While being able to control all the Hue lights in your home through a mobile device is quite convenient as it is, it’s undeniable that the ability to control them with voice commands by linking them up to Alexa takes convenience to the next level.
That being said, linking Hue with Alexa is not always the smoothest process, with technical difficulties potentially getting in the way and making things harder than they should be.
Luckily, the fix to the problem is very straightforward and should get your Hue linked up to your Alexa in no time.
Below, you can find a step-by-step guide to the immediate solution we recommend applying if you are unable to link your Hue with Alexa:
- Unlink the Hue bridge from your Hue account by using the Hue website.
- Disable the Alexa Hue Skill through the Alexa app.
- Reboot the Hue bridge by unplugging it from power for 15 seconds and plugging it back in.
- Wait for the Hue bridge to initialize (the three lights should come on).
- Link the Hue bridge to your Hue account again by using the Hue website.
- Enable Out-of-home control through the official Philips Hue app.
- Enable the Alexa Hue skill through the Alexa app.
While the fix we have mentioned above should solve the problem in almost every case, you can find the solutions to all of the potential issues that can prevent your Philips Hue lights from linking with Alexa in the upcoming section if you haven’t been able to resolve the issue.
Unable to Link Hue with Alexa – Detailed Troubleshooting
As a few distinct factors can prevent the Hue bridge from linking with Alexa, the fix that addresses the most common culprit may not work for everyone.
Below, we have listed all the solutions we recommend applying if you cannot link your Hue bridge with Alexa, which we recommend following in the written order, as the solutions that are most likely to solve the issue are listed closer to the top.
Unlink the Hue Bridge and Re-Link It
Unlinking the Hue bridge from your Hue account and linking it back can potentially resolve any software issues preventing the out-of-home control feature from operating correctly, which Alexa requires to access the bridge.
To quickly unlink the Hue bridge from your Hue account and re-link it, you can follow the steps below:
- Navigate to the MeetHue website and log in with your Hue account.
- Click the “My Philips Hue system” option from the left sidebar.
- Choose the home to which the bridge you will be unlinking belongs by clicking the appropriate option My Homes list.
- Choose the currently connected Hue bridge by clicking the corresponding option in the Hue Bridges list.
- Scroll down and click the Remove Hue Bridge option.
- Click the “Yes, remove Hue Bridge” option on the pop-up.
- Click the Add Hue Bridge option that has now appeared in the place of the previously connected Hue bridge.
- Hold the button on top of the Hue bridge when prompted by the website.
Once you’re done, ensure that the “Out-of-home control” feature (Settings -> Sign in to your Hue account) is enabled in the Philips Hue app, which Alexa requires to be able to control the Hue lights.
Disable the Hue Skill in Alexa and Re-Enable It
Disabling and re-enabling the Alexa skill for Hue will force Alexa to disconnect from the Hue bridge, forget any prior configuration, and prompt you to re-configure, which will ensure that the connection between the two devices is healthy and correctly configured.
Here are the steps we recommend following for quickly disabling and re-enabling the Hue skill in Alexa:
- Launch the Alexa app on your mobile device.
- Tap the Menu icon on the top left corner.
- Tap the “Skills & Games” option from the menu that appears.
- Tap the magnifying glass icon to bring up the search input.
- Type “hue” in the search bar, and select the Hue skill when it appears.
- Tap the Disable Skill button to disable the Hue skill and confirm the action.
- Tap the Enable to Use button to enable the Hue skill, and follow the instructions that appear.
Once you re-enable the skill and go through the necessary steps for integrating Hue with Alexa, the Hue bridge should link to Alexa without any issues.
Reboot the Hue Bridge
Rebooting an electronic device is a simple but powerful troubleshooting step that you will come across in many scenarios across different devices, and it’s no different in the case of the Hue bridge, as it will force the Hue bridge to disconnect from the bulbs and reinitialize the connection.
Below, you can find the steps that will allow you to reboot the Hue bridge as conveniently as possible:
- Pull out the power plug from either the side of the Hue bridge or the power strip.
- Leave the Hue bridge unplugged for 15 to 20 seconds.
- Plug the power cord back in.
Once you’re done, wait for all three lights of the Hue bridge to come on, which signifies that the Hue is booted up, networked, and has access to the Internet.
Verify Network Connectivity
For Alexa to be able to discover the Hue bridge and the Hue bulbs, you will need to connect the mobile device you’re running the Alexa app on and the Hue bridge to the same network.
To verify that your mobile device and your Hue bridge are indeed on the same network, you can follow this link, which will show a list of all the Hue bridges that are on the same network as the device you have opened the link with.
If the output you’re seeing is “[]” (which refers to an empty array in programming), it means that your mobile device and your Hue bridge are not on the same network.
In most cases, such a scenario will occur for reasons such as your mobile device not being connected to your wireless network (using cellular data) or connected to a separate wireless network if you have more than one.
On the other hand, if the output you’re seeing contains data such as the ID and the internal IP address of the Hue bridge, it means that your mobile device can detect the Hue bridge within the network, and all is working as intended.
Remove Third-Party Hue Integrations from Alexa
In some cases, it’s possible for third-party applications connected to both the Hue bridge and Alexa (Samsung SmartThings is the primary culprit in many cases) to prevent Alexa from correctly communicating with the Hue bulbs.
When such a scenario takes place, Alexa ends up detecting each Hue bulb twice, with one copy coming from the Hue integration and the other coming from the third party.
In this case, you will need to disable the lights that aren’t connected via the Hue integration itself by following the steps we have outlined below:
- Launch the Alexa app on your mobile device.
- Navigate to the Devices tab through the bottom menu.
- Navigate to the Lights section.
- Tap the first Hue light in the list to go to the Details section.
- If the “Connected Via” section shows the name of the third-party integration, disable the light by activating the “Disabled” switch at the bottom.
- Repeat steps 4 to 5 for all the Hue lights on the list.
Alternatively, if you aren’t planning on using the third-party integration for the Hue lights anymore and would instead only use Alexa, you can remove the lights from the corresponding app, which will only leave the integration between Hue and Alexa in place.
Keep the Alexa App Up-to-Date
Technically speaking, a software bug related to the Alexa app itself can easily be behind the occurrence of the problem at hand, which makes keeping the Alexa app up-to-date essential to ensure that you’re much less likely to be affected by such an issue.
To keep the Alexa app always up-to-date, our recommendation would be to enable the auto-update feature of your mobile device, which is present on both iOS and Android devices and can quickly be activated through the Google Play Store or the App Store.
If you’re using an Android device, remember to fully quit the Alexa app and restart it after an update to ensure that you’re running the updated version.
Reinstall the Alexa App
In some cases, it’s possible for the data stored within an application, or even the application itself, to be corrupted, preventing it from operating as intended.
To reinstall the Alexa app, you will need to remove it from your mobile device first and then install it as usual from either the Google Play Store or the App Store, based on whether you’re using an iOS or Android device.
Make sure to delete all data related to the application if your mobile device asks you whether it should keep the user data upon the removal of the app or not to ensure that you’re getting a completely fresh installation.
Reset the Individual Hue Bulb (If Only One Bulb Doesn’t Work)
While unlikely, if you’re experiencing a scenario where the connectivity issue only exists between Alexa and a particular Hue bulb, with the rest of the bulbs (and hence the Hue bridge) operating without any problems, resetting the bulb is what you will need to do.
To reset a particular Hue bulb, you can follow the steps we have outlined below:
- Launch the official Philips Hue app on your mobile device.
- Navigate to the Settings section through the bottom menu.
- Navigate to the Lights section.
- Locate the problematic bulb from the list and tap it.
- Tap the Delete button and confirm the deletion.
- Re-add the bulb to the Hue app by tapping the plus icon on the top-right corner.
This process will disconnect the bulb from the Hue bridge and re-add it, hopefully resolving any communication issues between the two components.
Factory Reset the Hue Bridge
When all else fails, factory resetting the Hue bridge is the last resort solution that can potentially restore the connectivity between Alexa and your Hue lights, as this process will completely erase any information contained within the Hue bridge and allow you to start fresh.
To easily factory reset the Hue bridge, all you will need to do is to flip the bridge to reveal the back side, locate the “restore factory reset settings” (on the right side) label, press the button located next to it (the button is in a pinhole) with the help of a pin, and hold it pressed for roughly 10 seconds.
When the factory reset process is triggered, you will notice that the LED on the front starts blinking, and as soon as the factory reset process is over, the blinking will stop, indicating that the Hue bridge is ready for configuration.
Please note that following this process will completely revert the Hue bridge to factory settings, permanently erasing any connected lights, custom scenes, automations, and practically anything else that comes to mind from the bridge, requiring you to re-configure everything from scratch.
Conclusion
While there are quite a few issues that can cause your Hue bridge to not link with Alexa, which can be quite an annoyance, fixing the problem should be a relatively straightforward process once you apply the correct fixes.
Below, you can find a summary of the proven solutions that we recommend applying if you are unable to link your Hue with Alexa:
- Unlink and re-link the Hue Bridge
- Disable and re-enable the Alexa skill for Hue
- Enable the Hue out-of-home control feature
- Remove third-party Hue integrations from Alexa
- Remove & reinstall the Philips Hue app
- Reboot the Hue bridge
- Ensure that the Hue bridge and Alexa are in the same network
- Update the Alexa app
- Reinstall the Alexa app
- Reset the Hue bulb that’s causing the issue (in cases where only one bulb doesn’t work)
- Factory reset the Hue bridge and set it up again
Even though it’s an unlikely scenario, in the rare case where none of the fixes we have mentioned has been helpful, we would highly recommend contacting either Amazon customer service or Philips Hue support, which should be able to produce a solution to the issue you’re facing.
Mark’s first real encounter with tech was when he had to format his computer with Windows 98 around the age of 6 to quickly get back to playing Heroes of Might and Magic III without having to send the computer in for a repair, which he strangely found to be rather enjoyable since it was a new challenge for him at the time.
While he has always been particularly interested in the software side of things, which eventually led to him becoming a software developer, he enjoys keeping up with the advancements in consumer electronics and smart home technology when he’s not busy coding.