How To Reset A Blink Camera Back To Factory Settings

When selling or giving out any gadget that holds personal information, the first step is ensuring you reset it to factory settings to remove all your data and clear up space for the new user. Blink cameras are no exception, which is why most users ask the question: how do you reset a Blink camera back to its factory settings?

In most cases, you can reset a Blink camera by pushing down the reset button. However, if you were hoping to do something more drastic, like unregister it from a previous owner without help, you should sit back and peruse this article.

In this article, I’ll show you how to reset a Blink camera to remove your personal information from the device without losing anything. This guide works for old and new owners or anyone needing to reset their camera back to its factory settings for any reason.

Why Reset a Blink Camera?

Resetting your Blink camera may be the best option in several scenarios. One of the most common reasons is giving out the camera to someone else. You don’t want them to deal with a camera stuck with your account or data, so you want to take a few minutes to wipe it.

Another possible reason is when encountering connection issues on the camera. Sometimes, your Blink Sync Module or Blink camera may have trouble waking up or connecting to the app. After cycling through several troubleshooting issues, you naturally want to press the reset button to see what difference it makes.

Either way, resetting your Blink camera is no big deal. The reset button will not affect your SD card if your camera contains one. If it lacks one, the button won’t affect any of your data on the cloud; it only resets your settings and preferences, nothing more.

How Do I Reset My Blink Camera for a New User?

The steps for resetting a Blink camera will differ based on the camera’s specific model. While some of the company’s surveillance devices connect to its Sync Module, some don’t, and there are typically different (more uncomplicated) steps for cameras that fall into the latter category.

Since there’s a difference between the two procedures, it’s only fair if they occupy different sections of this guide. Firstly, let’s learn how to reset a Blink camera that doesn’t connect to the Sync Module for a new user.

How to Reset a Blink Camera that Doesn’t Support Sync Module

Before continuing, you should note that the Sync Module is a device from Blink that acts as a hub for your ecosystem of security gadgets from the company. The Sync Module combines the company’s devices for seamless interoperability, from security cameras to video doorbells.

This guide will work for cameras like the Blink Mini, as you don’t need to connect it to a Sync Module to make it work; you can’t do it, even if you want to. However, these cameras connect to the mobile app anyway, so you may have to remove them manually after the reset.

Here’s how to reset a Blink camera that doesn’t support the Sync Module:

1. Find the reset button on the bottom of the camera.
2. Press the button for about 30 seconds, and wait for the camera to reinitialize.
3. Reconnect the camera to your home’s Wi-Fi network and use it as usual.

While this process is “resetting,” it doesn’t reset your camera in the way you think it would. When many people think of a reset, they think of an activity that removes everything they have on their Blink, making it ready for someone else to use. However, this procedure doesn’t remove your Blink camera from the mobile app!

Instead, the button works like the network settings reset command but for a hardware button. Pressing it will remove your Wi-Fi SSID and password, so you have to reconnect the device to your home’s Wi-Fi network, but it doesn’t do much beyond that. All the data on your SD card is secure, and it maintains a link to your Blink account, preventing anyone else from using it.

If you plan to reset the camera to factory settings for another user, here’s how to go about that.

1. Open the Blink app on your smartphone. The app is where you set up the camera and make it work with your other devices, like the video doorbell (but not the Sync Module).
2. Select the camera you intend to remove. This step shouldn’t be a problem since you can identify all your Blink devices from the app.
3. Scroll down to the end of the resulting page and tap the “DELETE CAMERA” button.

Following the steps above will force the camera to forget everything it knows about you. However, you should note that the reset doesn’t extend to your Blink account; you can still access any cloud footage the camera recorded. The process also doesn’t wipe your SD card.

However, it makes it possible for someone else to link their account with your camera and use it like a new device.

How to Reset a Blink Camera that Supports Sync Module

If you’re resetting your camera because of a malfunction, it may be wiser to reset the Sync Module, as it connects all your cameras to the internet. Doing that will activate a soft reset on all your cameras, potentially fixing the fault any of them may have.

However, it’s different if you plan to give away the camera to someone else. Not only do you need to remove it from your Sync Module, but you must remove it from your account to make it possible for the new owner to use their camera.

Without more ado, here’s how to reset a Blink camera that supports Sync Module for a new use:

1. Open the Blink app on your phone. Tap the Settings button at the top right corner of the live feed of the camera you intend to remove.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the next page to reveal the “Delete Camera” button. Tap the button and confirm the resulting popup by selecting “Yes.”

The camera will go through a proper reset when you delete it from your account, making it possible for someone else to register it as theirs. While it won’t remove your existing footage from the cloud or SD card, it marks the serial number as unregistered, which is the only requirement for you to transfer the camera to a new owner.

If you skip removing the camera from your account, it will output an error message when the next owner tries registering it to their Blink account. In the following section, you’ll learn what error you’ll receive when re-registering an already registered camera and how to deal with it.

Can You Unregister a Blink Camera?

You’ll almost certainly encounter a specific error message when registering a used Blink camera: “Camera Serial already registered to a different account.” The wording is self-explanatory; the system discovered the camera had a previous owner who didn’t remove it from their Blink account. So, can you unregister a Blink camera with a previous owner?

Unfortunately, the only way to unregister a camera from Blink is by having the former owner log into the app and remove it manually. You’ll always encounter the serial registration error message if they don’t do that before selling you the device. It’s also impossible for you to unregister the camera without the help of the original owner.

When this happens, you must contact the original owner and request they delete the camera from their Blink account so you can use it. According to the Blink official website, the company will not offer any technical assistance if you can’t contact the owner, which makes sense to prevent theft.

On the other hand, you can always contact the vendor for assistance if the camera is from a licensed first-party seller. In the event of any breakdown in communication, the company should be more than happy to compensate you by unlocking the device or even providing a replacement.

Can a Stolen Blink Camera Be Used?

Thanks to the precautions explained in the preceding section, a thief cannot use a stolen Blink camera unless the owner decides to remove it from their account wilfully. They also can’t contact Blink to unregister the device, as the company won’t offer any technical support without proof of direct purchase from a first-party supplier, which is impossible for a thief to obtain.

So, if someone stole your Blink camera, you should leave it permanently connected to your account to make it impossible for them to use it. Apart from making it useless to the thief, you’re helping Blink and everyone else by discouraging thieves.

By the way, what idiot steals a security camera?

Conclusion

You can reset a Blink security camera to factory settings by deleting and reconnecting it to your Blink account or holding the reset button for 30 seconds (Blink Mini). If you’re planning to sell or gift the camera to someone else, you must remove it from your account to make it functional. Unless the old owner removes the camera from their Blink account, the security camera will not work.