If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve recently purchased a used Ring Doorbell or inherited one from a previous owner and are trying to figure out how to remove their information from the device.
Trust me, I’ve been there. When I first purchased my Ring Doorbell, I was excited to get it set up and working at my front door. But when I went to log into the app, I was met with the previous owner’s information and had no idea how to remove it. It was frustrating, to say the least.
But don’t worry, I eventually figured it out and want to help you do the same. In this blog, I’ll be sharing my first-hand experience and the steps I took to remove the previous owner from my Ring Doorbell.
With a little bit of patience and some simple instructions, you’ll have your Ring Doorbell up and running under your own account in no time.
So let’s get started!
Removing Previous Owner from Ring Doorbell
The process of removing or changing the owner from Ring is simple and easy. But it is possible only when you know the process. I personally talked to the Ring authority and make myself clear and doubt free about this.
In this article, I am going to describe the process in sequence. To make it understandable, I will keep it as simple as possible.
Let’s move on to it:
Transfer or change ownership
You cannot skip or avoid transferring ownership if you want complete authority over your device and account.
After buying the Ring doorbell from someone else, you have to set it up. The setup starts by creating your own account. After that, this account of yours becomes the new owner of that device. You will be able to run the complete setup process and the device like the old owner did once.
As soon as you install and complete the setup process, the particular Ring device will no longer be available on the previous owners’ account. He will lose control and every kind of access to the device.
This is actually the overall scenario. It is not like you buy it and kick him out of the device. If that was possible, anyone would have done this to anyone. Only when the previous owner ends everything officially, then you can remove him from your device.
Let’s see the procedure:
Withdraw Payment Information from Previous Owners’ Accounts
Well, this process should be done by the previous owner. When you are buying a Ring doorbell from someone else, make sure he/she does it. If he/she is not aware of this, remind them. Because, without doing it, you won’t have full access to the app.
The person whose account is linked with the Ring device can only remove the information. It should be done from a desktop or a laptop. Mobile will not be suitable for this task.
Follow these pretty simple steps and you will be successful in no time:
Well, all these have to be done by the previous owner of the device. If he doesn’t know about these, guide him through. It will also be helpful for you if you are the seller now or in the future.
Contact Ring to Cancel Subscription and Have a Refund
After canceling the payment option, the new owner must contact Ring support. He must inform them about canceling it. He also needs to ask them if any payment plan is left.
If the owner already paid for the plan, he can stop it right away and have the money back. The refund will be only for the unused period of the Ring subscription. Read the Ring refund policy.
You can talk over the phone or you can have a chat with Ring Support. Going in person may not be a wise option as they have outlets in only a few cities.
If you wish to sell your Ring doorbell anytime, this can be helpful for you as well.
Remove Linked Devices from Ring
At last here is something you could do now. By doing this you can completely remove the previous owner and his associates from your Ring doorbell.
Just go to the settings menu from the app and select ‘Linked Devices’. There you can see the all devices or users that are linked with your Ring device.
Those shared devices are from the previous owner (if you haven’t added anyone yet). Just select any device and press the unlink button. That particular device will no longer be linked with your Ring device.
In that way, you can completely remove the previous owner from your Ring doorbell. It is quite easy and takes only a few seconds to do it.
A Few More Things You Can Do
There are a few more things you could do as a precaution. These are for your safety and privacy:
Change the Password of Your Ring Account
Your previous owner may have saved the password on some other devices. If so, the previous owner can still have some access anyway. Changing the password can prevent it.
When you change the password, no other device will have any kind of access. Ask the previous owner to change his password as well.
Reset your Ring Doorbell
Reset your Ring doorbell as a final step. If you want to both remove the previous owner and his settings of him, it’s the best option you have.
This is how you can do a Hard Reset:
When you reset your device, it becomes like new. Every setting done by the previous owner is gone. Account setup is also gone and so as the shared devices. You will have to start the account setup right from the beginning.
Conclusion
Removing the previous owner from your Ring doorbell is not that hard at all. You need to do some steps as soon as you take over the device and in presence of the old owner.
If you couldn’t do so, keep in touch with the old owner. At least do these until you have full access to your device.
It is better to ask for assistance from Ring support if you cannot reach the old owner. I hope my words will guide you on your way to gaining complete ownership of your Ring doorbell.
You can read Can You Turn Off Ring Cameras Temporarily?
