Fortunately, adjusting your Ring doorbell’s motion zones and sensitivity is easy to do via the Ring smartphone app. It’s a great feature that lets you personalize the way your Ring doorbell works for you. We’ll walk you through the process of configuring to best suit your home.
Understanding Ring Motion Zones and Motion Settings
If you have a Ring Video Doorbell, you know how convenient it is. If you have it installed properly, you get alerted not just when someone rings the doorbell, but also when there’s motion outside your door. This way you know when someone approaches your door, drops off a delivery, or is just lurking around.
Your Ring doorbell can issue these alerts because it has a built-in motion sensor. Any motion within a designated area sets off the sensor and sends an alarm to your phone, smart speaker, or Ring Chime. The problem is, that the motion sensor is very sensitive, which means you could be alerted to a lot of activity you don’t need to know about, like kids playing ball in your front yard or your dog wandering around your porch.
Fortunately, you can configure specific motion zones for your doorbell’s motion detector to monitor, and even adjust the sensitivity of the motion sensor. When you get the Ring app configured correctly, you can avoid accidental motion triggers and focus solely on real people coming to your door.
Configuring Your Ring Doorbell’s Motion Zones
When you configure a motion zone your Ring doorbell will only check for motion within that zone. It will ignore motion outside that zone, so you won’t be alerted to passing traffic or people walking down the sidewalk, for example. You can set both the width and the depth of a zone, using Ring’s smartphone app for iOS or Android.
Motion zones work a little different depending on if you have a wired or battery-operated Ring doorbell. The motion zones for a wired doorbell are a little more customizable than those for battery-operated models.
Before you can configure motion zones you first have to enable Ring’s Advanced Motion Detection. You do this from the Advanced Settings screen in the Ring app. You can then follow these steps to configure your doorbell’s motion zones:
From within the Ring app, tap the Options (three-line) icon and select Devices. Tap to select your Ring doorbell device. Tap Motion Settings. Tap Edit Zones at the top of the next page. You’ll now see a picture from your Ring doorbell with the default motion zone in blue. Tap to select this zone or tap Add Zone to create a new zone. Drag any of the highlight points to resize the motion zone. Tap Done.
You can create up to three different motion zones for your doorbell.
Set a Package Zone
Your Ring doorbell has a built-in Package Zone you can use to alert you when packages are delivered to your door. When you enable the Package Zone, the doorbell senses packages left on your doorstep and notifies you of the delivery.
To enable the Package Zone, follow these steps:
From within the Ring app, tap the Options (three-line) icon and select Devices. Tap to select your Ring doorbell device. Tap Motion Settings. Scroll to the bottom of the Motion Settings screen and tap Turn On Package Alerts. On the next screen, tap Turn On Feature. On the next several screens, tap Continue until you’re asked to create your Package Zone. Tap to select the orange Package zone, then drag any of the highlight points to resize the zone. Tap Done.
Configuring Motion Sensitivity
Here’s an issue. Even if you’ve set a smaller motion zone, you still get alerted to every little motion outside your door, from rustling tree branches to trash blowing by on a windy day. The solution to this is to adjust the sensitivity of your doorbell’s motion detection so that it’s only triggered by more significant events.
Follow these steps to adjust your doorbell’s motion sensitivity:
From within the Ring app, tap the Options (three-line) icon and select Devices. Tap your Ring doorbell device. Tap Motion Settings. Tap Motion Sensitivity. Drag the slider to the right to increase sensitivity (more motion alerts) or to the left to decrease sensitivity (fewer alerts). Tap Save.
Configuring Motion Detection Frequency
Consistent motion outside your front door can set off your Ring doorbell’s motion alarm. This is an issue if you have children or pets constantly running through the doorbell’s motion zone. It’s okay to be alerted once to this motion, but you don’t want the motion detector going off over and over again.
The solution to this issue is to configure the Ring doorbell to check for motion less frequently. You can configure your doorbell to check for motion Frequently (always on and checking), Regularly (takes a short break after each motion alert), or Periodically (takes a longer break after each motion alert). Follow these steps to adjust the frequency setting:
From within the Ring app on your phone, tap the Options (three-line) icon and select Devices. Tap your Ring doorbell device. Tap Motion Settings. Tap Advanced Settings. Tap Motion Frequency. Select Frequently, Regularly, or Periodically.
Configuring Smart Alerts for Only People
Most people only want to be alerted when human beings come to your door. You probably don’t need to be alerted when animals trot through a motion zone or when someone throws a ball across your doorstep. Fortunately, Ring offers Smart Alerts that sound only when a real human being enters a motion zone. This setting lets you mute alerts when your Ring doorbell detects inanimate objects.
To configure Smart Alerts, follow these steps:
From within the Ring app, tap the Options (three-line) icon and select Devices. Tap your Ring doorbell device. Tap Motion Settings. Tap Smart Alerts. In the Person section, tap “on” the Notification and the Recording icons. In the Other Motion section, tap “off” the Notification icon but tap “on” the Recording icon.
By leaving recording enabled, you still record all motion detected but only get alerted when it’s a person at your door. You can configure these settings for each of your individual motion zones.
Let Your Ring Doorbell Detect the Motion You Select
By configuring these settings in the Ring app you can be alerted to the most relevant motion outside your front door. Just set a motion zone, motion sensitivity, and other motion settings, and you’re good to go.
