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Ghost Unit can't be deleted

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Danny92
Community Member

a month ago

I have a very frustrating issue in Google Home that I can’t get rid of.

 

I had a broken smart light that I physically replaced. The device is:

 

Completely removed from Tuya

 

Not in any room or group

 

Cannot be controlled anymore

 

But it still exists as a device in Google Home

 

 

Every time I say “Turn off all lights”, Google Assistant replies: “Dining table light 1 is offline”

 

This happens even though the device is not part of any group.

 

 

---

 

What I have already tried:

 

Removed the device directly in Google Home

 

Unlinked Tuya from Google Home

 

Linked Tuya again

 

Cleared cache and storage for the Google Home app

 

Logged out and back in to both Google Home and Tuya

 

Rebooted my phone

 

Moved the device between rooms

 

Removed it from all groups

 

Waited several days between sync attempts

 

 

The device always comes back and the offline message never stops.

 

 

---

 

My conclusion

 

This seems to be a broken cloud-side Home Graph object stored by Google (ghost device).

The only guaranteed fix I have been told is to delete the entire home and rebuild everything, which I really want to avoid since I have many devices.

 

 

---

 

My question

 

Has anyone successfully:

 

Removed a ghost device like this without deleting the whole home?

 

Got help from Google support to reset this server-side?

 

Found any hidden way to force-refresh or purge broken Home Graph entries?

 

 

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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1 Recommended Answer

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arm_dpe
Solutions Expert
Solutions Expert

4 weeks ago

Thanks for reaching out. Please try the methods outlined below. Other users have successfully removed similar 'ghost' devices using these steps.

1. Syncing your devices.

While you've tried manually unlinking and relinking, a specific voice command might trigger a more aggressive sync on the Home Graph.

  • Say to your Google Assistant (on a phone or smart speaker): "Hey Google, sync my devices."

  • After the sync completes (which may take a few seconds), wait about 5 minutes.

  • Check the Google Home app to see if the device is gone. If not, try the voice command again.

2.  The "dummy home" method 

This method is a well-known community workaround. The principle is creating a new, temporary home and then moving the problematic device into that temporary home. Finally, by deleting the entire temporary home, the ghost device is aggressively purged from Google's server-side Home Graph, resolving the persistent error.

Let me know if these methods worked for you.

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1 REPLY 1

Go to answer
arm_dpe
Solutions Expert
Solutions Expert

4 weeks ago

Thanks for reaching out. Please try the methods outlined below. Other users have successfully removed similar 'ghost' devices using these steps.

1. Syncing your devices.

While you've tried manually unlinking and relinking, a specific voice command might trigger a more aggressive sync on the Home Graph.

  • Say to your Google Assistant (on a phone or smart speaker): "Hey Google, sync my devices."

  • After the sync completes (which may take a few seconds), wait about 5 minutes.

  • Check the Google Home app to see if the device is gone. If not, try the voice command again.

2.  The "dummy home" method 

This method is a well-known community workaround. The principle is creating a new, temporary home and then moving the problematic device into that temporary home. Finally, by deleting the entire temporary home, the ghost device is aggressively purged from Google's server-side Home Graph, resolving the persistent error.

Let me know if these methods worked for you.

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