Google Home Guides

What is factory data reset Google Home?

Factory data reset Google Home means you let Google Home roll back to a state that is identical to a new Google Home.

This state is usually referred to factory state (a state when Google Home leaves factory)

This means when you factory data reset Google Home, all settings, including linked account and connected devices are unlinked and disconnected.

In addition, your Google account associated with the Google Home device will also be disassociated.

Once the data are removed, you cannot undo it to recover any of them. You have to set up Google Home as a new device after a factory data reset (FDR).

When you need to factory data reset Google Home?

Of course, you should not consider to reset Google Home if it works normally.

However, you may have to factory data reset Google Home in following scenarios:

• the initial Google Home setup ends prematurely and it seems you cannot finish the setup process.
• you want to use Google Home in a new WiFi network.
• Google Home does not work. You may check the color of LEDs in the top touch panel.
• you plan to give away your Google

… Read the rest

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What are Google Home promotional offers?

Google, like other companies, usually have some promotional offers when a new product is launched, or during some special seasons (e.g., holiday seasons).

For example, Chromecast owners enjoyed various Chromecast offers in the past varying from free movie rental to Play store gift card, to a few months of free Netflix in a few regions.

Even better, for Chromecast and Chromecast Audio owners, some new offers are also available for old devices. This is different from other companies.

Google Home is not an exception, I guess.

You may not be aware that there may be some Google Home promotional offers waiting for you.

Like other promotions, there are always terms and conditions associated with such offers. You need to redeem the Google Home offers in the specified period.

And, most importantly, most Google Home offers may be region-specific.

So, it is important to know how to check and redeem Google Home promotional offers.

Please note, Google Home promotional offers are tied to individual device. But some offers may allow you to redeem only once (e.g., Netflix, Google Play music or YouTube Red) even if you have multiple eligible devices.

In addition, some vendors … Read the rest

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After recent firmware update, Google allows you to use Google Home as a Bluetooth speaker.

You can easily pair Google Home with your smartphones, tablets, or other devices through Bluetooth and then use Google Home as a Bluetooth speaker.  The audio will then be routed to Google Home.

Although Google Home is used in the text, this guide applies to all Google Home products including Google Home, Google Home Mini, Google Next Mini (Google Home Mini 2nd Gen), and Google Home Max.

Why may you want to use Google Home as a Bluetooth speaker?

Google Home and Google Home Max offer decent audio quality, compared to speakers with similar sizes.

Even Google Home Mini is surprisingly loud and clear considering its compact size.

Therefore, many Google Home users may want to use Google Home as a Bluetooth speaker when playing music on the phone.

After pairing Google Home to your phone, you may not need to buy a Bluetooth speaker. This would maximize your investment in Google Home, Google Home Max or even Google Home Mini.

And you can even adjust the bass and treble for Google Home, Google Home Mini, and Google Home Max as explained in this … Read the rest

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Google Home Mini does not have a flat touch panel as in Google Home. But the top and two sides of Google Home Mini are touch-enabled.

You can use touch to control Google Home Mini if you do not want to use voice.

This Google Home Mini guide explains to you how to use touch control for Google Home Mini to adjust volume, pause/resume/stop playing.

Where is touch control for Google Home Mini located?

The touch sensors are located in 3 locations in Google Home Mini as shown below.

One touch control location is in the top (center) of Google Home Mini and the other two in two sides.

The functions of these 3 touch controls are different:

• Left (marked as 1 in the illustration below) is for lowering the volume, pausing/resuming media playing, silencing/snoozing alarm and timers.
• Right (marked as 2) is for raising the volume, pausing/resuming media playing, silencing/snoozing alarms and timers.
• Middle/top (marked as 3) is for triggering Google Assistant (without speaking the hotword). But it is still disabled due to some phantom touch events reported by some owners. So, you cannot use this one until Google finds a solution and fixes it through

… Read the rest

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If you want to change the volume for your Google Home, you may not know actually there are 3 different methods to change Google Home volume: use the touch panel, use your voice, and use the Google Home app.

The result is identical, regardless of the method you choose.

In addition to adjusting Google Home volume, this guide also shows you 4 methods to silence Google Home and how to resume the media playing.

Please note, the 3 methods introduced in this guide apply to media sound and Google assistant. If you want to adjust the volume for alarms and timers, you have to use the Google Home app, as explained in this guide.

These three methods apply to all Google Home speakers, including Google Home, Google Home Mini, Google Home Max,  Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen of Google Home Mini), and Nest Audio.

If you paired two Google Home speakers and are using the speaker pair, the volume settings will be applied to both speakers automatically.

Method 1: use touch panel to change Google Home volume

As explained in Google Home layout and buttons page, you can control Google Home with the top … Read the rest

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You need to factory data reset Nest Hub if you want to hand the device to other users or if you plan to sell or donate the device.

Actually, even if you just plan to retire the smart display (and throw it in the basement), you should also reset Nest Hub.

This Google Home guide explains when and why you need to reset Nest Hub (including Google Home Hub, Nest Hub, and Nest Hub 2nd Gen) and how to factory data reset (FDR) the smart display.  It also explains how to soft reset Nest Hub.

In this guide, Nest Hub refers to Google Home Hub, Google Nest Hub, and the 2nd Gen Nest Hub. The method for resetting these smart displays are identical.

The factory reset method discussed in this guide applies to Nest Hub devices only. To reset other Google Home devices, you may check this guide for Google Home, this guide for Google Home Mini, this guide for the 2nd Gen Google Home Mini (Nest Home Nini), and this guide for Nest Audio.

Why and when do you need to reset Nest Hub?

As a smart display, Nest Hub knows you and saves some of your … Read the rest

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Google launched the Nest Hub (2nd Gen) in March 2021 as an upgrade for the Google Home Hub, which was released in October 2018 and later rebranded as Nest Hub in May 2019.

In spite of sharing similar dimensions and look, Nest Hub 2nd Gen offers some new features and a few significant improvements over the first generation of Google Home Hub devices.

This Google Home guide explains the new features of the Nest Hub 2nd Gen and the major improvements in the 2nd Gen Nest Hub, including sleep sensing and quick gestures. The guide also helps you understand the difference between Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen vs Google Nest Hub vs Google Home Hub.

Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen vs Google Nest Hub: what are the new features?

As mentioned, the Nest Hub 2nd Gen looks very similar to the original Nest Hub (which is identical to Google Home Hub, read on.).  The design, dimensions and screen size (7″) are all almost identical.

Actually, it is hard to differ between the Google Nest Hub 2nd Gen and Google Nest Hub if you look at them from a distance of more than 2 or 3 meters away.

But Google Nest … Read the rest

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You can control Nest Audio with the touch control panel or your voice (Google Assistant).

This Google Home guide explains the functions of the touch control panel and the available switches/buttons on Nest Audio, and then show you how to control Nest Audio for specific tasks including adjusting Nest Audio volume, powering on and off Nest Audio, controlling media play on Nest Audio.

Control Nest Audio with the touch control panel

As explained in the Nest Audio layout, there is a touch control panel near the top of the front side of the Nest Audio speaker.

Just like the touch control panel on Google Home Mini (and Nest Home Mini), the touch panel is divided into 3 sections:

• Left.
• Centre.
• Right.

The left side of the touch control panel

As shown in the picture below, you can tap the left side of the touch panel to lower the volume (by 5%).

When you tap once, you will hear a click sound as feedback, and the LED lights up indicating current volume level (relative). Of course, the volume will lower a bit at the same time. You may need to tap up to 20 times to silence Nest Audio.… Read the rest

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When you need to change Google Home WiFi network settings?

After setting up Google Home, normally you will not change WiFi settings although you may change other settings for Google Home.

Some Google Home settings can be done through voice command, or through the touch panel, or through Google Home app.

For example you can adjust volume of Google Home with any of the 3 methods.

Because Google Home can only save one WiFi network info, you may have to change Google WiFi network settings if you change your WiFi network.

Sometimes, you may have to factory data reset the Google Home due to WiFi network changes.

How to use a new router without changing Google Home WiFi network settings?

You can use a new router without changing Google Home WiFi network settings.

Some guides in the internet may mistakenly tell you that you must factory data reset Google Home if you change router.

But actually, it is NOT necessary to factory data reset your Google Home.

Actually, it is not necessary to change anything in Google Home if you follow these two rules:

1. Use the identical WiFi network name (SSID) when you set up the new

… Read the rest

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You can understand the status of Google Home by checking the LED lights (and colours).

This Google Home guide explains why you should know the meaning of Google Home LED lights and the exact meaning (and possible implications) of all LED lights pattern on Google Home.

Please note, due to the differences between Google Home vs Nest Audio (2nd gen Google Home) and Google Home vs Google Home Mini (and Google Nest Mini), the LED lights on Google Home are different from other Google Home speakers. So, this guide applies to Google Home (1st Gen) only. You may check this guide on the meaning of Nest Audio LED lights, and this guide for the meaning of LED lights on Google Home Mini (and 2nd Gen Google Home Mini/ Google Nest Mini).

Why do you need to know the meaning of Google Home LED lights?

As mentioned in Google Home layout, Google Home only has one physical button to turn on/off the microphone,  or to factory data reset Google Home.

The touch panel in the top of Google Home plays a very important role in using and configuring Google Home.  And the LED lights (and their colours) give … Read the rest

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