New Nest Floodlight Not Connecting to Settings

[MarkD8]

I installed a new Nest Cam and Floodlight. The camera and the floodlight both turn on and I am able to turn on the floodlight from the app. When I attempt to go into the settings for the floodlight through the floodlight itself or through the camera it immediately says "Couldn't connect". I've reset my internet, disconnected the power and turned it back on, and completely removed it from the Nest Cam with Floodlight. Nothing has allowed me access to the settings for the floodlight. I can't figure out why it is doing this. Any assistance would be appreciated.

[moralesvicente]

Hi MarkD8, 

Thanks for reaching out to the Google Nest Community Forum. I’m sorry to hear your Nest Camera with floodlight is not connecting to settings. Don’t worry; it’s a pleasure to be able to assist you.

I’m grateful for the time and effort you put into completing the troubleshooting steps mentioned in the post. To continue addressing the situation, follow these recommendations.

• Performed a factory reset; for your reference, consult this article: Restart or factory reset Nest camera or doorbell.
• Set up the Nest camera again and be sure to select the option “Nest Cam with Floodlight.” For more information, check out this article: Set up and connect Nest camera.

Let me know how it goes.

Best regards,

Daniel

[RickGroves]

I have this exact issue. I factory reset the device and set it up again in Home -- twice.  I tried re-seating the power connector. Nothing helped.  I have a second identical device connected elsewhere on the same network which works just fine -- I can access the floodlight settings no problem. Just this device gives me the "couldn't connect" prompt. Also, I can manually turn on/off the floodlights directly in home and they work fine. I just can't access the settings through the camera.

I should also note that it worked fine prior to being reset, so it is unlikely to be a hardware issue. (I had deleted it from home accidentally and had to factory reset to add it back because it wouldn't connect at all otherwise)

[Bunklung]

@moralesvicente Can you push this up the chain?

[Glaube53]

Seems like this is a consistent issue. Kinda hard to believe that no one from Google has even acknowledged this. I can't even get into a chat with customer service because *that* doesn't work either. What is happening at Google?

[Mangos4Life]

Any solutions? I am currently having this problem as well.

[Kark]

Oddly enough I am having the exact same issue. Hooked up two cameras today. One wired floodlight and one battery camera. I have two nest doorbell and they're great. I pay for the nest aware service and really enjoy the system as a whole. Removed the device, reinstalled, "can't connect" is all I get in the settings. The light turns on and off when I live view and I can easily control the dimming/on/off toggle from the app. It's clear the camera and light are connected to the app and internet. What's the issue here?!

[Glaube53]

I set up my floodlight cam yesterday and I'm also having the same issue. Would love to have some adjustment.

[Mangos4Life]

How can we get attention to this thread? It seems google nest support is not very supportive 

[Bunklung]

I have the same issue with two brand new flood light cameras. I have a third older flood light camera and I can access the flood lights settings. So something is up systemically here.

[Bunklung]

This topic is very hard to research online since nearly all the help articles and search engines assume you are having Wi-Fi issues. I found this thread where a user had to get a replacement. I noticed my lights are from last year manufactured date even though they are brand new. Maybe it's a bad batch. One user found a price of fuzz in the connector between the camera and the base flood light. Since I have two brand new cameras, I suspect it's a bad batch of hardware. I will just return them to store or started a replacement with Google. Here is the additional thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nest/comments/q5ik4h/installed_new_cam_with_floodlight_no_floodlight/

[Glaube53]

I asked Gemini to help. This is what I found.

https://g.co/gemini/share/a544c3e96159

[hargy9999]

I'm having exactly the same issue as described above. Brand new nest floodlight. Everything works fine and appears fine - I just can't access settings for the floodlight. Same message "can't connect".

Tried reset and all of the above suggestions.

[Poleydee]

Same issue for me. All the same steps, nothing works. Only settings that can't be accessed.

[Poleydee]

@moralesvicente - are you able to escalate?

[Mangos4Life]

@moralesvicente - are you able to escalate. Help us please

[Bunklung]

I would do an advanced replacement. Perhaps it's a hardware date issue. The two cameras I just activated are from Aug and Sept of 24. The brand new one they sent is April 2025. I will report back.

[Glaube53]

I just had an hour long customer service chat. They are pretty sure it's a software issue. 

[Bunklung]

I suspect they will respond when people send back their units under warranty.

[Poleydee]

I have also noticed that for this camera that there is no event history. On the app it is just blank. On the web version it gives a message saying it is not available in the web view. Anyone else getting this too>?

[Travis77]

Same issue here, I have 4 of these flood cams and two worked about a month ago when I installed. Next two didn't on install and I replaced the camera on one of the first two and now it doesn't work. I really need / want to turn off the flood light on when viewing camera option.... Also looking for support help please!

[Oni]

I am having this issue too. I just set up a new Nest cam floodlight and I can't get to any of the floodlight settings. It just says "couldn't connect"

[speedskaterbos]

Yep. Same problem.   Installed Nest cam with floodlight (wired, outdoor) today. It performed an auto update on install.  I can control floodlight brightness but no advanced settings such as scheduling,  etc.  

Update:  I found I could schedule the light in the "Automations" tab.  The sunrise/sunset condition is a convenient trigger.

[Hinchy]

I have this exact issue. My Google Home app had a bug where I couldn't edit the name of any if my devices (also a very well known issue that Google havent fixed for some time). I followed some advice from Google support to remove myself from the Home and then re-add myself, I didnt realise this would then mean I had to re-add most devices including the Floodlight Camera.

Since re-adding it I now can't access any settings for the floodlight. I've tried everything suggested, including factory resetting, adding it to another home and then back to my current home. Nothing seems to resolve it.

Google support so far have just told me I need to leave feedback though the home app and havent offered a solution or replacement.

[Oni]

Support put me through the ringer of stupid tech support things like "try restarting your phone," but I eventually I got them to RMA my floodlight. A replacement is on the way. I will let you know if that solves the issue.

[futurespeed]

I just purchased a Nest camera with floodlight from the Google Store and an having the same "couldn't connect" issue when trying to access the floodlight settings. Is there a solution in the works @Google?

[Bunklung]

I want to provide my solution. Hopefully it helps some or all of you.

1. Setup with face
2. Setup without microphone audio
3. Never shut off power
4. Never disconnect din connector
5. After setup, do restart, hold button for 5-6 seconds. There is a very tiny button on the very center back of the camera!
6. Get video back up. (Check to see if flood light settings are working. If so stop here!)
7. Factory reset with 12 second hold (wait for chimes to stop playing), but do not remove old camera from google home
8. Setup again, but no face, but allow microphone/audio
9. Access the flood light from the app first, hold finger over flood light and hit gear symbol
10. Remove old camera from app. Be sure to save clips if you have anything important.

11. Go to step 1. if the flood light settings are still not responding. Repeat steps 1-10 over an over again and try at different times of the day. Until it works.

Now, I want to be clear. Google sent me three replacement cameras. The first camera was from Apr 2025 manufacture date. The first time I set it up, it did not work, but the above instructions is how it started to work, start to finish.

I put this camera aside and treated it as a test case. I then went back to my bad camera and did a simple 5 second button reset and it the flood light just started working WITHOUT a factory reset! I went to the second bad flood light and tried a simple 5 second reset, no luck. I then continued with the above instructions and it started to work at the end! I sent back all the cameras to Google and have the original cameras, now fully working.

So to me, there is some kind of instability in the flood light upon it's first communication attempt and a reset, factory reset, and/or MULTPLE passes of this is required to get the flood light to respond. Was it a time of day thing?

[hargy9999]

Has anyone else tried this and can confirm that it works?

[Bunklung]

Keep trying and repeating the steps outlined more than once.

[Mdiluzio6]

Used your solution and it worked on the first try! Possibly something with facial recognition causing an issue.

Have you tried turning on face after the fact?

[Oni]

I completed RMA replacement of my floodlight and I can access the floodlight settings perfectly on the new unit I was sent.