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

How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

This post how to set up the original Google Home speaker on your home WiFi network and how to access the speaker from the Google Home app.

Picture of the speaker powering up, showing multi-colored ring of lights on top, spinning and blinking during boot.
The speaker powering up, showing multi-colored ring of lights on top, spinning and blinking during boot.

How to Set Up Google Home Speaker: What You’ll Need First

A WiFi internet Connection

None of the Google Home devices that we know of has an Ethernet RJ45 port.  So, you must connect them to the Google Assistant service via your internet-connected WiFi network.  Note that the voice assistant on your speaker will not work without this connection.

A Google Account

Go to https://myaccount.google.com/ to set up a new account there if you do not already have one.  Typically, your account user name is your email address.

The Google App

This app is available in the Google Play (Android) store, as well as the App Store (iOS).  Download and install the right version on your tablet or phone.  For this demo, we’re using an iPad Air.

Google Home Speaker Setup Procedure

1. Unpack your Google Home Device (If New)

The unit comes in a fair-sized white box. Remove the tape securing the box bottom closed. Open the box and spread the contents out on a table.  You should have the speaker and the power pack adapter.   For more detailed unboxing instructions, see our post   here.

Picture of the Google Home intelligent speaker, completely unboxed, showing the original packaging opened, the speaker, manuals, and power adapter.
Google Home intelligent speaker, completely unboxed, showing the original packaging opened, the speaker, manuals, and power adapter.

2. Connect your Google Home Speaker to the AC Adapter

Connect the barrel DC connector end of the power adapter to the jack port on the underside of the speaker, as shown next.

Picture of the speaker's bottom, showing the power plug fully inserted into speaker power port.
Bottom view of the speaker, showing the power plug fully inserted into speaker power port.

3. Plug AC Adapter into a 120 Volt Outlet

The speaker then goes through various states while booting and the light patterns spin and change colors on its top, as shown next.

Picture of the Google Home speaker powering up, showing multi-colored ring of lights on top, spinning and blinking during boot.
Google Home speaker powering up, showing multi-colored ring of lights on top, spinning and blinking during boot.

 

Picture of the speaker, booting in progress, displaying the multi colored light ring, indicating that.
The speaker, booting in progress, displaying the multi colored light ring, indicating that.

The unit takes about thirty seconds to completely boot up.  Upon boot completion, the speaker should prompt you to set it up, and the light pattern on the top should look as follows.

Picture of the Google Home speaker in setup mode, displaying four white dots indicating as such.
The Google Home speaker in setup mode, displaying four white dots indicating as such.

If it does not, perform a hard reset, as described here.  However, if you bought your speaker brand new, it should already be in factory default (ready for setup) condition.





4. Run the Google Home App to Continue with How to Set Up the Google Home Speaker

Move your mobile device to within a few feet of the speaker and bring up the Google Home app.  Find this on the Home screen pages, depending on where you might have moved it.  In our case, it’s on home page three on our iPad Air.

Picture of the Google Home App entry, as shown on the iOS home screen.
Google Home App entry, as shown on the iOS home screen.

We got the following screen at Google Home App startup.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying the startup banner screen.
The Home app on iOS, displaying the startup banner screen.

After a short pause, the app takes you to its Home screen.  Ours displayed as follows.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, displaying the home screen you get when no devices are configured.
Google Home app on iOS, displaying the home screen you get when no devices are configured.

5 . Bring up the ‘hamburger’ Menu on the App’s Home Screen 

by tapping the three lines at the top left corner of the home screen.  The app’s main menu then displays, as follows.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying its main menu, with the Devices item highlighted.
The Home app on iOS, displaying its main menu, with the Devices item highlighted.

6. Tap the Devices Menu Item

Find the Devices menu pointed to above by the purple arrow.  You’ll then see a list of devices the app discovered.  Your new Google Home speaker should appear in this list, similar to the way ours did, as shown next.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, displaying the devices discovered list screen.
Google Home app on iOS, displaying the devices discovered list screen.

7. Tap the ‘Add New Device’ Blue Bar to Continue with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

You’ll then get the  Add New Device  screen, as shown next.  In this scenario, the Google Home speaker begins broadcasting a WiFi hotspot that we connect to with the mobile device in the next steps.  This allows configuration of the speaker’s onboard network settings.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying the Add New Device screen.
The Home app on iOS, displaying the Add New Device screen.




8 . Go to your Tablet’s WiFi Settings Page

On an iPad, we went back to the Home screen, tapped the  Settings  app, and got the following screen.

Picture of the iOS Wi-Fi Settings Screen, with the GoogleHomeXXXX.Y hotspot SSID highlighted.
iOS Wi-Fi Settings Screen, with the GoogleHomeXXXX.Y hotspot SSID highlighted.

9. Tap the GoogleHomeXXXX.Y Hotspot Item

Ours is as circled in purple in the last picture.  Tapping this temporarily disconnects your tablet from your current WiFi network, and creates a direct WiFi connection with your Google Home, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the iOS Wi-Fi Settings screen, with a connection established with the GoogleHomeXXXX.Y speaker hotspot.
iOS Wi-Fi Settings screen, with a connection established with the GoogleHomeXXXX.Y speaker hotspot.

10. Return to the Google Home App to Continue with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

Once your mobile device has successfully linked to your speaker, as shown in the previous picture. leave the iOS WiFi Settings screen and return to the Google Home app.  The following Google Home Setup screen then appears, showing that your speaker has been detected.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying the Google Home Setup screen, with a Google Home device found.
The Home app on iOS, displaying the Google Home Setup screen, with a Google Home device found.

11. Tap the  Continue  Link 

Find the Continue item in the lower right corner of the Google Home Setup screen, as in the previous picture.  Your mobile device then connects to the speaker.  And as it does so, the speaker with some orbiting particles in motion appears on the screen.





After several seconds, the status message there changes to tell you that a successful connection has been made, as shown next.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, displaying a successful connection to speaker, via the Google Home Set Up screen.
Google Home app on iOS, displaying a successful connection to speaker, via the Google Home Set Up screen.

After a short pause, the app issues a play-a-test-sound prompt, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying the Google Home Set Up screen, prompting to play a test sound on the speaker.
The Home app on iOS, displaying the Google Home Set Up screen, prompting to play a test sound on the speaker.

12. Tap the   Play Test Sound   Link 

Find the Play Test Sound item in lower right corner of the screen, and touch it.

Then, if all is well, you should hear a “blink” sound from the speaker, and after that, the following page displays.

Picture of the Google Home App on iOS, displaying the Google Home Set Up screen, asking if we heard the test sound from speaker being configured.
Google Home App on iOS, displaying the Google Home Set Up screen, asking if we heard the test sound from speaker being configured.

13. Confirm that you Heard the Test Sound to Continue with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

by tapping the I Heard The Sound  link, at the bottom right corner of the screen in the previous picture.  This then takes you to the language selection prompt, as pictured next.

Picture of the Home App on iOS, displaying the Google Home Set Up screen, prompting for language selection.
The Home App on iOS, displaying the Google Home Set Up screen, prompting for language selection.

14. Choose your Desired Language  

Pick the language you want the unit to speaker and understand on the above screen.





Then, the app prompts you to choose the room in your home or office, in which you will place your speaker, as shown next.

Picture of the app prompting us to select a room for speaker.
The app prompting us to select a room for speaker.

15. Select a Room Name for your Speaker

Choose a room from the Select Room list, as shown in the next picture.  This is a fairly large list; too large to all fit in the window.  But you can single-finger swipe up to scroll the rest of the list into view.  When you find the appropriate room name for your speaker, tap it.

Picture of the app showing the list of room choices window.
The app showing the list of room choices window.

We chose Living Room for our speaker, as shown next.

Picture of the app showing the -Living Room- choice selected for speaker.
The app showing the -Living Room- choice selected for speaker.

16. Click the  Continue  Link to Move Forward with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

Tap the blue Continue link in the lower right corner of the screen.  You’re then taken to the Select Wi-Fi Network  prompt, as shown next.  Sometime prior to this, the speaker has done a scan of the WiFi bands (supports both the 2.4 and 5 Ghz. wireless bands).  It then puts the in-range WiFi networks it found into the drop-down list on the screen pictured next.

Picture of the app prompting user to select the WiFi network to which the speaker should connect.
The app prompting us to select the WiFi network to which the speaker should connect.

Tap the down-arrow, as shown on the above screenshot, to reveal the list of in-range networks the smart speaker found.  The list we got when we ran through this is shown in the next picture.

If your network does not appear in this list, try moving the Google speaker closer to your WiFi access point, and then do a rescan by pressing the  Scan Again  link at the bottom of the  Select Network list window, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the app displaying the -Select WiFi Network From List- window.
The app displaying the -Select WiFi Network From List- window.

17. Choose your Desired WiFi Network

Choose the wireless network to which you’d like your speaker to connect.

Note that this network must have internet access, to enable the smart speaker to talk to the Google Home servers via the internet.  The network should also be secured (requiring a password) to prevent any eavesdroppers from stealing any personal information you might send through your Google speaker.





If you do not see your WiFi network listed, swipe up in the Select Network window, as pictured above, to scroll down in the list and bring other networks into view in the window.

In this demo, we’re connecting to the 937T681J4059H_5G network SSID.  But your network name will likely be different.  So tap on yours in the list, as we’ll do here with ours.

A password prompt is then issued if you picked a secured network, as shown in our case in the next picture.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying setup screen, prompting for WiFi network password.
The Home app on iOS, displaying setup screen, prompting for WiFi network password.

18. Enter Selected WiFi Network Password

We’ve used the iOS virtual keyboard to enter the password for our chosen wireless network, as shown in the next picture.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, where a Wi-Fi network password has been entered via the iOS virtual keyboard.
Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, where a WiFi network password has been entered via the iOS virtual keyboard.

19 . Tap the Continue Button to Continue with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

Find the Continue link at lower right corner of the Google Home Setup screen, and touch it.

This starts your smart speaker’s attempt to connect to the wireless network you selected with the password you entered.  While the speaker does this, the app displays the following, “in progress” screen.

Picture of the app showing that connecting To WiFi is in progress.
The app showing that connecting to WiFi is in progress.

If all goes well, and after several seconds, the Google Home speaker creates a connection successfully with your chosen WiFi network. Then, the app displays the following screen to let you know.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, showing the setup screen, indicating that the speaker connected successfully to the chosen WiFi network.
The Google Home app on iOS, showing the setup screen, indicating that the speaker connected successfully to the chosen WiFi network.

This screen displays long enough for you to see it and understand that you’ve made a connection between your speaker and your WiFi. Then, the screen changes to the Meet your Google Assistant prompt, as shown next.





You may choose here, to either learn more about the assistant (by tapping the  Learn More  link in the screen center). Or you can skip this by tapping the blue   Sign In   link in the lower right corner of the screen, as shown in the next picture.   For this scenario, we’re not going to learn more, but instead, tap the  Sign In  link.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, showing the Meet Google Assistant prompt.
The Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, showing the Meet Google Assistant prompt.

After pressing Sign In, you get the screen displayed next.

20. Sign In to your Google Account 

The screen below allows you to choose from Google accounts used previously to sign in to the app.  You can also pick a different Google account.  In our case here, since we’re already signed into Google on our iPad tablet, we’re just going to press the blue  Continue as Thomas  button.  If we weren’t already signed into Google, we would have been asked to enter the Google account Id and password of our desired account.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, prompting for Google account sign on credentials.
Home app by Google on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, prompting for Google account sign on credentials.

Once you’ve entered your account, either by picking it from the list, or by entering the desired user Id and password explicitly, the Waiting for Device  screen appears next, as shown in the next step.

21. Allow for Getting Personalized Answers to your Questions

At this prompt, you can choose to enter the street address of the place for which you’d like to receive personalized information (weather, news, nearby store lists, and such).  Press the Allow link in the lower right corner of this screen, and you’ll be prompted for your street address or city location.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying the Waiting For Device screen, showing Get Personal Results prompt.
The Home app on iOS, displaying the Waiting For Device screen, showing Get Personal Results prompt.

22. Enter Desired Location to Continue with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

On this screen prompt, you can enter a street address, city-state, and / or zip code. Then, you choose from the list of matches that results from your typing, the location you wish to assign to your Google speaker.

Picture of the Google Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, showing the Set Google Home Location prompt.
Google Home app on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, showing the Set Google Home Location prompt.




23. Choose a Default Music Service 

After you’ve entered your location above, the screen pictured next displays, where you can add your login credentials to any music service you might have, that Google Home supports.  Currently, they support Google Play Music, YouTube Music, Spotify, and Pandora.  For each service you have an account with, click the blue   LINK   link.  Then you’ll be prompted to enter your account information for that service.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, showing the Setup screen, displaying the Link Music Services list and Select a Default prompt.
The Home app on iOS, showing the Setup screen, displaying the Link Music Services list and Select a Default prompt.

After linking to any music service accounts you desire, tap the radio button circle to the left of the service you wish to be your default music service on your Google Home smart speaker.  That button then turns blue.  In the picture above, the Google Play music service has been selected as the default.

24. Tap the Continue Link 

Find the Continue item on the screen just displayed.

The screen shown in the next picture then appears.  It shows that the Google Home Assistant speaker has been successfully set up.  Here, you can choose to move through a brief tutorial that talks about all that Google Home can do for you.  But we’re not including that tutorial in this demo.

Picture of the Google Home App on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, showing that speaker setup is now complete.
Google Home App on iOS, displaying the Setup screen, showing that speaker setup is now complete.

25. Tap the  Skip Tutorial  Link

Skipping the tutorial takes you back to the app’s home screen.  Our home screen is pictured next.

Picture of the Home app on iOS, displaying its Home screen after successful smart speaker setup.
The Home app on iOS, displaying its Home screen after successful smart speaker setup.

26. Test your New Google Home Speaker

Ask it the time or other questions such as the following:

  • Hey Google, how far away is the moon?
  • Okay Google, what’s the weather?
  • Okay Google, tell me a joke.
  • Hey Google, play some music.

If your speaker is connected correctly, you should get answers to all of these commands and questions.

27. You’re Done with How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

Good luck, and do enjoy your new smart device.

Related Posts to How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

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    2. How to Set Up Alexa Echo Spot Touchscreen Speaker
    3. Google Home Mini How to Set Up Spotify
    4. How to Set Up Echo Dot 3rd Generation
    5. How to Set Up Pandora on Alexa Speakers

Other Posts About Google Home

    1. Google Home AC Adapter Specs, Wall Adapter
    2. How to Set Default Music Provider on Google Home
    3. Reboot Google Home Speaker Instructions
    4. How to Set Sleep Timer on Google Home Speaker
    5. Google Home Connect to Bluetooth Speaker Instructions

References for How to Set Up Google Home Speaker

    1. Google Home Official Page

Revision History

    • 2020-12-13: First published.