Are you a Ring Doorbell user looking for a way to power off your device? We’ve got you covered! Let’s talk about how you can easily turn off your Ring doorbell when the need arises.
Video doorbells are good for keeping a close eye on your housefront at all times. However, there are occasions when you may want to temporarily deactivate it.
Perhaps you’re moving or simply want to relocate your doorbell to a different spot. In such cases, you should ensure that the power of your doorbell is turned off.
Now, here’s the catch: many Ring Doorbell users often struggle to find a straightforward solution for powering off their devices. You might be scratching your head, wondering where the elusive “on-off” switch is located or why there’s no option to turn it off in the Ring app.
But worry not! We’re here to share all the essential information on how to power off your Ring doorbell.
Can You Completely Turn off or Disable a Ring Doorbell?
Is it possible to completely turn off or disable a Ring Doorbell? Well, there isn’t a direct option to turn off a Ring Doorbell. But don’t worry; we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve to help you achieve a temporary disabling of your device.
Older generations of Ring doorbells come with removable batteries. If you own one of those, you can carefully take out the batteries to turn off the device completely. It’s a straightforward solution.
But, newer doorbell models have non-replaceable batteries, and removing them can void your warranty. So, in that case, we need to explore some alternative methods to achieve a temporary disablement.
Luckily, by making a few adjustments and tinkering with the settings in the Ring app, you can create a sort of “temporary disabling” for your doorbell.
It’s not a perfect solution, but it can serve your purpose. Let’s dive into the steps and see how you can do it.
3 Methods to Turn Off Ring Doorbell
If you want to turn off a Ring Doorbell, let me clarify something upfront. While you can’t completely power it off, but you can find other ways to limit its functionalities and keep it less active. We’ll share a couple of methods.
Method #1: Adjusting the Motion Settings
One way to temporarily disable your Ring Doorbell or reduce its usage is by modifying the motion settings. Specifically, you can tweak the motion zone and motion sensitivity. By doing so, you can limit the doorbell’s activation and make it less responsive to movement.
By altering these settings, you can essentially control the areas and conditions that trigger the doorbell’s alerts and recordings. It’s a practical approach to minimizing its activities while still maintaining some level of surveillance.
The Motion settings you need to keep your eyes on are –
- Motion Zones
- Motion Sensitivity
- Motion Scheduling
If you want to manage the motion detection of your doorbell, you have the flexibility to create both large and small zones within the captured area.
This means that only motion occurring inside these designated zones will trigger alerts and notifications, while any activity outside of these zones will not raise any alarms.
The pros of this feature are that you can create multiple zones according to your needs. This allows you to optimize the effectiveness of your doorbell in the areas that matter most to you, while excluding areas that are less relevant, such as trees, roads, or neighboring houses.
By keeping the number of zones to a minimum and ensuring they are small-sized, you can effectively reduce the usage of your doorbell.
This approach helps minimize unnecessary alerts and focuses on the specific areas that require your attention.
To set up zones,
- Go to Ring app.
- On the top left, press the three horizontal lines.
- Go to Devices.
- Go to the device settings of your specific device (the doorbell in this case).
- Go to Motion Settings → Motion Zones.
- Press Add a Motion Zone.
- Draw your zones according to the on-screen instructions
- Tap Save.
Next is Motion Sensitivity:
It’s a slider you can adjust to change how much motion will trigger an event. If you keep the slider on the furthest left on the minimum threshold, you’ll get alerts only when there is a lot of motion.
To change Motion Sensitivity,
- Go to Devices → Motion Settings → Motion Sensitivity.
- Hold the slider and move it to the left or right to change the sensitivity.
- On the upper right, tap Save.
If you have a wired Ring Doorbell, then
- Go to Devices → Motion Settings.
- Change the slider between Less Motion and All Motion.
Motion Scheduling:
Lastly, I want to mention the Motion Scheduling feature. It’s a handy tool that allows you to specify a specific timeframe during which you won’t receive any motion alerts.
For instance, let’s say you don’t want to be bothered by motion detections every Sunday from 7 AM to 7:15 AM; you can set up the scheduling accordingly.
This feature comes in handy when you have a recurring event or situation where you prefer not to trigger the device unnecessarily.
If motion scheduling is active and has disabled motion alerts, you won’t be able to manually turn them on during that scheduled period. It ensures that you have uninterrupted peace during the designated timeframe.
Method #2: Modifying Modes in the Ring App
Another method to temporarily disable your Ring Doorbell is by utilizing the Modes settings within the Ring App. This feature allows you to configure surveillance settings for all your cameras, including the ability to tweak settings specifically for your doorbell.
Within the Modes settings, you have two options to choose from:
- Disarmed Mode and
- Home Mode.
The selection depends on the level of activity you want to disable your doorbell.
By activating the Disarmed Mode, you can effectively disable motion detection for the individual doorbell, whether it’s installed inside or outside your house. This mode ensures that your doorbell remains inactive in terms of motion alerts and recordings.
On the other hand, Home Mode provides a broader scope of disablement. In this mode, all Ring devices inside your home will be disabled, while the ones installed outside will remain active.
It offers you the flexibility to prioritize surveillance for exterior areas while temporarily deactivating the devices within your home.
By utilizing the Modes settings, you can easily customize the behavior of your Ring Doorbell and tailor its usage according to your specific needs.
To configure modes,
- Go to the Ring app.
- On the upper-right corner, press the three horizontal lines.
- Go to Settings → Enable Modes.
- Choose any of the 3 modes you want to configure.
- Configure the Mode for your devices.
Method #3: Leveraging the Motion Snooze Option
This method gives you the ability to temporarily snooze the motion detection of your doorbell. In simple terms, you can turn off motion alerts from your Ring device for a specific duration of time.
If you find yourself bombarded with excessive notifications and want to power off your doorbell temporarily, the Motion Snooze feature is your go-to solution.
It allows you to silence all motion alerts without the need to tinker with any device settings. It’s a hassle-free way to take a break from the constant notifications and regain some peace and quiet.
To turn on Motion Snooze,
- Go to the Ring app.
- On the upper-right corner, press the three horizontal lines.
- Go to Devices.
- Press Motion Snooze.
- Adjust the motion snooze slider. This lets you change the time for the snooze to stay.
- Finally, press Save Snooze Settings at the bottom.
Note: If you have turned off motion alerts in the Ring app, the Motion Snooze feature will not be functional. Also, if you have Alexa-enabled devices connected, their notifications will not be affected by Motion Snooze. This feature solely applies to the notifications within the Ring app.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, Ring Doorbell does not have a power button. Once installed, the device is intended to be always on and ready to use.
No, you cannot turn off a Ring Doorbell from the outside. But, you can disable the device through the Ring app or by disconnecting it from power.
If your Ring Doorbell runs on battery power, it’ll typically last for 6 to 12 months on a full charge. But, this time can vary depending on the amount of usage and environmental factors such as weather and location.
Conclusion
Ring falls short in providing this essential power-off functionality. Many users in the community have expressed the need for a way to completely switch off the new Ring Doorbell models.
It’s a valid request that Ring should consider and address in response to user feedback.
Until such an option becomes available, your only alternatives are to remove the batteries (if they are removable), adjust motion settings, remove the device from the Ring app, or disconnect it from the Wi-Fi network.
These temporary workarounds can help you manage the device’s activity until a comprehensive power-off option is introduced.
