The glowing ring on your Ring video doorbell shows you how it's working right now. Different colors and patterns tell you what's going on with the doorbell at any given moment.
There are no less than 8 situations when your Ring doorbell has a blue light (and another 8 where it has a white light)!
For example, if it’s flashing blue, it indicates the device is booting up after a restart. Whereas, if only a section of the circular light is flashing blue, that indicates a Wi-Fi issue.
From blinking blue, solid blue, differences in blinking speed and the percentage of the circle illuminated it’s easy to be confused.
In this article, I dive into what each light color and indicator represents and how to fix it.
Why is My Ring Doorbell Flashing Blue?
As I mentioned, there can be several reasons why your Ring video doorbell's light is flashing Blue. Depending on the situation, it could either be nothing to worry about, or indicate a serious issue.
So, it's important to take note of the model you have and the flashing light pattern before attempting to troubleshoot.
How to Identify My Ring Video Doorbell Model?
You can check the product documentation or packaging to figure this out. Additionally, you can also use the Ring app. Here’s how:
- Open the Ring mobile app.
- Then, tap on the menu button (≡)at the top left.
- Tap on “Devices”
- If multiple devices show up, pick one that looks like the video doorbell on your front door.
- Tap on “Device Health.”
- Here, you can find the “Product Name” under the “Device Details” section.
Ring Doorbell Light Indicators and What They Mean
Almost all Ring doorbells follow the same patterns to communicate a specific error. However, there are some differences based on how the device is powered and if there have been any recent network changes.
Here's what each different light pattern indicates:
Blue Indicators
- Blue Lights Spinning: Normal Reaction to Doorbell Button Presses
- Blue Light Moving Up: Connecting to a Previously Connected Wi-Fi Network
- Blue Light Flashing On and Off: The doorbell is booting up.
- Solid Blue Light: The speaker is enabled on the doorbell
- Flashing Blue Light Upper Half Only: Wrong Wi-Fi password (Pro 1 and Pro 2 only)
- Sections of Blue Light Flashing and Filling up the Screen: Indicating the percentage of charge (1st generations)
Mixture of Blue and White Indicators
- Flashing Four Times Followed by a White Spin and Blue Upward Transition: Indicating a successful setup
- Short Bursts of Blue Followed by a Spinning White Light: The doorbell is performing a factory reset
White Indicators
- White Lights Spinning: Connecting to a Wi-Fi network for the first time.
- White Light Flashing On and Off: Carrying out a firmware update
- Flashing White Upper Half Only: Failed setup because of wrong Wi-Fi password
- Flashing White Right Half Only: Failed setup because of router/signal strength issue
- Flashing White Left Half Only: Failed setup due to an unknown reason
- Solid White Light: Indicating an idle doorbell (Elite Only)
Red Indicators
- Flashing Red Bottom Half Only: Low voltage or not enough power (Pro 1 and Pro 2 only)
After you identify the flashing pattern, the next step is to troubleshoot the issue.
How to fix the Flashing Blue Light on a Ring Doorbell
Scenario 1. Sections of Blue Light Flashing in a Circular Pattern
This fix is specific to 1st generations of Ring Doorbells.
The flashing blue circle on 1st gen doorbells usually means the device is charging. Once fully charged, the circle should stop flashing.
So if the flashing blue light doesn't go away it usually points to a charging issue.
1st gen doorbells can operate fully on battery power and be manually charged or they can be trickle charged via the doorbell circuit.
Unlike later models, the 1st gen Ring Doorbell's battery isn't easily replaceable. If the battery is completely flat and the device doesn't charge, you unfortunately might need to replace the entire unit.
Other than a flat battery, faulty wiring could also be a culprit, if the doorbell is hardwired. In this case you'll need isolate the circuit and make sure the wires are in full contact with the doorbell to complete the circuit. If you're unsure of this, then I suggest getting in touch with a professional electrician.
Scenario 2. Frantically Blinking Blue, Then White
Like any smart device, a Ring doorbell can sometimes go into reset mode. This could be triggered by a user, or during firmware updates.
If the circular LED light of your Ring Doorbell is blinking blue in short, rapid bursts for a few seconds, followed by a white spinning circle, it means that a factory reset is happening.
There's no need to worry, as it shows that your Ring doorbell is finalizing the reset process.
If after an extended period of time the device keeps blinking blue with a spinning white light, then it's possible the reset encountered an error. This could be down to a bad firmware update, a drop in power at the wrong time, or some other internal glitch.
Power Cycle
In this case, I recommend waiting a while to see if it can right itself and if not try to power cycle the device which can help resolve minor glitches.
To power cycle, you remove the battery from the device (for models with a removable battery) and for hardwired devices, then you can turn off the doorbell circuit from the main breaker board. After a couple of minutes, power it back up to see if that resolves the problem.
Scenario 3. Blue Light Sweeping Upwards
This pattern shows up when the Ring doorbell is trying to reconnect to a known Wi-Fi network.
Usually, you don't have to do anything. The Doorbell will connect to the Wi-Fi network, and the flashing pattern will die down.
However, if it doesn't go away after a minute or so, there might be signal issues or a lack of internet access. To resolve this:
- First, log in to the Wi-Fi networking using a smart device and perform a quick speed test. If the speed is low (say 2Mbps), there might be an issue with your ISP,
- You may also have too many devices connected to the network. Try disconnecting unnecessary devices and make sure other devices are not consuming a lot of data (such as large downloads or updates).
- After that, check the speed again. If it improves, see if the indicator light dies down.
- You can also check this by logging into the Ring doorbell on the Ring app and checking the live view.
- If the live view shows up instantly and doesn't buffer or look blurry, the network error might be resolved.
Check Wi-Fi Signal Strength Using the Ring App
Additionally, you can confirm the device has enough Wi-Fi signal by checking the RSSI (signal strength) from the “Device Health” tile. Here's how:
- Open the Ring app and select your doorbell (Menu icon ☰ –> Devices).
- Then, from the device dashboard, tap on “Device Health.”
- Here, scroll down until you get to signal strength.
- Make sure it's displaying a green value and that it's not too high (closer to zero, the better).
- If the signal is displayed in red or amber (with a value such as -40 to -100), you might have to improve the signal strength. To learn how to do so, check out this article.
How to fix other Indicator Lights on a Ring Doorbell
Scenario 1. White Light Flashing
Typically, the white light will start flashing on a Ring doorbell when it's trying to update its firmware.
- When this happens, you must ensure the device has a strong and stable internet connection.
- So disconnect unnecessary devices, and check the Ring app for any important notifications.
- The Ring app will let you know if there's a firmware update or whether it needs fresh batteries to continue the update.
- The firmware update should take around 5 minutes or so. However, if it takes longer than that, you must check your Wi-Fi connection and ensure the signal is strong.
That said, if the white light keeps flashing forever, you can try restarting/resetting the device.
Scenario 2. Upper Half Flashing White
The upper half of the ring indicator will start flashing white when you've entered the wrong Wi-Fi password. It occurs during the initial setup, and you can reconnect by typing in the correct one.
If you don't know how, there are several ways you can find your Wi-Fi password:
- Printed on the back of the router (that is, if it's running on the default settings)
- Through the network settings on your PC or Mac
- Through your Android smartphone or iPhone
- Through the router settings (if you can log in to it first)
After you find the correct password, you can try logging in via the Ring app. The flashing lights will change to a sweeping upwards pattern (in blue or white, depending on the model) when the password is correct.
Scenario 3. Left or Right Halves Flashing White
The left or right halves of the Ring indicator can also start to flash during the network setup process. However, it's not due to a wrong password and could be due to several others reasons. These could be:
- Wi-Fi network can't connect to the internet
- The router has blocked the Ring doorbell
- Ring doorbell is incompatible with the network settings of the router
- Ring doorbell doesn't have a strong signal range
This is also related to network issues, so ensure your Wi-Fi network has internet access and a strong signal.
Scenario 4. Bottom Half Flashing Red
When this happens, it implies that the Ring doorbell is running into a power issue. It might be low batteries or low voltage on the doorbell transformer terminals.
So, try recharging the device or checking the connections of the transformer terminals. You can also check the terminal voltage and battery level through the “Device Health” tile in the Ring app.
If there's an issue with the doorbell transformer or the internal battery, I recommend getting help from a professional.
Scenario 5. LEDs Spinning White During Setup
To make this indicator light go away, you must complete the setup process. Here's how:
- Download and open the Ring app on your smartphone.
- Then, create an account or log in.
- After that, you'll be greeted by the home screen on the Ring app. Here, tap on the hamburger menu icon (☰).
- Then, from the side list, tap on “Set Up a New Device.”
- Choose “Doorbells” and allow the Ring app to scan for the QR code in the doorbell. You can also find the QR code on its user manual or packaging.
- Then, follow the prompts in the app to set up your location, device name, and other installation instructions. Also, keep your Wi-Fi password ready. I recommend writing it down so you can type it into the app correctly.
- After that, keep following the instructions in the app to connect to your device. You need to keep your smart device closer to the Ring doorbell for it to link up.
- Then, select your Wi-Fi network and type in the password. Make sure the password is correct.
- The indicator light will show a sweeping-up effect in either blue or white to indicate a successful Wi-Fi connection. However, if you type in the wrong password, the upper half of the indicator ring will start flashing.
- Keep completing the prompts in the app to finish the setup. The indicator lights will start to blink rapidly four times and then do a sweep-up pattern (in white or blue) to indicate that the initial setup was a success.
Verdict
The indicator light on your Ring doorbell will use various flashing patterns and colors to signal its current status.
Usually, these will be network issues, power failures, and other situations that aren’t necessarily cause for concern.
So check the list above to understand what each pattern means and how to approach it if there’s any issue.
Sources
- https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/217271526-Understanding-RSSI-Values-and-Wireless-Signal-Strength
- https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041637332-Updating-the-Firmware-on-your-Ring-Video-Doorbell-3
- https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051777531-Understanding-Your-Ring-Video-Doorbell-Pro-Light-Patternshttps://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051777531-Understanding-Your-Ring-Video-Doorbell-Pro-Light-Patterns
- https://support.ring.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408005139604-Video-Doorbell-Wired-Flashing-Light-Patterns
- https://support.ring.com/hc/article_attachments/360075547231
2 Comments
sdfsdf
None of the solutions listed here worked for me, However after I turned off the VPN from my iPhone, switched the iPhone WIFI to the same WIFI router I am using for the Ring system, after clicking the Orange button on the back for more than 5 seconds, the font light started flashing White, the installation went complete after that.
Jacqueline Hall
My door bell isnt doing anything it stopped working. First the day vision wasn’t clear then it started showing red at night, and it was very dark and barely showed any picture, just shadows. Now the bell wont ring . When we tried to uninstall and reinstall it would only go to the second step.