How to Reboot Google Home

Original Google Home smart speaker, during booting, along with AC power adapter plugged Into wall outlet.

You may wish to reboot your Google Home if it begins behaving erratically, becomes non responsive to questions and commands, emits strange noises and so on. Always try a reboot first, as this often clears up many problems, and avoids the unnecessary action of hard resetting.

How to Reboot Google Home: Method One: The Local Method

If you’re near the Google Home, you can just disconnect it from AC power, wait ten seconds, and then plug it back in. The unit will complete rebooting in less than a minute.

How to Reboot Google Home: Method Two: The Remote Method

However, if you’re far away from your Google Home, such as upstairs from it, or even away from home, you can issue a reboot command via the Google Home app on your mobile device as follows. This method depends on you having the Google Home app installed and linked to the same Google account to which your Google Home is linked. If all of that is in place, then do the following, to effect a remote reboot.

1. Run the Google Home App on your Mobile Device

Firstly, we use an iPad Air computer tablet in this scenario. This app we find on page three of our iPad’s home screen, although yours may appear in a different location, depending on how many apps you have installed as well as how you might have arranged them.

Home app entry, as shown on the iOS home screen.

Upon running this app, the Google home screen appears, as follows.

The Home app on iOS, displaying the Home screen, with the Hamburger control highlighted.

2. Tap the Hamburger Menu Control

Find this control in the top left corner of the Google Home app Home screen, as we point out in the previous picture with the pink arrow. This brings up the main menu as shown next.

The Home app on iOS, displaying its main menu, with the devices item highlighted.

3. Tap the Devices Menu Item

This brings up a list of your Google Home devices that have been configured on the current Google account, as shown next for our case.

We only have one Google. So there’s only one displaying in the next screenshot.

The Home app on iOS, displaying the Devices screen, with its hamburger menu link highlighted.

4. Tap the Device’s Hamburger Menu Control

Find this in the top right corner of its card, as shown by the pink arrow in the previous picture. The speaker’s control menu then appears, as shown next.

The Home app on iOS, displaying the -Devices- menu, with the -Reboot- item highlighted.

5. Tap the Reboot Menu Item

The pink arrow points at in the previous picture. The Reboot Confirmation dialog box displays, something like that shown in the next picture.

The -Device Reboot Confirmation- prompt, with the -REBOOT- link highlighted.

6. Tap the REBOOT Link

This starts a remote reboot of your Google Home, closes the reboot confirmation dialog box, and returns you to the Devices List screen, as shown next.

Notice that your speaker no longer appears here. This is temporary however, as it will again appear once if completes its restart cycle.

The -Devices Discovered List- screen, which is empty while Google reboots.

After reboot is complete, the Google should then reappear on the Devices screen, as shown next.

The -Devices- screen, with one Google Home up and running after the reboot.

7. Done with How to Reboot Google Home !

Finally. once the unit again appears, reboot has finished successfully. Then you can try some commands and questions.

Hopefully, rebooting solves any issues you had. If not, you can always try more drastic measures. E.g. Hard reset your Home device, and then set it up again. See our links in the Related Posts section below for instructions on how to take those more drastic steps.