how to reset Philips smart bulb, read on!
Although Technology is not perfect, you can fix a whole lot of issues by simply turning on and off your malfunctioning device. Do not underrate it at all! In case your Philips Hue lights and bulbs begin to mess up, you can simply try to also turn it off and on. This is one way by which you can reset Philips Hue white bulb.
Philips Hue bulbs are generally one of the most reliable and easy-to-use smart lights you can find in the market these days. However, every gadget has its pros and cons, in the process of connecting or pairing your Philips Hue bulb, you may encounter some issues. In case this happens to you, just relax! To reset Philips Hue white bulb is quite easy, the process is similar to when you are just installing them for the first time.
Depending on your set-up, the time needed to reset Philips Hue white bulb requires only a few minutes. Whether you are resetting via the bridge, a smart home app, or even a dimmer switch, the process won’t stress you out at all! Read on to learn how to reset Philips Hue white bulb via the various Channels. 
How to Reset Philips Hue White Bulb with the Hue App
Are you using a Philips Hue Bridge? Then the best option for resetting your lights and bulb is the Hue app. Get it right though, “resetting” a Philips Hue light or bulb requires you to simply delete and reinstall the app, instead of having to factory reset it, as it is with many other devices.
For the main process on how to reset Philips Hue White Bulb, follow the steps below since you must have already downloaded the Hue app to set up your smart home, simply open it up to get started. Once you are there, begin the following:
- Open the Hue app.
- Navigate to the Settings tab located at the bottom of the screen.
- Click on Lights to display your available bulbs.
- Select the specific light you will like to reset.
- Select Search to connect your bulb
- Scroll down to the bottom of the same screen and click on the big red Delete button.
- Now, authenticate that you want to delete the light.
And, boom! Your light will be reset and disconnected from your system, now you will be free to reconnect it at your leisure. Follow the steps below for the reconnection steps:
- Open the Hue app.
- Go back to the Settings tab at the bottom of the screen.
- Click on Lights again to show your available bulbs
- Now, press the blue + icon on the paper right corner
- Select Search to connect your bulb
- You can as well choose Use serial number to manually add a bulb.
- Wait for a few seconds to allow the app to connect with the unassigned bulb.
- Choose Start configuration once your light has been detected.
How to Reset Philips Hue White Bulb Without Bridge
Resetting your Philips Hue Bulb without Bridge will work for any Hue bulb whether they are connected via a Hue bridge or through a Bluetooth connection.
In case your bulbs are connected via a bridge, this method won’t reset the bridge, which implies you won’t have to go through the whole Hue bridge setup process from the scratch. Rather, only bulb-specific settings will be deleted.
The steps are quite similar in case you used the Hue Bluetooth app instead, but the screenshots won’t exactly match. Follow the steps below to reset Philips Hue White bulb without Bridge:
- Navigate to the Settings tab in the Philips Hue app.
- Tap Lights under the On This Bridge section.
- Choose the light you want to reset.
- Tap the Delete button.
- Tap the Delete light to confirm again.
- Re-add the bulb by tapping on the three dots icon on the Hue app Home tab.
- Your smart bulb should auto-detect the app. Or you can simply add it by using the Hue bulb serial number located at the base of each bulb.
How to Reset Philips Hue Bulbs With a Bridge
At times, the issue might not be from your bulb, many Hue light errors are mainly caused by Hue bridge connection issues. You will need to reset the bridge if this is the case, this action will also reset all the bulbs and accessories connected via the bridge.
You might try the previous method first if you are having issues with only one bulb. Since this method does a full factory reset of your Hue bridge, you will have to run through the complete setup process again. However, before you continue, take note of any scenes or automation that you might want to re-create after the reset.
- Switch your bridge on and ensure the power status light is lit.
- Disconnect the ethernet cable from the bridge, but leave the power plug in place.
- Search for the pin-hole behind your Hue Bridge. It will be right by the label that says “restore factory settings”.
- Pick a pin and use it to press the button in the pin-hole for at least 5 seconds.
- Set up your Hue bridge and all your lights again, following the in-app instructions or the manual that came with your devices.
In case you are can’t connect to your hue bridge, check out the following first for confirmation:
- Ensure your hue bridge is connected directly to your router.
- In case it is going through a switch or multiple switches, pass them for now.
- All lights should be solid on your hue bridge, ensure none of them is flashing.
- Ensure your device is not connected to a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Examples of a VPN are NordVPN, Private Internet Access, ExpressVPN, and Proton VPN.
- A VPN puts your device on an entirely different network and it will not be able to locate your hue bridge.
Most issues related to bridge connectivity can be resolved by troubleshooting the network configuration.
For example, in case you have a modem/router combo going into another router, moving the bridge from the router to the modem/router combo can solve your connectivity issue. The case can also be similar with switches or managed switches, moving the bridge directly into the router can also fix the issue.
How to Reset Philips Hue White Bulb with Serial Number
To Install the Philips Hue is very simple. Once the bridge is connected to the network and linked to the Hue app, you can go ahead to add the smart lights automatically.
However, in some cases, this may be unsuccessful. For instance, if the Hue light is still linked to another bridge. You can then try to add the light with the serial number. By doing this, the light will also reset first.
The six-digit serial number of a Hue lamp is printed on the lamp. Even if you have a clash with multiple lights, you must reset these per light with the serial number of each one separately. Follow the steps below to manually reset Philips Hue white bulb with serial number:
- Note down the serial number of the light you wish to reset.
- Ensure you attach the light into a socket and supply it with power.
- Open the Philips Hue app.
- Open the Setting tab.
- Choose the light configuration option.
- Tap on the little plus icon located at the top right corner.
- Choose the serial number and fill in the serial number.
- Verify the number and the light will be (re)added to the bridge.
- That’s all!
In case this method doesn’t work for you or manual resetting looks a bit complicated for you? Then, you can as well reset the Philips Hue lamp with a dimmer switch.
How to Reset Hue Bulb with Dimmer Switch
Do you have a Philips Hue dimmer switch? Then, it is best to reset a Hue lamp with this tool. This method is one of the most reliable and it will solve the smart bulb problem 90% out of 100%. Follow the steps below to carry out the Philips Hue light reset:
- Ensure the lamp is plugged in and already charging.
- Place your dimmer switch next to the light.
- Long-press on the upper and lower button for about 10 seconds.
- For v1 this is the one and the off button.
- For v2 this will be the on/off and the hue button.
- Wait for a few seconds till the light blinks 3 times (This shows that the bulb has been reset to factory default settings).
- Now, your light has successfully been reset!
Once your Hue bulbs start working again, then it’s time to get back to enjoying your smart home experience.
Did you know that you can sync your Hue lights to Spotify music? That’s even more interesting when you pair it with Alexa Spotify commands for voice control.
How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb With Alexa
Although this method won’t do a full reset of the Hue bulb. Rather, it will only reset the connection with the Alexa app. In case you are having issues with the Alexa routines using your Hue smart lights, you can disconnect them from Alexa, this is a faster and easier fix than a full reset of your Hue system. Follow the steps below anyway to reset the Philips Hue White bulb with Alexa:
- Open the Alexa smartphone app and navigate to the Devices tab.
- Tap on the Lights button.
- Choose the light you want to remove (To remove all Hue bulbs, simply select “All Hue lights”).
- Tab the gear icon in the upper right corner to open the Device Settings menu.
- Tap the trash can icon located at the upper right corner to delete the device from Alexa (You will be asked to confirm before the device is removed finally).
- Re-add the smart bulb the same way you added it initially.
- Alexa should auto-detect the bulb again now that it has been removed.
- That’s it!
How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb Manually
At times, issues still show up and you might need to make use of the app and troubleshoot. In case it gets tedious, you might try resetting your lights to their default settings and start from scratch.
Although, there are no simple ways to reset the bulbs manually.
Once the light is turned on, move the Dimmer Switch close to it and hold down the On and Off buttons together for about 10 seconds. Once the light blinks and then stops blinking, the bulb has been successfully reset.
Although, the process is quite easier than it sounds, follow the steps below:
- Try to force a factory reset on the Hue Bridge, which removes all lights and scenes.
- Begin your setup again from the scratch. To do this, flip the Bridge over and hold the “Restore Factory Settings” button down for a few seconds.
- This should help reset Philips hue white bulb manually without any hassle.
Bluetooth Philips Hue light reset
The recent models of Philips Hue lights have Bluetooth and can be used without a Philips Hue bridge. An entirely different app must be installed for this purpose; Philips Hue Bluetooth. You can connect the Bluetooth lamps within this app. In case you want to reset a Bluetooth lamp, you can follow the steps below:
- Open the Philips Hue Bluetooth app.
- Open the Setting tab.
- Choose light configuration.
- Tap on the light you want to remove/reset.
- Tap on the delete button.
In case you initially used a Bluetooth light with the Bluetooth app but want to install it on a bridge later. Then resetting it is not necessary. All you can always do is connect the Bluetooth-connected lamp to a bridge. Once the light is connected to a bridge, it can no longer be operated via Bluetooth.
How to Reset Philips Hue Bulb with Google Home
The Google Home is a smart speaker with the Google Assistant built-in. You can always integrate your Philips Hue system with Google Assistant in such a way that it allows you to control your lights with just your voice only. Isn’t that amazing? However, your display/speaker and the Hue Bridge may not be connected to the same network.
The steps below will guide you on how to reset Philips hue bulb with Google Home:
- Open the Hue app.
- Navigate to the Settings tab located at the bottom of the screen.
- Choose Lights to display your available bulbs.
- Select which of the lights you will like to reset.
- Scroll down to the bottom of that screen and click on the big red Delete button.
- Be sure that you want to delete the light before the final confirmation.
I hope this article has helped you to successfully reset Philips hue white bulb using the different platforms listed above? Kindly share your experience in the comment section below. Thanks for reading thus far.