You can change a variety of settings for your Google Nest cameras and doorbells. Depending on which Nest camera or doorbell model you have, you can change its settings in the Home app, the Nest app, or both.
- If you set up your camera or doorbell in the Home app, use the Home app.
- If you first set up your camera or doorbell in the Nest app, most of its settings are in the Nest app, but you can also use the Home app for some functions.
- Camera settings that appear in both apps may look different. However, if you change one of these settings in one app, it is also reflected in the other app.
Home app settings
Here’s how to find your camera settings:
- Open the Home app
.
- Tap Favorites
or Devices
.
- Touch and hold your device's tile
More
.
Find more information about different settings below.
This menu shows you basic information about your Nest camera or doorbell. You can tap to change some of these settings.
- The name and exact location (home and room) of your device
- Your camera’s serial number and software version
- Spoken language for Quick responses (doorbells only)
- The type of mount it uses (cameras only)
Notifications let you know what your camera or doorbell has detected. You can customize these by selecting the type of alerts you want and when you want them.
To learn more about notifications, go to Camera alerts.
The ring at the top of the screen tells you how much charge is left in two configurations, time and battery percentage. Swipe left on the ring to switch between the two.
You may use the automatic battery saver if your device uses battery power only and you might be away for a long time.
Battery usage has two configurations that lets you customize performance and battery life:
- Default is the standard setting, but lower settings can enable higher video quality, longer clips or preserved battery health.
- Custom appears if you’ve changed settings that affect battery life and are part of battery usage options.
For more information, go to Nest camera battery savings.
Choose which events your camera or doorbell can detect and record. You can then choose which of those events to get notifications for.
Important: If an event is turned off, you won’t get notifications for it.
Event options can vary depending on your camera or doorbell model and whether you have a Google Home Premium subscription.
For specific alerts for activities identified within a selected area of your camera’s view, you can create custom Activity Zones.
Change different settings for your doorbell, such as the indoor chime or visitor announcements, on a Google Assistant-enabled speaker or display. For more information, refer to Indoor chime settings.
Learn how to get doorbell visitor announcements on a speaker or display.
In addition to standard doorbell tones, seasonal doorbell themes are available around some holidays. You can change the theme or set a different chime sound in the app’s doorbell settings.
When you turn on a seasonal theme, a unique sound greets visitors when they ring the doorbell. The sound plays on the doorbell and in your home if you use visitor announcements for your Google Nest or Home speaker or display.
After the holiday, your doorbell automatically goes back to the default tone, and the seasonal theme disappears in the app.
You can change a broad range of settings for video history, video quality, night vision, and more.
Turn your microphone on or off or disable audio recording so you can hear people on the live video stream without the sound being saved. You can also change the volume for select cameras and doorbells.
Learn how to change Nest camera and doorbell audio settings.
This option lets you delete your camera’s video history and snapshots. Deleted video history and snapshots are unrecoverable while saved clips won't be deleted.
Nest app settings
Important: The Nest app isn’t compatible with newer camera and doorbell models. Use the Home app to change settings for those devices instead.
To find your Nest doorbell settings:
- Open the Nest app
.
- Tap your doorbell on the Nest app home screen.
- Tap Settings
.
Find more information about different settings below.
This option lets you manually turn your camera on or off, regardless of your Home/Away Assist settings or schedule.
Important: If your indoor chime doesn't sound after Quiet Time has ended, make sure the Indoor chime On/Off setting is on.
You can turn off your doorbell chime so it won’t ring when someone presses the button. This is useful for instances when you wouldn’t want to be disturbed by your doorbell ring, such as during sick days.
Your doorbell still sends notifications to your phone when someone rings the doorbell. The visitor will hear a tone when they press the button, but there will be no alerts or announcements from your Google Assistant.
You may also select Quiet Time 
Change your Google Nest camera’s microphone, speaker and audio settings
Tip: If your doorbell loses its Wi-Fi connection, the indoor chime automatically turns back on regardless of its setting in the Nest app. That way, your chime still works while you’re troubleshooting Wi-Fi and connection issues.
When Home/Away Assist is on, your camera can automatically turn itself on when you’re away and turn back off when you get home.
Set a schedule if you want to have your doorbell camera to turn on and off at specific times.
When your camera notices activity, you can have it send an email, an alert to your phone, or both. Choose what kinds of activities to get notified about, and whether to always get notifications or only when you’re away.
If you have a Google Assistant-enabled speaker or display, you can enable announcements when a visitor rings your Nest doorbell. It can even announce their name if you have a Google Home Premium subscription and you’ve saved your visitor’s name in your familiar faces. You can set this up in the Google Home app.
Get Nest doorbell visitor announcements on a Google Assistant-enabled speaker or display.
Set your camera to use less data if your internet connection is slow or if your internet service provider limits your data usage.
This option lets your camera scan for activity when there’s little or no light.
This option allows you to share your camera’s video stream with others.
By default, the Nest app displays snapshots of activity spotted by your camera over the last few hours.
If you choose to turn off activity history, your camera won't capture snapshots and all your existing snapshots will be deleted. Learn how to opt-out of snapshots and activity history.
Tip: Activity history is always on for cameras with an active Google Home Premium subscription.
Nest doorbell includes a small status light that turns on whenever your camera captures video or when someone watches the live feed. This option lets you adjust the brightness of the light.
In addition, the status light and light ring will always turn on for certain activities.
This option lets you adjust how long your Nest doorbell rings when someone presses its button.
You can turn Nest doorbell’s microphone on or off. If the microphone is off, it won’t pick up any sounds from your door.
Important: Before you turn on the microphone or audio recording, make sure that doing so complies with all applicable privacy laws.
Change Nest camera’s microphone, speaker, and audio settings
Whenever someone rings the doorbell, Nest doorbell can reply with a pre-recorded Quick Response in the language of your choice.
The app lets you know when a seasonal doorbell theme is available, which will generally be around some holidays. You can change the theme or set a different chime sound in the app’s doorbell settings.
When you turn on a seasonal theme, a unique sound greets visitors when they ring the doorbell. The sound plays on the doorbell and in your home if you use visitor announcements for your Google Nest or Home speaker or display.
After the holiday, your doorbell automatically goes back to the default tone and the seasonal theme disappears in the app.
This option lets you choose a different Wi-Fi network for your camera.
Important: Don’t change this option unless you need to. You might only need to do so if you’ve updated your Wi-Fi password, gotten a new router, or given your Wi-Fi network a new name.
This lets you name your Nest doorbell with its location. You can choose the location from a list during initial setup, but you can change it or add a custom label later on.
You can permanently delete your camera’s entire video history, including any snapshots your camera recorded. However, this will not delete any clips saved to your account.
Important: When you delete your camera’s video history, everything captured up to this point will be erased. They cannot be restored since we do not keep backups.
You can remove your Nest doorbell from your account and start over again.
Important: Removing your Nest doorbell or camera also deletes its history in your app. You will not be able to recover any lost information.