If you got a Ring Doorbell and it’s not everything you thought it would be, you’re likely trying to sell it to someone else to hopefully make some of your money back. However, a potential risk is the buyer using your Ring Doorbell to get access to your Ring account. So what steps should you take before giving someone a used Ring Doorbell?
Before transferring your Ring Doorbell to a new owner, you will want to remove any payment information saved on the device, cancel your Ring plan, and remove your device from the Ring app. It would also be a good idea to reset the device.
Other potential steps you can take are to change your Ring account’s password and to remove any users you have shared access to the Ring Doorbell with. However, many readers may not know how to complete all these steps. For that purpose, let’s go through all these things step-by-step to help you safely transfer ownership of your device.
Is it possible to Transfer a Ring Doorbell to a New Owner?
If you’re thinking about selling your Ring Doorbell or just bought a used Ring Doorbell and want to transfer it to yourself, you’re probably wondering one simple question. Is it possible to transfer the ownership of a Ring Doorbell?
Yes, it is entirely possible to transfer ownership of a Ring Doorbell. However, you may need the assistance of the previous owner. This means getting their help before purchasing the device is essential.
If you can’t contact the previous owner, it isn’t the end of the world; it’ll just be a little more complicated. To resolve this issue, you’ll need to contact Ring Support. Ring Support will help you by contacting the owner of your Ring Doorbell themselves to hopefully get your device transferred over in no time.
How to Transfer Your Ring Doorbell to a New Owner
When transferring a Ring Doorbell to a new owner, there are two main things you need to do. First, you need to remove any payment information on your account and you need to cancel your Ring Doorbell plan and remove your account from the Ring app.
Removing any of your (or the previous owner’s) payment information is crucial when transferring ownership of a Ring Doorbell. This will prevent you (or the previous owner) from receiving any future unwanted charges.
Removing your account from the Ring Doorbell before you transfer ownership is also important. This will keep the next owner from accessing your account. It will also let them use their own account to change settings and set up their own payments.
These two steps are crucial to transfer ownership of your Ring Doorbell properly. Next, let’s go through how to remove your payment information and cancel your plan and remove your account.
Remove Your Payment Information
Removing your payment information from your Ring Doorbell account is very simple. However, strangely enough, it can only be done from the Ring Doorbell desktop website. To do this on a mobile device, you will need to open the website’s settings and select “Desktop Site.”
To remove your payment information:
- Open the Ring Website (found here) and select the option in the top right corner that says Login.
- From here, type the email and password associated with the Ring Doorbell you’re trying to transfer ownership of.
- Once you’re logged in, select your account name in the top right corner and select Account.
- Here, you should see text that reads Credit Card on File.
- Now, select the X on top of the card information you have on file, and your payment info should be removed.
Cancel Your Plan and Remove Your Account from the Ring App
Now, the first thing we need to do here is to cancel your Ring Plan. This is extremely simple. All you have to do is contact Ring Support and ask them to cancel your plan and refund the time you didn’t use. That’s right. Ring will give you your money back for any time on your Ring plan you didn’t use.
You can find Ring’s support page here. On this page, you can use the chat at the bottom to talk to a representative through text. Additionally, you can call them at 1-800-656-1918.
Once your plan has been canceled, you must remove your Ring account from the Ring Doorbell using the Ring app. To do this:
- Begin by opening the Ring app and selecting either Device or the … option to the right of your device name.
- After this, click on the settings cog in the upper right-hand corner.
- At the bottom, you should see a big red button that says Remove Device. Select this option, and you have successfully removed the device from your Ring Doorbell account.
Tips for Transferring Your Ring to a New Owner
After following the previous steps, you’ve done almost everything you have to do to transfer your device to a new owner. However, there are still a couple more things you can do. Let’s go through these just to be safe.
Remove Any Users With Shared Access
If you’ve ever shared access to your Ring Doorbell with anyone else, removing their access is a good idea before you transfer over the device. To do this:
- Open the Ring app and then go to Settings.
- From here, select Users, and click on Shared User Profile.
- Then choose Remove User on any shared accounts.
If you’ve added a second device to your Ring Doorbell, make sure to repeat these steps with all shared devices.
Reset the Device
This is another good step to take as this will remove any data, such as Wi-Fi passwords, from the Ring device. To do this, first,
- Remove the backplate on your Ring device.
- Under this backplate, you should see an orange button. Hold down this orange button for approximately 20 seconds.
- You’ll know it’s been long enough once you see a light on the front of the Ring device flash. After this, your previous settings should be wiped from the Ring device.
Change Your Password
Another good step you might want to take is to change the password for your Ring account. This is a good idea as it will prevent anyone from accessing your Ring account using your used Ring device. Although this shouldn’t be an issue if you’ve removed the device from your account, it is still a good idea just to be safe.
To do this:
- Begin by opening the Ring app and tapping the three-lined icon in the top left of the screen.
- Here, select Account and then choose Change Password.
- From here, enter your current password and confirm your new password. Your new password must contain at least eight characters, including letters and numbers.