What you'll see and hear from Nest Guard

Google Nest Guard doesn’t just sound an alarm. It speaks to you and lights up in different colors to help you easily understand what’s happening.

Lights, chimes and spoken messages

Other than sounding a Heads-Up or security alarm, Nest Guard was designed to quietly do its job behind the scenes and not distract you with chimes and spoken messages when you don’t want them.

 

	What you see	What you hear	What it means
SECURITY LEVELS	Green light ring countdown Away and Guarding illuminated	“YOU HAVE [ONE MINUTE] TO EXIT.”	After the countdown, the security system is armed. The alarm will sound if motion is detected, or doors or windows are opened.
	Home and Guarding illuminated	The CHIME sounds	The alarm will sound if doors or windows are opened.
	Off illuminated	The CHIME sounds	The alarm won’t sound.
OPEN TONES	Nothing	The TONE sounds	A door or window has been opened while the alarm is set to Off
ISSUES AND EXCEPTIONS	Info button Illuminated white	EXAMPLE: “THE BEDROOM WINDOW IS OPEN.”	There are one or more things you might want to know.
	Info button Illuminated yellow	EXAMPLE: “THE NEST DETECT ON THE BACK DOOR WAS TAMPERED WITH.”	There are one or more issues that may require attention.
	Info button Illuminated red	EXAMPLE: “ NEST GUARD IS UNPLUGGED AND THE BACKUP BATTERY IS TOO LOW.”	There are one or more issues that will prevent arming.
HEADS-UP	Yellow light ring countdown with number keys illuminated	“PLEASE ENTER YOUR PASSCODE”	Heads-Up: the alarm will sound if you don’t disarm with your passcode or Google Nest Tag before the countdown ends.
SETUP	Pulsing blue light ring	“USE YOUR NEST APP TO BEGIN SETUP.”	Initial setup is in process
ERROR	Pulsing yellow light ring	NOTHING	Nest Guard’s battery is extremely low and needs to be plugged in and charged before it can resume normal operation.
ALARM	Pulsing red light ring	EXAMPLE: “SECURITY ALERT THE FRONT DOOR WAS OPENED.	The alarm is sounding.

More about Nest Guard's lights and buttons

Keypad buttons

The keypad will light up when it’s time to enter your passcode or when you tap Nest Tag to disarm or arm. If the keypad isn’t lit up, you don’t need to do anything.

The Info button If your Nest Guard needs to tell you something, the  Info  button will be lit. Here’s how to hear what Nest Guard needs you to do: Make sure the security level is set to Home and Guarding   or Off . If it’s set to Away and Guarding , the next step will cause the alarm to sound. Press the Info  button on Nest Guard. If anything needs your attention, Nest Guard will chime and make a verbal announcement.

Light ring

Nest Guard has a light ring that can give you information about your security system or just help you find your way in the dark. In most cases, Nest Guard will also give you a spoken message when it’s displaying the lights listed below. The light ring is merely there to help guide you.

In general, here’s what each color means:

• Red: An alarm is sounding
• Yellow: You need to take action before the alarm sounds
• Blue: Setup is in progress. You may need to enter some information into the app.

And here’s a more detailed list of the things the light ring can tell you.

Light ring	What it means and what you should do
Solid green light that gets progressively shorter	This is the countdown timer that prompts you to arm your system when you’re leaving home.
Solid yellow light that gets progressively shorter	This is the countdown timer that starts when your Google Nest Secure is armed and you come home.
Pulsing red	The security alarm is sounding, either because your system detected a potential intruder or because someone pressed the panic button. To stop the alarm, disarm your system.
Pulsing blue	In most cases, this means Nest Secure is ready to begin setup, starting with Nest Guard. If you’re trying to subscribe to cellular backup, this light means Guard can’t find a cellular signal. If this is the case, Guard will automatically give you a spoken message about what to do next.
Spinning blue	There are a few things that a spinning blue light could mean. Nest Guard is looking for Wi-Fi networks while you’re setting it up. If you’re trying to subscribe to cellular backup, it’s looking for available cellular networks. After that, it will spin blue 3 times when it finds a network and activates the service. In all cases, Nest Guard will automatically complete the process and give you a spoken message about about what to do next.