# Terrible time Resetting Ikea TRÅDFRI bulb to pair it **URL:** \ **Category:** Devices & Integrations\ **Created:** [July 25, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787 "2017-07-25T00:25:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Michael\_Collins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Collins](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Michael_Collins)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/1 "2017-07-25T00:25:41Z")
I’m not sure what the problem is but I have followed instructions and turned it on and off 6,7,8,9,10 times and bulbs do enter reset mode. Only two out my bulbs are in rest mode and paired with ST. Any clues or work around to beet these into pairing mode? ---
**Author:** ![Core\_Phx](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/core_phx/32/60720_2.png) [@Core\_Phx](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Core_Phx)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/2 "2017-07-25T12:56:14Z")
This is a common problem with the Ikea bulbs. Many have reported getting a lamp and holding the bulb directly to your hub is the only way to get them to pair successfully after a reset. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Collins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Collins](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Michael_Collins)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:09pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/3 "2017-07-25T13:09:20Z")
Hi, thank you for your reply. The problem is not pairing, its resetting the Bulb into pairing mode. That seems impossible. I’ve only managed to unlock 2 out 8. They then paired easily bringing them close as you said. But virtually impossible to get in pairing mode ---
**Author:** ![Core\_Phx](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/core_phx/32/60720_2.png) [@Core\_Phx](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Core_Phx)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/4 "2017-07-25T13:18:12Z")
Ahhhhh… Yeah, aside from the 7 times on/off, I don’t know of any other way to get them to reset. I was searching this thread: [IKEA Trådfri](https://community.smartthings.com/t/ikea-tradfri/59229/294) Seems that different hub firmwares (and bulb firmwares) seem to affect pairing? I’ll test it with a couple of bulbs I have and see what my results are. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Collins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Collins](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Michael_Collins)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/5 "2017-07-25T13:30:55Z")
It’s a nightmare, i’ve Unplugged at the wall, unscrewed them, used a switch, all to no avail. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Collins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Collins](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Michael_Collins)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/6 "2017-07-25T22:39:00Z")
I have been able to pair all the other IKEA bulbs I have, just these 5 plain white ones Simply do not reset. I have 5 ‘stuck’ whites. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Collins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Collins](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Michael_Collins)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/7 "2017-07-29T20:40:58Z")
any ideas? this is hell!!! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Musto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jonathan\_Musto](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Jonathan_Musto)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/8 "2017-07-31T14:13:38Z")
I found that you have to do the on/offs quickly for them to register, within a second for each, if that makes sense. Get them in a lamp base with a decent switch you can flick quickly. I always did 7 on’s, I starting with the bulb off go, on 1, off, on 2, off, on 3, off, on 4, off , on 5, off, on 6, off, on 7…, this should take you 5-6 seconds, then it should flicker. I have 8 bulbs paired with no problems. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Collins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Collins](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Michael_Collins)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 12:00pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/9 "2017-08-03T12:00:28Z")
Yeah. I’ve tried that no luck. I can reset any bulb apart from the Plain white ones, so it must be the bulb firmware, IKEA suck. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Musto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jonathan\_Musto](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Jonathan_Musto)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 12:20pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/10 "2017-08-03T12:20:55Z")
That sucks, maybe you got a faulty batch? I would send them back. Which ones do you have? I have the 3x 980lm ones, 3x 480lm and 2x GU10. ---
**Author:** ![mmcewen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/mmcewen/32/94750_2.png) [@mmcewen](https://community.smartthings.com/u/mmcewen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/11 "2017-10-06T18:56:41Z")
Has anyone managed to reset the plain white 1000lm bulb ? Having the same issue here I think. Add a thing finds nothing and on/off 6 times does nothing either. At this point all I have is an expensive dumb bulb ---
**Author:** ![mmcewen](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/mmcewen/32/94750_2.png) [@mmcewen](https://community.smartthings.com/u/mmcewen)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 10:04am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/12 "2017-10-07T10:04:00Z")
Finally paired it after countless hub reboots and attempts at resetting the bulb. Here’s what I did. Rebooted my hub. Bulb on off 6 times. Then for the first time saw the bulb very slightly flicker. Blink and you’ve missed it Left it off for about 30 mins Add a thing Bulb on and hey presto it appeared as a thing. Renamed and saved it then changed it to ZLL dimmer bulb in the IDE. Done ---
**Author:** ![cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@cat](https://community.smartthings.com/u/cat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/13 "2018-01-04T21:41:35Z")
This video from IKEA really helped me, I was flicking it on/off way too fast: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJm9YpPrGzk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJm9YpPrGzk) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@Johnny\_5](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Johnny_5)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/14 "2018-01-27T12:21:19Z")
Anyone managed to do this with GU10’s I connected 9 to Hue straight off then they dropped out and couldn’t be found. I’ve now tried the Tradfri gateway and the hue and can’t get the bulbs detected. Tried rebooting gateways and switched the bulbs on and off so many times planes are circling. ---
**Author:** ![AnubizDK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@AnubizDK](https://community.smartthings.com/u/AnubizDK)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/15 "2018-03-01T19:35:06Z")
No need to reset hub… It doesn’t have anything to do with the reset of the bulb… 🙂 The trick is the timing in the on/off’s… 😉 What works for me every time is using (very) short “on’s” and a little bit longer “off’s”… I start with bulb on, then off, and then 6 “on’s”, where i kill the light as soon as the bulb shows signs of turning on… Hope that make sense…? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![Nelinski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7feea3/32.png) [@Nelinski](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Nelinski)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/17 "2018-03-04T21:41:00Z")
I’ve tried everything and this is what did it for me! Thanks so much!! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@Johnny\_5](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Johnny_5)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/18 "2018-03-10T15:20:04Z")
I did it in the end - I paired them with the Hue hub by moving the Hue Hub to about a 15 cm from the bulb then reset the bulb using the Ikea video, then using the hue bulb finder Windows software. ---
**Author:** ![KevinF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47c2d/32.png) [@KevinF](https://community.smartthings.com/u/KevinF)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/19 "2018-05-12T14:52:46Z")
Hi All, I’ve searched the forums and have tried the on off thing in so many different combinations and can not get the bulb to pair. I have the 400lm E14 type if this makes any difference. I bought it as a single bulb so it has never been paired to anything. I have tried the on off 6 times, starting with the bulb off and on, fast, slowly, at the speed the ikea video shows… All that I get is a blink rather than a dimming or very fast flashing and ST does not pick it up as a thing. Anyone else have any more suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![Royster](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/royster/32/45624_2.png) [@Royster](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Royster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 11:39am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/20 "2018-08-30T11:39:37Z")
You are the man!! Did exactly this on 4 which have been evading a reset for many months. Leave a little longer in the Off position, and a quick flick on, and all reset!! Cheers 👍 @AnubizDK ---
**Author:** ![Jorge\_del\_Rio](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/jorge_del_rio/32/84651_2.png) [@Jorge\_del\_Rio](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Jorge_del_Rio)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787/21 "2018-09-24T03:39:05Z")
Thanks man, you save my day!!! [Next page](https://community.smartthings.com/t/terrible-time-resetting-ikea-tradfri-bulb-to-pair-it/93787.md?page=2)