How to reset Nest Protect and erase all your personal settings

Factory reset your Google Nest Protect to erase your personal settings and restore it to its factory default settings.

Important things to know before you start

What happens when you factory reset Nest Protect

• You’ll no longer receive Protect notifications on your phone or tablet.
• Protect gets disconnected from other Protects in your home.
• Protect deletes its Wi-Fi settings.
• Protect erases its location name from the app.
• Protect removes any feature settings such as Pathlight.

Important: If you factory reset your Protect, its ability to detect smoke or carbon monoxide (CO) does not change. The alarm should still sound if either is detected.

If you have a 1st gen Nest Protect

If you change your Wi-Fi network’s name (SSID), password, or other settings, or if you get a new Wi-Fi router, you’ll need to remove your Protect from the Nest app, and then set up your Protect in the app again.

Note: If you have a 2nd gen Nest Protect, you can simply update Protect's Wi-Fi settings in the Nest app.

If you selected the wrong spoken language during setup

Go to our article on How to change the language your Nest Protect speaks.

How to reset Nest Protect to factory default settings

Note: You need physical access to your Protect to restore it to its factory default settings. You cannot erase Nest Protect’s settings in the app.

1. Press and hold your Protect’s button for at least 10 seconds. It will chime and glow blue.
2. Release the button when your Protect starts to say its version number. If you hold the button too long, the test will be cancelled.
3. Your Protect will start a verbal countdown and tell you it’s erasing all your settings.
   • To cancel the factory reset, press Protect’s button again during the countdown. 
4. After a few seconds your Protect will reset to its factory default settings.