There can be several situations where a reset for your Nest thermostat is justified.
You might be facing issues with the temperature settings or you might just be selling the thermostat or switching things up with your HVAC system.
Whatever the case, I’ll show you how to carry out a reset in the guide below so let’s get into it.
Restart vs Reset: What's the Difference?
Restarting your Nest Thermostat is like rebooting a computer – it resolves minor glitches without affecting your settings.
Resetting, on the other hand, erases specific or all stored information, helping you adjust to significant changes.
Restarting a Nest Thermostat
Typically, you only need to rely on a restart if your thermostat screen is stuck or frozen. If the screen is blank, you might have to troubleshoot any power issues before following through with a restart.
To restart your Nest Thermostat:
- Press and hold down the thermostat ring for about 10 seconds, or until the screen completely powers off.
- Release the ring, then press it once more, initiating the restart process.
- Wait for the screen to fully turn on, which signals that the restart process is complete.
Types of Resets for Nest Thermostats
Nest Thermostat offers various reset options:
- Schedule Reset
- Wi-Fi Reset
- Away Reset
- Factory Reset (All Settings)
Each serves a specific purpose, depending on your needs.
However, before you follow through with each of these reset procedures, make sure to write down any of your old schedules, customer settings, or hardware information (such as the system wire configuration, HVAC equipment, and temperature settings).
To access the hardware information, you can head over to the “Equipment” menu under Settings.
At SmartHomePerfected we always advise readers not to undertake any work they are not competent in performing and if in any doubt, it is best to seek the assistance of a professional.
1. Schedule Reset
All Nest Thermostats, including the 3rd Gen and Nest E, enable users to set personalized schedules for their home's cooling and heating systems.
Performing a Schedule Reset on your Nest Thermostat deletes all this existing schedule data from the device.
It clears your temperature settings, erasing any learned or manually input set points. Therefore, you may need to reset the existing schedule to create a new one depending on your daily routine.
How to Schedule Reset
To carry out a “schedule” reset:
- Press on the ring surrounding the thermostat screen, allowing you to access the main menu.
- Turn the Nest Ring, scrolling to the ‘Settings' option, then press the ring again to select it.
- Within the settings menu, scroll to the ‘Reset' option and press the Nest Ring once more.
- Scroll down to the ‘Schedule' option and tap the Nest Ring to choose this reset type.
- Finally, select either ‘Reset' or ‘Clear' (depending on your thermostat model) by pressing the ring one last time.
- Follow the instructions on the thermostat to confirm the changes. Typically, you’ll have to turn the ring half a turn or wait until a timer runs out.
- After that, your Nest thermostat schedule will reset, followed by a quick rebooting.
After the thermostat restarts, your schedule will be cleared.
2. Wi-Fi Reset
Resetting the Wi-Fi on a Nest thermostat is crucial when switching to a new router or troubleshooting connection issues.
With a Wi-Fi reset, you'll erase the current network settings and prepare your device to connect to a new Wi-Fi network.
Also, if a power outage or connection failure has left you with a spotty Wi-Fi connection, a simple Wi-Fi reset may help resolve the issue.
Carrying Out a Wi-Fi Reset
- Press the Nest ring button to wake up the screen and open the quick-view menu
- Then, head over to Settings
- Select Reset
- Choose “Network”
- Press Reset or Clear
- Follow the instructions to provide confirmation
- Wait for the device to complete the reset and rebooting procedure.
You have now reset your Nest Wi-Fi configuration. To sign in to a new Wi-Fi network, go to Settings → Network.
3. Away Reset
If you would like to remove all settings and temperature configurations related to home vs away or home/away assist modes, then you can carry out an “Away” Reset.
Below are the steps to achieve this:
- Wake up the screen and open up the quick-view menu
- Move to Settings
- Scroll to “Reset” and select this option
- Tap on “Away”
- Press Reset or Clear
- Follow any confirmation prompts
Your Nest Away settings are now reset
4. Factory Reset
A Hard/Factory Reset is the ultimate solution to any recurring problem. Apart from fixing any technical problems, a hard rest will turn any Nest Thermostat completely new, overwriting every setting on your device and restoring it to default.
If you are moving out of your old house, or selling the thermostat, I highly recommend you perform a Hard Reset to make sure all your personal information is removed from the device.
Also, before going through with a factory reset, make sure to note down any custom settings and remove the thermostat from your Nest account.
How to Remove a Nest Thermostat from Your Nest Account
- Open the Nest App.
- Tap on the Menu icon at the top left.
- Pick the home that is connected to the Nest thermostat you want to remove.
- From the App home screen, select the thermostat you want to remove.
- From the upper right-hand corner, tap the Settings icon.
- Scroll down, and tap on “Remove.”
- Confirm your choice by following any prompts that may show up
After this, your device will be removed from your Nest account. You can safely continue with the factory reset process on the thermostat.
How to Factory Reset A Nest Thermostat
- Press the thermostat ring button to wake up the screen and open up the quick-view Menu.
- Then, tap the settings icon on the display
- Locate and select ‘Reset'
- Scroll down to ‘All Settings' and select this option
- To confirm your action, turn the ring as instructed
The Nest thermostat will now begin the factory reset process. It will also reboot after the factory reset, after which you can start reconfiguring the device.
Conclusion
Instead of going directly to a factory reset, you have several reset options for specific settings. As such, you can either clear the schedule, Wi-Fi, or “Away” settings without having to start back up from scratch.
Beyond that, you can also restart the device to clear any glitches or frozen screen errors, so don’t forget to check the guide above and drop us a comment if you have any questions.
1 Comment
Pam Nicholson
You explained things very well. However, your instructions are for someone who has direct access to the thermometer. I am bedbound and need to know how to reset my thermometer settings with my computer. I have been setting times and temps with it under schedule, but there must be a faster way to do it and I need to know how I can clear the schedule and then set the new times and temps. I am assuming that if I set one temp at a certain time and then put a change of temp at a later or earlier time, that I only have to do it once and it will continue at that temp until I change it at another time. Sure would appreciate some help with this. Thank you.