This guide is for anyone adding a Hue bulb or lightstrip over Bluetooth, without a Bridge, when the Philips Hue app can’t find it. The steps come from Hue’s UK setup guide for bulbs and lamps and Hue’s UK reset guide.

What This Problem Means

In Bluetooth mode there is a limit to how far you can be from your lights: Hue puts Bluetooth range at “about nine metres (30 feet)”. Hue’s setup guide adds lights by scanning their QR code, one at a time, or by searching or entering the serial number. If a light still can’t be found, the last step here is a factory reset.

Common Symptoms

• The Philips Hue app doesn’t find the light when you search
• The light has no QR code, or the code won’t scan
• You’re not sure whether a character in the serial number is a 0 or an O
• Your Echo device doesn’t discover the light

Safe Checks You Can Try

1. Turn on Bluetooth on your phone

Hue says: “Make sure that Bluetooth is enabled on your mobile device.”

2. Stay close to the light

You need to be within Bluetooth range, which Hue gives as “about nine metres (30 feet)”.

3. Add the light from Settings

In the Philips Hue app, “Open the Settings tab and then tap Devices. Tap the blue plus (+) icon in the top right corner.” Scan the light’s QR code. In Bluetooth mode, “you can scan and set them up one at a time.”

4. No QR code? Search or use the serial number

Hue says: “If your product doesn’t have a QR code, tap No QR code to add it by searching or using its serial number.”

5. Check the serial number

The serial number is six characters long, made up of the digits 0-9 and the letters A-F. It’s printed on the light or on a tag on its cord, and Hue notes “there will never be a letter O in a serial number.”

6. Still not found? Reset the light

Hue’s UK reset guide says to use Bluetooth mode “if you do not have a Bridge, dimmer switch, or Tap dial switch”: in the Philips Hue app, go to Settings > Lights > Add lights and add the light, then go to Settings > Lights, select the light and tap Reset. That route starts by adding the light, so if the app still can’t find it, Hue’s guide also gives two switch methods. If you have a Hue dimmer switch, power the light off and back on, then within 30 minutes hold the dimmer near the light and press the top and bottom buttons together for at least 10 seconds; release when the light flashes. With a Tap dial switch, power the light off and back on, then within 30 minutes hold the Tap dial near it and hold the Setup button on the back for at least 10 seconds; release when the light flashes.

Adding the light to Alexa over Bluetooth

Hue’s Alexa setup page says that if your Echo device does not discover the light, say “Alexa, discover devices.”

When To Contact Support

If none of these steps fix it, contact Philips Hue through Hue’s UK support site.