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Smart bulbs let you automate the lighting in your home and wirelessly control it from other devices like a smartphone. The most popular smart lights on the market are Philips Hue bulbs, but even these can suffer technical problems from time to time.

Whatever is going wrong with your Philips Hue bulbs, you should be able to fix it with some basic troubleshooting tips. Here's how to fix all the most common Philips Hue problems, from new bulbs not connecting to existing Hue lights being totally unreachable.

1. You Can't Add New Philips Hue Bulbs

Before you can start using your Philips Hue bulbs, you need to pair them to your smart home using the free Hue app for Android and iOS.

To add a new bulb to your light set up, open the Hue app and go to Settings > Light and tap the Add (+) button. The app will search for new lights on your network and allow you to add them.

Try these troubleshooting tips if the Hue app can't find your new Philips Hue bulb:

2. You Can't Find the Hue Bridge

If you want multiple smart bulbs or you plan to create Philips Hue automations with them, you need to use a Hue Bridge. This acts as a smart hub for your lighting setup, connecting all your bulbs to the internet and allowing you to control them when you're away from home.

Most Philips Hue starter kits come with a Hue Bridge, but you may need to buy one separately if you didn't get one.

To connect to your Hue Bridge, open the Hue app and go to Settings > Hue Bridges and tap the Add (+) button. Then click the circular button on the top of the Hue Bridge to enter pairing mode.

If you can't find your Hue Bridge:

Related: Reasons We Still Love Philips Hue (and Reasons We Don't)

3. Your Philips Hue Lights Are Unreachable

After pairing your Philips Hue bulbs to the app, you might later find the lights say "Unreachable" and you can't turn them on or off anymore using your smartphone or other devices.

This is a common problem that you can usually fix with one of these quick tricks:

4. Your Philips Hue Bulbs Flicker or Buzz

The last thing you want from an expensive Philips Hue bulb is for the light to flicker or buzz. If that happens to your bulbs, it's usually because you connected them to a dimmer switch.

Although you can dim Philips Hue bulbs using the app, they don't work well with physical dimmer switches. Here are some steps you can take to fix it if that's the case:

5. You Can't Reliably Control Your Philips Hue Bulbs

Sometimes your Philips Hue bulbs appear to connect seamlessly, but when you try to control them, they don't work properly. You might find your Hue bulbs turn on by themselves, don't change color, or don't respond to voice commands.

Related: Do Your Philips Hue Bulbs Keep Turning Back On? How to Fix Them

If you have any of these problems, here are a few tricks to try:

Maybe It's Time to Start From Scratch

You should be able to fix most problems with your Philips Hue bulbs using the troubleshooting tips above. But if your Philips Hue bulbs are still not connected, unreachable, or flickering, you might need to unpair everything and start from scratch.

To do this, open the Hue app and go to Settings > Hue Bridge settings > Clean up. This deletes all the data from your bridge, including saved automation and paired bulbs. You can also use the physical reset button on the back of the bridge to do this.

Then remove and re-add every bulb in your house and follow the initial setup instructions again. That should fix whatever problems you're experiencing with your Philips Hue bulbs.

Dan edits iPhone, iPad, and Mac content for MakeUseOf, making use of his past experience working in an Apple Store to do so.

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