How to Adjust Ring Doorbell Settings

Your Ring doorbell pings your phone every time a car drives past, or it misses the delivery driver completely, and the app has more menus than you expected. Nearly every Ring doorbell setting lives in the Ring app: open the menu, tap Devices, pick your doorbell, then use tiles such as Device Settings, Motion Settings, Alert Settings and Device Health. Some options, including Smart Alerts and recording length, need a Ring subscription.

Find Your Doorbell’s Settings in the Ring App

Ring’s help pages describe the same starting point for almost every setting:

1. Open the Ring app on your phone or tablet and sign in.
2. Tap the menu icon (three lines, usually at the top left).
3. Tap Devices.
4. Tap your doorbell. If you have several Ring devices, pick the one by the door you want to change.

You land on the doorbell’s own dashboard. From there, you’ll see tiles or menu items such as Device Settings, Motion Settings, Alert Settings, Mode Settings and Device Health. Ring’s own articles don’t always use the same order (some say Device Settings first, then a Motion Settings or Video Settings tile inside it), and the layout changes with the app version and your doorbell model. If a label here isn’t on your screen, look one level up or down in Device Settings for a similar name.

Two quick distinctions help before you start changing things:

• Battery doorbells run on a rechargeable pack, so motion and video settings affect how long a charge lasts.
• Wired doorbells use your home’s doorbell wiring or a plug-in adapter, so you can usually be more generous with recording time and motion detection.

Cut Down False Motion Alerts

Most complaints about Ring doorbells come down to motion detection: too many alerts from the street, or none for the person at the door. Work through these settings in order, testing after each one, so you know which change helped.

Adjust Motion Sensitivity

1. Open your doorbell from Devices.
2. Tap Motion Settings.
3. Move the Motion Sensitivity slider. Lower settings ignore smaller or more distant motion; higher settings catch more.

Ring’s page on managing alerts for doorbells and cameras lists Motion Sensitivity alongside the other motion controls covered below.

Draw Motion Zones

Motion Zones tell the doorbell which parts of the picture to watch. Ring’s Motion Zones article describes the path as Device Settings > Motion Settings > Camera Motion Zones, with up to three zones per device and a standard maximum range of 30 feet.

1. Go to Motion Settings and look for Motion Zones (it may be named Camera Motion Zones).
2. Drag the corners of a zone to cover your walkway and porch, and keep the street and sidewalk out.

3. Add a second or third zone if you need to cover a side path.
4. Save, then walk to the door to test it.

On some battery models, Ring notes that you may need Advanced Motion Detection turned on before custom zones are available. Ring also points out that reflective surfaces, like windows or a shiny car, can trigger false motion, so trim zones away from them.

Here is a worked example. Bramwell’s doorbell faces a busy street, and his phone buzzed 40 times one Saturday. He lowered Motion Sensitivity one step, redrew a single zone that covers the porch steps but stops at the sidewalk, and the next Saturday’s count dropped to a handful, nearly all of them actual visitors. (The numbers are made up for illustration.)

Use Motion Schedules and Motion Frequency

• Motion Schedules let you turn off motion alerts during set hours, such as while you’re home in the evening or when the school bus stops outside every morning.
• Motion Frequency controls how soon the doorbell can trigger again after an event. A less frequent setting means fewer back-to-back alerts and less battery use.

Motion Schedules is in Motion Settings, and Ring lists Motion Frequency (with Advanced Motion Detection) under Advanced Settings in the same screen. If your app shows them under a different heading, look in Device Settings.

Turn On Smart Alerts (Ring Subscription)

Smart Alerts let you choose alerts for specific types of motion, such as people, rather than every movement. Ring lists Smart Alerts as a subscription feature, so you may not see the toggle, or it may be grayed out, without a Ring plan. Available alert types depend on your model.

Choose Which Alerts You Get

Ring separates the alerts it sends:

• Ring Alerts are for doorbell presses.
• Motion Alerts are for detected motion.
• Motion Detection controls whether the doorbell looks for motion at all, which also controls whether motion events can be recorded (recording needs a subscription).
• Motion Warning, on compatible models, plays a message when motion is detected.

You can switch Ring Alerts and Motion Alerts on or off separately on the doorbell’s dashboard. Turning off Motion Alerts stops the phone notifications without stopping detection, so recordings still happen if you have a plan. Ring alerts can also play on Echo speakers once you connect your Ring doorbell to Alexa and turn on Doorbell Press Notifications.

Change the Alert Sound on Your Phone

Go to Alert Settings > App Alert Tones to pick different sounds for rings and motion, so you can tell them apart without looking. For the full set of options, including the chime and the tone at the door, see changing the Ring doorbell sound.

Priority Alerts

Priority Alerts live in the app’s main menu under Alert Settings, on supported devices. Ring notes that sound detection as a priority alert is limited to specific models (it names the Wired Doorbell Pro and Floodlight Cam Pro). If you don’t see the option, your doorbell probably doesn’t support it.

Snooze Alerts for a While

• Global Snooze: tap the crescent moon icon in the app to pause motion alerts across your devices for a set time. Ring says doorbell rings and Priority Alerts still come through.
• Device snooze: on the doorbell’s dashboard, look for the Alerts Snooze tile to snooze only that device.

Snooze is the better choice for a party or a yard project. It doesn’t change any of your motion settings, so everything goes back to normal when the timer ends. With a Ring plan, the doorbell keeps recording events while alerts are snoozed.

Hide Part of the View With Privacy Zones

Privacy Zones black out parts of the camera view, such as a neighbor’s window or a shared hallway. Ring’s help articles describe the route as Device Settings > Privacy Settings > Add Privacy Zones, then the plus button to draw a box. A few points to know before you add one:

• You can add up to two privacy zones per device.
• The blocked area is blacked out in both live view and recordings, and you can’t recover that part of an old video later.
• Motion behind a privacy zone can still trigger an alert, so pair it with a Motion Zone that leaves the area out.
• Ring lists some models without Privacy Zones, including the original Video Doorbell (1st Gen).

Set Modes: Disarmed, Home and Away

Modes change several settings at once. Ring describes three: Disarmed, Home and Away. For each mode, you choose what the doorbell does, and for doorbells the options include motion recording, Smart Responses and Live View.

1. Open your doorbell from Devices and tap Mode Settings.
2. Select a mode, such as Home.
3. Choose which actions stay on in that mode, then save.
4. Switch modes from the app’s main screen when you leave or come back.

If you’d rather not use modes, Ring’s mode page explains that you can enable or disable them. Ring notes that some mode features need a subscription, so the choices you see can be shorter than this list.

Change Video Settings

Video settings decide how much of each event you capture.

Video Recording Length (Ring Subscription)

Ring’s article on adjusting the video recording length gives the path as Devices > your doorbell > Device Settings > Video Settings > Video Recording Length, and it needs a subscription.

Doorbell power	Options Ring lists	Default
Battery	15, 20, 25, 30, 60, 90 or 120 seconds, or Auto	20 seconds
Wired	50, 60, 90 or 120 seconds, or Auto	60 seconds or Auto (Ring’s page lists both)

The maximum is 120 seconds. On a battery doorbell, Ring says shorter recordings help the charge last longer.

Pre-Roll

Pre-Roll adds the seconds just before the motion trigger, so the clip shows the person walking up rather than starting mid-step. Ring’s Pre-Roll article says it is under Video Settings and lists up to 4 seconds for Pre-Roll on select battery models and up to 6 seconds for Advanced Pre-Roll on wired models. Both need a subscription.

HDR and Picture Settings

Some doorbells may offer HDR or other picture options in Video Settings. Ring’s troubleshooting page mentions HDR but doesn’t give a menu path, so look in Video Settings and expect the list to vary by model.

Live View

Tap the doorbell’s preview on the dashboard, then Tap to Go Live to watch the door right now; tap End Live to stop. Ring’s Live View article says Live View works without a subscription and runs up to 10 minutes at a time. Recording of events, and stored videos (up to 180 days), need a plan, and the longer Extended Live View does too.

Save Battery on a Battery-Powered Doorbell

If your doorbell needs charging every couple of weeks, these settings make the biggest difference:

1. Shorten Video Recording Length, or pick Auto.
2. Set Motion Frequency to a less frequent option.
3. Tighten Motion Zones and lower Motion Sensitivity so the doorbell wakes up less often.
4. Add Motion Schedules for hours when you don’t need motion alerts.
5. Avoid long Live View sessions out of curiosity; they keep the camera running.

To check the battery, open the doorbell’s Device Health tile and look for Battery Level and Power Source. Ring’s charging article says a full charge can take up to 10 hours and the charger needs an output of at least 1 amp, and notes you can hardwire some models or add a solar charger for a trickle charge.

Change the Wi-Fi Network

A new router, a new Wi-Fi password or a weak signal at the door all lead to the same place:

1. Open the doorbell from Devices.
2. Tap Device Health.
3. Look for the network section and tap Reconnect or Change Network (the wording may be longer in your app version).
4. Follow the prompts, choose the network and enter the password. Watch the doorbell’s light and listen for its audio cues while it reconnects.

Ring’s Wi-Fi reconnect guide recommends a 2.4 GHz network where your doorbell needs one and suggests a factory reset only as a last resort. If your router combines bands under one name, switching your router to 2.4 GHz explains your options. A weak signal at the front door is a different problem; deciding whether you need a Wi-Fi extender covers it.

Settings That Need a Ring Plan

Without a subscription, a doorbell still rings your phone, sends motion alerts and offers Live View. Ring’s help articles tie these features to a plan:

• Recording motion and ring events, and saving those videos
• Video Recording Length
• Pre-Roll and Advanced Pre-Roll
• Smart Alerts
• Extended Live View
• Some Modes actions

Plan names and what each plan includes change over time, so check Ring’s current plan page in the app or on Ring’s site before you buy.

When Settings Don’t Seem to Work

• No alerts at all: check your phone’s Focus or Do Not Disturb settings and the phone’s notification permission for the Ring app. Ring’s alerts article lists phone settings as a common cause.
• Alerts still too frequent: make sure you changed the right device, then check whether a Mode turned motion detection back on.
• Options grayed out: the feature may need a subscription, or your model may not support it.
• The doorbell goes offline often: open Device Health and check the signal, then try the Wi-Fi steps above.
• Short alert tones on iPhone: Ring notes that long tones played shorter on iOS 16, a problem fixed in iOS 17.

Ring Settings Questions

Can I change settings on a computer?

Ring’s Live View article documents watching from Ring’s website, but the full device settings are documented in the app. Plan to use your phone or tablet for setup.

Will moving the doorbell change my motion zones?

Zones are drawn on the camera’s picture, so if you change the angle or mount it somewhere new, redraw them and test again.

Does turning off Motion Alerts stop recording?

No. Motion Alerts only control phone notifications. Turning off Motion Detection stops the doorbell from looking for motion, which also stops motion recordings.

Why does my doorbell miss people walking up?

Sensitivity may be too low, the zone may stop short of the path, or Motion Frequency may still be counting down from the last event. Raise one setting at a time and test.

Start with the problem that bothers you most. For a buzzing phone, that’s Motion Sensitivity and Motion Zones; for a doorbell that keeps dying, it’s recording length and Motion Frequency.