If you own a Ring doorbell and security camera for your front door, you might be wondering how you can turn it off, either to stop motion alerts or for other reasons. Ring doorbells have various settings, and we’ll dive into some of them, plus how NOT to turn off your Ring doorbell.
I’m a very picky buyer. I spend months researching and reading about certain products and gadgets I want to buy. I take even more time and consideration on house security matters, including security cameras and doorbell cameras.
Because security cameras placed around our house are the best way to keep an eye for anything happening outside, I like to make it a point to indulge myself in plenty of research.
For effective (and the right) ways to turn off a Ring doorbell, I’ve got you covered right here!
What is a Ring Doorbell?
The Ring doorbell is one of the most famous and most preferred ring doorbells available in the market right now. If you ask someone to recommend to you some of the best doorbell cameras in the market right now, they for sure will include Ring doorbells in their list.
A Ring doorbell is a two-in-one smart home gadget that lets you keep a close eye on your front door and keep your family secure. It has both a doorbell and a camera you can position right on your front door.
Ring doorbells come with some of the best features in the doorbell camera game. It boasts of HD video feed with night vision, two-way talk feature, and motion sensors that can send you alerts and record anything happening outside.
With the Ring app, you have access to a wide array of access to customization and settings on how you can configure your unit to work and operate according to your needs.
The only drawback to Ring video doorbells is that they’re always on – detecting motion and sending you alerts straight to your phone.
In some cases, owners would need to turn their Ring doorbell off, whether it’s to relocate it or simply to turn it off. If you’re wondering how to do it, I’ve got you covered here!
How to Turn Off Ring Doorbell
If, for some reason, you need or want to turn off your Ring doorbell camera, hold your horses before you do anything that can potentially break it.
We have below some ways you can try to disable your Ring doorbell camera.
Turn off motion sensor and motion recording
Any user can turn off Ring doorbells by turning off and disabling the unit’s motion sensor and record motion feature. By turning off a Ring doorbell’s motion sensor and motion recording features, the unit is essentially turned off.
To disable motion detection, follow the steps below:
- Open your Ring app.
- On the Ring app, tap on the Devices tab.
- Go to the Doorbells section and look for your device and click on it.
- Click on Motion Settings and locate the slider. This slider is able to control the sensitivity of your unit’s motion detection feature.
- Move the slider to the left to turn off all motion detection.
If you decide to turn your Ring doorbell back on, you would have to do this manually on your Ring account and app. To keep your home and family secure, don’t forget to do this once you’re ready to turn the motion detector back on!
Turn off motion alerts
You can also disable your Ring doorbell from functioning to its full potential by turning off the motion alerts sent straight to your phone.
You can turn off your Ring doorbell’s motion notifications by doing the steps below:
- Open your Ring app.
- On the app, click on the Devices tab.
- Go to the Doorbells section and look for your device and click on it.
- Click on Motion Settings and toggle the switch for Motion Alerts. Turning this off will stop sending your motion alerts from motions detected by your Ring doorbell.
Once you say it’s time to receive motion alerts again, you would have to manually turn this setting back on with the Ring application as well.
Turn off internet access or disconnect established connection
Ring doorbells and other camera and security options from the brand all require an internet connection to function properly. These don’t have local storage and would need Ring’s cloud service to be able to record and store recordings.
Another way to turn off your Ring doorbell is by turning off your internet and the unit’s established internet connection.
For the simplest way, you can do this by turning off the router. But this would be impossible if you have other devices connected to your internet router.
Lucky for you, you can still do this without having to turn off your internet router:
If possible, have your Ring doorbell connect to your internet router’s Guest Network. Most modern routers have this feature. Once connected to the Guest Network, you only need to turn this feature on and off to do the same for your Ring doorbell. You can do this without completely turning off your internet router.
If the Guest Network option doesn’t work for you but you still want to have the option to turn off your Ring doorbell with the WiFi option, get yourself a WiFi repeater. And then use this repeater solely for your Ring doorbell. Whenever you want to turn your unit off, simply unplug the repeater so the Ring doorbell loses the established internet access.
Use a physical barrier on the Ring camera
If you want a quick and simple app-free way to turn off your Ring camera temporarily, you can simply put a physical barrier over the camera, without having to go through the device settings. Doing so will disable your camera from detecting and sensing any motion. This also means it will not be able to record anything or send you motion alerts.
Do Not: Remove the Batteries
Older Ring doorbell models have removable battery users can remove to manually turn them off. But newer models of Ring doorbells don’t have the same feature. Newer models have a fixed battery pack. Removing this to turn off your Ring doorbell would result in a void warranty.
Remember, never remove your Ring doorbell’s battery pack as this will void your unit’s warranty. To temporarily turn off your unit, follow any of the steps above.
Still Can’t Disable Your Ring Doorbell?
If you’ve tried the steps above with the use of the Ring app and still encounter issues, a little troubleshooting should help you work out the issues.
- First, you can uninstall and reinstall the Ring app. After reinstalling, connect your Ring doorbell again.
- You can also try restarting your WiFi a couple of times. This will give your home internet connection a boost in speed.
- Restart your phone if any of the two above don’t work.
- And if all else fails, you can contact Ring support anytime.
Why People Choose to Turn Off Their Ring Doorbell (and Other Ring Device)
Ring cameras and doorbells are designed to be on at all times. This way, they get to do the work you need them to, i.e. detecting motion, sending you alerts, and allowing for a two-way talk with whoever is at your front door.
Though most people have them turned on at all times, there are times when you may need to turn them off. Why exactly do people turn their Ring doorbell at times?
One common reason is you might be relocating your unit.
When you’re working near the proximity of its motion detectors or have people doing some work around, your unit’s motion sensor is continuously working. This means you can be bombarded with motion alerts and this can get annoying. For these instances, you might want to disable your camera.
Conclusion
Ring doorbell devices are a great way to have an eye on the outside world. Plus, with motion alerts sent straight to your phone, you know whoever it is that gets close to your home.
Though designed to be turned on at all times, there may come a time when you need to turn your unit off. When relocating your Ring video doorbell or when there are people working within its detection zone, you might prefer to turn it off to avoid getting countless unnecessary motion alerts.
So how does one turn off a Ring doorbell camera?
For one, you can turn off the unit’s motion sensor and recording, rendering it useless altogether. If your main concern is being bombarded with motion alerts, you can also choose to disable just the alerts feature. Because Ring doorbells need to be connected to the internet, turning off or disconnecting it from your WiFi can also disable the unit.
If you want to turn it off without the Ring app, you can always use a physical barrier on the camera itself so it detects no motions.
And that has been our guide on how to turn off your Ring doorbell!
