Ring Doorbell Not Getting Notifications? Find the Problem
If your Ring Doorbell is not getting notifications, the doorbell may still be online and recording normally while your phone stays completely quiet. In other cases, notifications may arrive only sometimes, or motion alerts may work while doorbell-ring alerts don’t.
The important thing is to separate a detection problem from a notification problem. If Ring is detecting and recording events but your phone isn’t alerting you, you should focus on notification settings rather than the camera itself.
Quick Diagnosis: Ring Doorbell Not Getting Notifications?
| What you’re seeing | Start here |
|---|---|
| Ring records events but your phone shows no alerts | Go to Fix 1 |
| Motion alerts stopped but doorbell-ring alerts still work | Go to Fix 2 |
| Doorbell notifications stopped at certain times | Go to Fix 3 |
| Notifications work sometimes but not consistently | Go to Fix 4 |
| You recently changed phones or reinstalled Ring | Go to Fix 5 |
| The Ring Doorbell isn’t detecting the activity either | Go to Fix 6 |
| Notifications stopped after changing Ring settings | Go to Fix 7 |
| Everything looks correct but alerts still don’t arrive | Go to Fix 8 |
Fix 1: Check Your Phone’s Ring Notifications
Start with the phone rather than the doorbell.
Your Ring app can be correctly configured while your phone’s operating system is preventing notifications from appearing.
On your phone, open the app’s notification settings and make sure notifications from Ring are allowed.
Also check whether your phone has:
- Notifications disabled for Ring
- Do Not Disturb enabled
- Focus mode enabled
- A battery-saving mode restricting Ring
- Background activity restrictions
- Notification permissions changed after a system update
If you have more than one phone or tablet signed into the same Ring account, check which devices are actually expected to receive the alerts.
After making changes, trigger a test motion event and see whether the notification appears.
Fix 2: Check Motion Alerts Separately From Motion Detection
One of the easiest ways to misdiagnose this problem is to assume that Motion Detection and Motion Alerts are the same thing.
They’re not.
Your Ring Doorbell can detect motion and even record an event without your phone necessarily displaying a motion notification.
Open the Ring app and select your doorbell.
Check the motion settings and make sure Motion Alerts are enabled.
Then test the doorbell by walking through an active Motion Zone.
If the event appears in Event History but no notification arrives, the doorbell is detecting the movement. Your troubleshooting should therefore stay focused on alerts and the phone rather than motion detection itself.
Fix 3: Check Motion Schedules and Ring Modes
If notifications disappear only during certain hours, look at your schedules and modes.
Ring allows motion notifications to be managed with Motion Schedules, while Modes such as Home, Away and Disarmed can change how Ring devices behave.
This can create a situation where everything appears normal until you notice that alerts consistently stop during a particular part of the day.
Check whether you’ve created a Motion Schedule that suppresses notifications during the time you’re testing.
Also review the current Ring Mode.
If notifications return when you change the mode or move outside the scheduled period, you’ve likely found the reason for the missing alerts.
Fix 4: Check Smart Alerts and Motion Detection Settings
If you receive some notifications but not others, your Ring Doorbell may be filtering activity differently from what you expect.
Review your Smart Alerts settings if they’re available for your device.
For example, you may have configured the doorbell to notify you about certain types of motion while ignoring others.
Also check:
- Motion Zones
- Motion Sensitivity
- Smart Alerts
- Motion Detection
- Motion Frequency on battery-powered devices
Don’t immediately increase sensitivity to the maximum.
Instead, think about the activity you’re actually missing. If people approaching the door are not being detected, adjust the relevant Motion Zone or sensitivity and test again.
Fix 5: Check the Ring App After a Phone Change
If notifications stopped after getting a new phone, reinstalling Ring or changing your phone’s operating system, revisit the app permissions.
Open the Ring app and make sure you’re signed into the correct Ring account.
Then check your phone’s notification permissions for Ring.
If you recently reinstalled the app, notification permissions may have been reset or left disabled.
It is also worth restarting the phone after changing the permissions.
Then trigger a controlled motion event and check whether the notification appears.
If another phone signed into the same Ring account receives the notification while yours doesn’t, that strongly suggests the problem is local to your phone.
Fix 6: Make Sure the Doorbell Is Actually Detecting Motion
Not every missing notification is a notification problem.
If the Ring Doorbell isn’t detecting the movement in the first place, there won’t be a motion notification to send.
Check the doorbell’s Event History.
If you don’t see the expected motion events, go back to the physical and detection side of the setup.
Look at:
- Motion Zones
- Motion Sensitivity
- Doorbell positioning
- Objects blocking the view
- Frequent activity outside the selected zone
- Motion Frequency on battery-powered models
Walk directly through the area you’re trying to monitor and see whether Ring registers the movement.
If it doesn’t, solve the detection problem first.
Fix 7: Check Ring’s Notification Settings and App State
If the phone permissions are correct but notifications remain unreliable, check the Ring app itself.
Make sure the doorbell is still listed under your devices and that you haven’t accidentally changed its alert settings.
Then completely close the Ring app and reopen it.
If the problem started after an app update, account change or unusual behaviour, restart your phone as well.
You can also check whether an update is available for the Ring app.
Avoid changing several settings simultaneously. Make one change, trigger a test event and see what happens. That makes it much easier to identify the setting that actually solved the problem.
Fix 8: Reconnect the Doorbell or Reinstall the App as a Last Step
If your Ring Doorbell is online, detecting motion and recording events, but notifications still refuse to arrive, you’ve already ruled out most of the camera-side causes.
At this point, try the simpler recovery steps first:
- Restart your phone.
- Restart the Ring app.
- Check for app updates.
- Confirm notification permissions again.
- Test on another phone if available.
- Reconnect the doorbell to Wi-Fi if Device Health shows connection problems.
If the issue appears to be isolated to the Ring app on your phone, reinstalling the app can be worth trying.
You will need to sign back into your Ring account afterward.
A factory reset of the doorbell should not be your first response to missing notifications. If the doorbell is already recording events correctly, resetting the hardware may not address the actual problem.
Why This Happens
Ring notification problems can originate from several different places.
The most useful distinction is whether an event exists but the alert is missing, or whether the event itself was never detected.
Common causes include:
- Phone notification permissions
- Do Not Disturb or Focus settings
- Ring Motion Alerts being disabled
- Motion Schedules
- Ring Modes
- Smart Alerts
- Motion Zones and sensitivity
- App permissions after a phone change
- Ring app issues
- Wi-Fi or device connectivity problems
Once you know whether the event appears in Event History, the troubleshooting path becomes much clearer.
How to Prevent Ring Doorbell Notification Problems
Keep Ring notifications enabled at both the app and phone level, particularly after changing phones or updating the operating system.
It’s also worth checking your Motion Schedules and Ring Modes if you use them. A setting you configured months ago can easily be forgotten until you suddenly stop receiving alerts.
If notifications seem inconsistent, check Event History before changing the doorbell’s motion settings. That tells you whether Ring is failing to detect activity or simply failing to notify you about something it already detected.
And after changing any notification setting, perform a quick test rather than assuming the problem is fixed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my Ring Doorbell not sending notifications to my phone?
Check your phone’s notification permissions first, then verify Motion Alerts in the Ring app. If events are appearing in Event History but notifications aren’t arriving, the problem is more likely related to notification settings or the phone.
Why does my Ring Doorbell record motion but not notify me?
Motion Detection and Motion Alerts are separate settings. Your doorbell can detect and record an event while Motion Alerts are disabled or restricted by another setting.
Why do I get some Ring notifications but not others?
Check Motion Zones, Motion Sensitivity, Smart Alerts, Motion Schedules and Ring Modes. These can affect which activity generates an alert.
Why did Ring notifications stop after I got a new phone?
The Ring app may not have notification permission on the new device. Check the phone’s notification settings and make sure Ring is allowed to send alerts.
Can Do Not Disturb stop Ring notifications?
Yes. Depending on your phone’s notification and Focus settings, Ring alerts may be silenced or handled differently.
Why does my Ring Doorbell detect motion but I don’t get an alert?
Check Event History first. If the motion event is recorded, review Motion Alerts, Smart Alerts, schedules and your phone’s notification permissions. If there is no event, troubleshoot motion detection instead.
Should I reset my Ring Doorbell if notifications aren’t working?
Usually not. If the doorbell is online and recording events, a factory reset is unlikely to be the first thing you should try. Check the Ring app and phone notification settings first.
