Factory resetting outdoor wired camera when attached to another account

[ALCulearn]

We inherited an outdoor nest camera and when I tried to add it to my Nest App it said it was connected to another account. I can’t contact the previous owner and the only other option was to factory reset it. There is no reset button on my type of camera and the only option was to start it via the app. Obviously it doesn’t show on my app so what can I do? 

[MplsCustomer]

@ALCulearn 

Some of the older 1st gen Google Nest cameras can only be reset when the owner removes the camera from the Google Nest app while logged onto their account and while on their Wi-Fi network. By not doing that, the previous owner passed on an unusable camera.

You'll probably get a "Camera is connected to another account" error message if you try to install it. Google Nest says you can wait until the previous owner's video history has expired, which can take up to 60 days:

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9249728

[ALCulearn]

Thanks for your response.  It has been over 60

days since we moved into the house so that isn’t the answer. It isn’t feasible to contact the previous owner. Such a shame we can’t use the camera and will need to look at getting a new one. 

[MplsCustomer]

@ALCulearn 

Maybe the camera is still active on the previous owner's Nest Aware subscription. (I don't know if that's even possible, since presumably the previous owner's Wi-Fi network is no longer active.) You could try contacting Support to see if they can do anything:

1. Go to https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp.
2. Select a category/product family, and type in a brief description of the issue, then click "Next".
3. Click "Other", then click "Next step".
4. Under "Resources", just click "Next step". (Clicking one of the listed links will bring up a Help page.)
5. Under "Contact options", choose to get a phone call or chat with the team, depending on availability in your country.

[ALCulearn]

Thanks for that. I’ll try contacting the support team.
The previous owner told me when we bought the house that he had deleted the app as he doesn’t need it anymore.  We do however still have his wifi network. 

[MplsCustomer]

@ALCulearn 

If the previous owner merely deleted the Google Nest app, this would not cancel his Nest Aware subscription, and if you're still using the previous owner's Wi-Fi with the same network name (SSID) and password, then the camera could still be active.  Is the status light green on the camera (indicating it's live and recording)?   See what Support says, but maybe you'll need to unplug the camera for awhile.