How To Factory Reset Ring Spotlight Camera

If not the best, Ring is one of the best local brands of Wireless WiFi security cameras. The company has several lines of CCTV systems (and video camera doorbells). In this quick guide, we’re going to focus on how to factory reset ring spotlight camera to default settings.

While resetting a Ring camera is no rocket science, we’ve seen people unable to do it successfully. Some may be able to reset their security camera, only to have trouble setting it up later. And in our experience, this kind of problem often arises when you brick the system while trying to reset it.

Does Factory Resetting Ring Camera Help?

Ring is a great wireless security camera, there’s no doubt. The company, YES, seems a bit conservative, as it takes time to adopt new surveillance technologies. However, the cameras still have better features and perks than the supposedly “improved” brands.

For instance, the Ring Spotlight Camera has a 2MP image sensor that records in 1080p Full HD resolution. But in video clarity, the Ring camera appears sharper than some CCTV advertised to record in 2K HD.

Speaking of video, your security camera can lose the live stream if it has an incorrect configuration. If unable to correct these configuration settings, you’ll need to reset everything to factory default.

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Besides video loss, other configuration issues a factory reset can help solve are:

• The Ring security camera is offline and can’t reconnect to the internet even after several tries
• The Ring security camera has lost the spotlight functionality. It can also be the lights start turning on and off when not supposed to
• The Ring security camera has suddenly lost the audio recording and or two-way talk functionality
• The Ring security camera is having some motion detection issues it didn’t have before. For example, the motion sensor and activity zones trigger alerts where not supposed to
• The Ring security camera is suddenly unresponsive and tends to freeze, even when all hardware is fine.
• The Ring security camera has lost the siren function all of a sudden. It could also be the siren has gone haywire and starts going off when not needed

Important Note:

It’s also crucial to factory reset your Ring security camera if planning to give or sell to someone else. The reset usually deletes all the configuration settings, including your WIFI username and password.

Remember, some people can do a lot with the Wi-Fi username and password details saved on your device- Yes, even when they appear hidden.

Similar Article: What Does The Red Light Mean On Ring Camera

How To Factory Reset Ring Spotlight Camera

As said earlier, it’s easy to factory reset Ring Spotlight cameras- or all the cameras from the Amazon brand. The steps to do the reset are actually about the same. Their only difference is with some specifics.

Method 1: Factory Reset the Ring Spotlight Camera with the Dedicated Button

The first way to reset Ring Spotlight camera is by using the integrated physical reset button. All the Ring cameras have this reset button, except at different places.

When you reset a security camera with the dedicated physical button, that’s what we call a hard reset. It’s usually the proper way to reset any CCTV camera system, as the process deletes all the configuration settings. Thus, leaving it (the security camera) as clean and fresh as when brand-new.

Furthermore, hard-resetting Ring camera usually has minimal to no risk of bricking. Basically, “bricking” is where you turn your device into an expensive “brick”. In other words, when you brick a security camera, you corrupt its firmware and hardware, turning it nonfunctional.

Long story short, here are the directions on how to successfully factory reset the Ring Spotlight camera with its physical button:

Directions: How to Reset Ring Spotlight Cam Battery

1. Get to your Ring camera. We’d recommend bringing your mounted security camera down for easy operations. However, you can reset the device while still mounted, provided you can reach it comfortably
2. Once with/ at the camera, locate the built-in reset button. The “reset button” is the same as the Setup button located on the top of the camera
3.  Next, press and hold the Setup button for about 10 – 20 seconds or until the status light (on the camera face) start flashing a red light
4. When the status LED of the camera flashes red (goes about a few seconds), it means the reset is in progress. When the reset completes, the status light will stop flashing, and the camera reboot
5. Finally, after the Ring Spotlight camera has rebooted and fully initialized, grab your phone/ tablet with the Ring app. Then, set up your camera again.

Directions: How to Reset Other Ring Spotlight Cameras

Besides the battery-powered model above, there is Ring Spotlight Cam Wired, Ring Spotlight Cam Pro, and Ring Spotlight Cam Plus.

To factory reset these other Ring Spotlight camera systems, you’ll still have to repeat Steps 1 through 5 above. However, the reset/ Setup button of these other Ring cameras may be under the cover at the back.

Method 2: Factory Reset Ring Spotlight Camera with the Dedicated Mobile App

The second way you can reset security cameras to factory default is to use the management mobile app. If the mobile app has a built-in button to do the reset, resetting your camera with it is what we call a soft reset.

Unlike the hard reset, soft reset usually doesn’t delete all the previous configuration settings of the camera. The network settings (saved Wi-Fi username and password) may remain in place. Thus, may not be ideal to resolve various incorrect configurations or when looking to give the camera to someone else.

A crucial thing to point out is that not all security camera apps have a dedicated button to “Reset”/ “Restore” default settings. The Ring app is a perfect example here.

In such a case, where the mobile app has no dedicated reset button, you’ll have to forcefully reset the security camera. A “forced reset” is where you restore the system to default settings by removing it from the app.

Regardless of the route used, resetting a Ring security camera on the mobile app isn’t 100% safe. It often has a risk of bricking the CCTV camera, which we believe happens by corrupting the firmware.

So, we only recommend you to factory reset Ring Spotlight camera with the mobile app as the last resort. For instance, you can consider it if the physical reset/ Setup button on your camera is broken or nonresponsive.

Interested: How Many Ring Cameras Can You Have On One Account

Directions: How to Reset Ring Spotlight Camera with the mobile app

The steps to reset Ring Spotlight camera with the mobile app are as simple as when using the physical button. They are also the same on all the four different models of the spotlight security camera, whereby you just need to:

1. Grab the phone/ tablet you used to set up your Ring Spotlight camera
2. Launch the Ring app, then log in with your correct username and password (if you haven’t)
3. Once in the app and on the home screen, open the settings of the Ring Spotlight camera you wish to remove from the app. (To get to the camera settings, tap the ellipsis (three dots) above the device in question)
4. When your camera settings open, you’ll notice a number of options. Locate and tap on the “Device Settings” tab.
5. Under the Device Settings, locate and select the “General Settings” tab to display the hidden options
6. Next, on the General Settings, click on the “Remove This Device” button. Then, confirm you indeed want to “Remove Device” from the app.
7. After you confirm to Remove Device, your Ring camera will delete all its configuration settings.
8. Finally, when your Ring camera has rebooted, go to the app and set it up again afresh

Key Takeaway: Remove The Device After a Hard Reset

As we mentioned earlier, hard resetting the Ring Spotlight camera will remove all the configuration settings. But even after deleting all the settings, the hard reset doesn’t remove the camera from the Ring app.

When the Ring camera is still in your app account, no one else will be able to set it up. It won’t matter if the other person has the camera and its serial number/ QR code.

For someone to be able to set up your Ring camera, you’ll first have to delete it from your mobile app. And to do that, follow the steps “How to reset Ring Spotlight Camera with the mobile app” above from Steps 1 through 8.

Remember how we said removing the Ring camera from the app has a risk of bricking it? When you remove the camera from the app after you’ve already hard reset it, it’s not risky here. After all, the hard reset will have already disconnected the camera.

Final Thoughts:

In conclusion, that’s how to factory reset the Ring Spotlight camera right and successfully. It’s a simple process, as you just need to press the built-in Setup button until the status light flashes.

When the status light flashes, it means your Ring camera is resetting. The reset completes when the status light also stops flashing. But as was just said, a successful reset doesn’t exactly remove the camera from the app.

So, when planning to give your Ring Spotlight camera to someone else (or sell), remove it from the app after resetting.

Keep in mind that removing the Ring camera from the app when still active (before a hard reset) has a high risk of bricking. It’s only after the Setup button (to hard reset) fails to work should you proceed to restore factory settings through the app.