Alexa Does Not Discover SmartThings Devices? – Fix Guide

Wondering why Alexa does not discover SmartThings devices? It’s simple!

There are certain requirements for linking Amazon Account with a SmartThings profile, which essentially enabled the connection between the devices.

Let’s learn more!

When Alexa is not discovering the SmartThings devices, the Skill should first be enabled and both devices positioned in close proximity. The next step is to power-cycle both sides and factory restore the Alexa-enabled unit to see whether this will help.

Why Is Alexa Not Discovering SmartThings Devices?

To make Alexa search and discover SmartThings devices, a Skill must be enabled.

There’s a certain section in the Amazon Alexa app, labeled “Skills” that has compatibility settings with most of the popular brands.

There’s also a skill for SmartThings that must be enabled to make Alexa search for devices of that nature.

Here are reasons why is Alexa not discovering SmartThings devices:

• The SmartThings device is not in range of Alexa
• Alexa or the SmartThings device aren’t working
• Outdated version!
• An issue with the Amazon Alexa app
• Problems with the SmartThings skill

Most of these causes could have impacted your Alexa setup and prevented it from searching for SmartThings devices.

To keep things simple, we’ll go step by step in the following guide!

Alexa Does Not Discover SmartThings Devices – Fixes!

To solve the problem, we’re going to undertake a complete solution guide in chronological order which will help us to identify the root of the problem.

With a bit of luck, the problem will be gone by the end of the solutions so let’s jump right in!

Solution #1 Enable the “SmartThings” Skill

The first thing you should do is make sure that the SmartThings Skill is enabled within your Amazon Alexa app.

While enabling the skill, you will have to sync your SmartThings account to your Amazon profile and then all SmartThings devices will become available for Alexa.

To enable the SmartThings skill inside the Amazon Alexa app, follow these instructions:

1. Open the Amazon Alexa app on your mobile smartphone.
2. Press the “Devices” button situated in the bottom right corner.
3. Next, go to “Smart Home Skills” from the Devices screen.
4. Select “Enable Smart Home Skills”.
5. Use the search field to locate the SmartThings Skill.
6. Press on “Add/Enable This Skill”.
7. Follow the rest of the on-screen instructions to enable the skill for your account.

When the skill is enabled, Alexa should be able to discover Smart Things devices!

Alert: Make sure that you have access to your SmartThings account.

Solution #2 Hard Reboot the Alexa Speaker

If you’ve successfully added the SmartThings skill, but the SmartThings discovery still doesn’t work, you should hard reboot the speaker.

A hard reboot (or reset) is a process that will refresh the software of your speaker and discharge the hardware of any electricity.

This is an advanced way to restart your speaker and solve any issues!

A hard reboot on your Alexa speaker could be done in the following way:

1. Press and hold the Power Button on the speaker to shut off Alexa.
2. Unplug the Power Adapter of Amazon Alexa from the source.
3. Standby for 5 Minutes while the adapter is disconnected.
4. Reconnect your Alexa speaker’s power adapter back into the power.
5. Wait for the speaker to turn on.
6. Say “Alexa, discover” and check if the issue is still there.

Note: The longer you keep your Alexa unplugged, the better will the hard reboot work!

Solution #3 Adjust SmartThings Location Settings

Inappropriate location settings may prevent Alexa from scanning for any nearby SmartThings devices.

This problem will occur, especially if there are multiple location settings in your SmartThings account.

As long as Alexa connects to the SmartThings hub, from a location, the process should work.

Follow these instructions to adjust the location settings in your SmartThings app:

1. Open the SmartThings App on your device.
2. Go to the Home Icon on the top left.
3. Press “Manage Locations”.
4. Make sure that there is only a single location on the list.
5. (Optional) To remove locations, press the 3 Dots and then select “Remove”.

Once you’re done with adjusting the location settings, tell Alexa to discover for devices again and check how that goes. In case it helps, congratulations, the problem is solved.

Note: Before exiting the SmartThings app, make sure that you’ve saved the changes!

Solution #4 Update the Amazon Alexa App

Running an Outdated Firmware Version on your Amazon Alexa app could result in frustrating glitches, such as the one you have with SmartThings.

To resolve the problem, you should update the version of the Amazon Alexa app to the latest firmware build available.

Here’s how to update the version of the Amazon Alexa app:

1. On your device, go to the App Store.
2. Find and select the “Manage Installed Apps” button.
3. Use the search field to locate the Amazon Alexa app.
4. Once you’ve found the app, press the “Functions” button.
5. Press the “Update” button.
6. Wait for the Amazon Alexa app to finalize the update.

With the updated and fresh firmware, test whether both devices’ accounts can be linked.

Alert: Do not exit the app store or cancel the update halfway since this may cause corrupted/glitched data with the app.

Solution #5 Re-Add Alexa From SmartThings

Assuming you already added Alexa to your SmartThings application, you could re-add it in an attempt to resolve this bug.

Adding Alexa to SmartThings is also an essential step that you couldn’t have missed since it is one of the requirements for connecting SmartThings devices to Alexa.

To re-add Alexa from SmartThings, follow these steps:

1. Launch the SmartThings application on your device.
2. Press the Menu Button.
3. Go to Settings.
4. Head to “Connect Services”.
5. Press “Amazon Alexa”.
6. Locate a button with a “Remove” label.
7. Unhook the Amazon Alexa service from SmartThings.
8. In the SmartThings app, go to “Add Service”.
9. Follow the steps to re-add Alexa.

Note: Make sure that Alexa is in range while connecting it to the SmartThings application!

Solution #6 Reinstall the Alexa/SmartThings App

A glitch with Amazon Alexa or the SmartThings app could result in a bug similar to the one you have.

An appropriate approach is to reinstall both of the services and check if the issue would persist.

Alert: Make sure that you have saved your login credentials both for the Amazon and SmartThings apps.

Here’s how to reinstall both the Alexa and the SmartThings app in easy steps:

1. On your device, go to Settings.
2. Access the Storage Unit.
3. Head to the “Applications” section in the storage.
4. Use the search field to type “Amazon Alexa”.
5. Locate the app and Uninstall It.
6. Repeat the same thing for the SmartThings App.
7. Once both services are removed, go to your device’s App Store.
8. Re-download both Amazon and SmartThings.
9. Hop back into your accounts and make them as they were before the reinstallation.

Notice: Uninstalling the Alexa and SmartThings app will cause all SmartThings Alexa skills to be reverted. Enable them again.

Solution #7 Reset Your Alexa Speaker

If nothing worked so far, then you should perform a factory reset on your Alexa speaker.

You could trigger a simple reset using the buttons on the speaker, or an overall factory reset through the Amazon Alexa app, which is what are we going to do.

If you just recently reinstalled the Alexa app in the previous solution, make sure that the speaker is now added.

Here’s how to factory reset your Amazon Alexa speaker in easy steps:

1. Launch the Alexa App on your device.
2. Go to “Devices”.
3. Press “Echo & Alexa”.
4. Choose the speaker you wish to perform the reset on.
5. Scroll all the way down in the following tab.
6. Locate the “Factory Reset” button and press it.
7. Confirm that you want to factory reset your speaker.
8. Wait for the reset to initialize and finish.

Note: The initial setup of your Alexa-enabled device should be carried out from the start.

Quick Recap:

Thus, Alexa won’t be able to discover SmartThings devices until the Skill is enabled in the Amazon Alexa application. The next thing we’ve learned is that the firmware versions of our devices should always be the most recent ones available!

Read Next: Why Does Alexa Chime Randomly?

Wrapping Up:

Now that we’ve learned why Alexa does not discover SmartThings devices, we can conclude that the problem is mainly related to functionality.

All requirements should be met, and the connection should establish smoother than butter! Good Luck!

For more relevant guides, check out our tech blog!