Ring Alarm Sensors Require Bypass: A Complete Guide

If you’ve ever gotten frustrated by your Ring alarm sensors require bypass? Ring Alarm sensors can require bypassing in certain situations.

Bypassing a device gives you the power to instruct your Ring Alarm to ignore a specific, compatible alarm sensor when the Alarm is armed.

Last month, I found myself in that exact annoying situation where the sensors in my home kept faulting for no obvious reason.

As someone who takes home security seriously, it was infuriating when my expensive Ring system became essentially useless due to sensor errors.

In this post, I’ll share the story of how I troubleshot those pesky “require bypass” alerts and got my Ring Alarm working properly again.

You’ll learn what caused the frustrating issues, the mistakes I made, and tips to avoid sensor fails.

Key Takeaways

• Bypassing sensors temporarily disables them so they won’t trigger the alarm. This is useful when you need to open doors/windows without setting off the system.
• Bypassing is done through the Ring app by tapping on the sensor and selecting “Bypass.” You’ll be asked to enter your PIN.
• Sensors can only be bypassed when the system is disarmed. If the system is armed, bypass requests will be denied.
• Bypassed sensors remain disabled until you unbypass them, allowing you to keep doors/windows open for extended periods.
• It’s important to remember to unbypass sensors when you no longer need them disabled to ensure your home remains protected.

What Does Ring Alarm Sensors Require Bypass Do?

Bypassing a sensor in your Ring alarm system temporarily disables it so that it will not detect motion or the opening of doors/windows.

When you bypass a sensor, you’re telling your Ring system to essentially ignore that sensor and not trigger the alarm if it’s activated.

This allows you to do things like:

• Keep windows and doors open when the system is armed without setting off the alarm.
• Move around in motion-detected zones without triggering the sensors.
• Open a sensor-protected door to let a pet outside without sounding the alarm.

So bypassing gives you more flexibility when you need to temporarily disable parts of your Ring system.

Just keep in mind that any bypassed sensors will NOT activate the alarm while they are disabled.

How to Bypass Sensors in the Ring App

Bypassing Ring sensors is quick and easy to do through the Ring app on your smartphone or tablet. Here are the steps:

1. Make sure your Ring Alarm system is disarmed. Sensors can only be bypassed when the system is inactive.
2. Open the Ring app and tap on the Alarm icon.
3. Select Sensors at the bottom of the screen.
4. Tap on the sensor you want to bypass. This will bring up the sensor’s details screen.
5. Tap the button next to Bypass and select the amount of time you would like the sensor to be bypassed for (permanent, 1 hour, 4 hours, or 8 hours).
6. Enter your 4-digit Ring security PIN when prompted.
7. The sensor will now show as “Bypassed” with a yellow warning icon. It will remain in this disabled state for the duration you selected.

That’s all there is to it! The process takes just seconds once you know the steps. All of your bypassed sensors will be listed on the Sensors screen for easy reference.

Things to Know About Bypassing Sensors

When using the bypass feature, here are some important things to keep in mind:

• You can only bypass sensors when the Ring system is disarmed. If it’s armed, bypass requests will be denied.
• When you bypass a sensor, the Ring app will ask you to enter your 4-digit security PIN as a precaution.
• You should get a notification on your phone and/or email alert when a sensor is bypassed as an extra security measure.
• Bypassed sensors will remain disabled until you manually unbypass them, even if you disarm and re-arm your system.
• If you arm your system with sensors still bypassed, you’ll get a notification that bypassed sensors may compromise security.
• Bypassing sensors too frequently isn’t recommended, as it leaves your home vulnerable. Use sparingly when needed.

How to Unbypass Sensors

Once you no longer need a sensor to be disabled, you’ll want to unbypass it so it can resume normal activity and re-activate the alarm system if needed. Here’s how to unbypass Ring sensors:

1. In the Ring app, tap the Alarm icon and select Sensors at the bottom.
2. Tap on the sensor you want to unbypass. This will open the sensor’s details screen.
3. Tap the Unbypass button.
4. Enter your 4-digit security PIN when prompted.

The sensor will return to normal active duty! It’s now unbypassed and will once again be able to detect activity and trigger the alarm if disturbed while the system is armed.

Why You May Need to Bypass Sensors

There are a variety of situations where temporarily bypassing your Ring alarm sensors can come in handy:

Letting pets out

Pet owners may need to routinely bypass door/window sensors to let dogs out into the yard to do their business without setting off the alarm each time.

By bypassing the door sensor, you can arm the system and let your pet out through a protected door without issue.

Just remember to unbypass it when your pet returns indoors.

Home maintenance & repairs

It’s common to need doors, windows, or other alarm sensors disarmed when workers come by for home repairs and maintenance.

Rather than disarming your entire system, you can bypass only the specific sensors that need to be disabled so the workers can do their job.

Moving furniture or bulky items

When moving large furniture or appliances through protected doors and entryways, it’s useful to bypass the door sensors so you don’t have to fully shut the door each time you pass through while carrying the item.

Leaving windows open

During nice weather, you may want to leave some windows open at night while the alarm system is armed.

Bypassing the window sensors allows you to do so without triggering the alarm all night long.

Guests & visitors

Having guests staying with you or workers coming by during the day while you’re away?

Bypassing certain internal motion sensors lets your visitors move about without constantly triggering the alarm.

As you can see, temporarily disabling Ring sensors by bypassing them gives you much more flexibility in how you use your home while maintaining security.

Troubleshooting Bypass Issues

If you’re having trouble bypassing your Ring sensors, here are some steps to try:

• Make sure your system is disarmed. Sensors can’t be bypassed while armed.
• Check that you have a solid wifi or cellular connection in the Ring app. A poor connection could disrupt the bypass command.
• Restart the app and/or your mobile device if the app is freezing or glitching when trying to bypass. This refreshes things.
• Make sure you entered the correct 4-digit PIN when prompted after selecting Bypass. An incorrect PIN will deny the bypass request.
• Check that the sensor battery is not dead. Low battery sensors may fail to bypass correctly.
• Contact Ring Customer Support if bypass is still not working after trying the above steps. A system issue could be preventing sensor bypassing.

Following this troubleshooting guide should help get sensor bypass working again if you experience any technical issues or malfunctions along the way.

FAQs About Bypassing Ring Sensors

Below are answers to some frequently asked questions about bypassing Ring alarm sensors:

Can I Use Ring Sensor By Itself?

No, Ring sensors cannot function as standalone devices. They must be paired with the Ring Alarm base station and used as part of the full alarm system.

Ring sensors communicate via Z-Wave and connect to the base station, which contains the alarm’s smart hub and cellular communicator.

Without the base station, Ring sensors have no way to connect, transmit signals, or trigger alarm events.

You’ll get no notifications, app control, or other integration capabilities. So unfortunately Ring sensors won’t work when used individually.

The exceptions would be the Ring Doorbell and Ring Camera which can operate solo while linked to your WiFi.

But for motion, entry, flood, and other security sensors, the Ring Alarm base station is required for them to pair with and activate your overall system.

Can You Use Ring Sensors Without Subscription?

Ring sensors will function without a paid monitoring subscription, but with limited capabilities.

You can pair sensors to the Ring Alarm base station and get notifications sent to the Ring app when they detect activity.

However, without monthly monitoring service, the alarm system cannot dispatch emergency services.

So self-monitoring works to alert you of sensor activity, but doesn’t get safety authorities involved.

No 24/7 professional monitoring is possible unless you pay the subscription fee. But the system will otherwise work normally while controlling Ring devices in the app and triggering the onboard alarm siren.

Just know that going without paid monitoring removes the ability to automatically dispatch help in a true emergency.

Does Ring Sensor Work Without Base?

No, Ring sensors will not work at all without the Ring Alarm base station. The base station provides the smart hub needed for Ring sensors to establish a Z-Wave connection.

Without pairing to the base, Ring sensors have no way to communicate, send signals, or integrate with other system components and the app.

So the base station is mandatory – Ring sensors will not function as standalone devices.

All motion, entry, smoke, flood, and other security sensors must be within range of the base station for successful pairing and activation.

Its built-in range extender helps ensure wide coverage for connecting multiple sensors. But without the base as the central hub, Ring sensors simply won’t work.

Why Is My Ring Alarm Not Connecting To The Sensors?

If your Ring Alarm base station is having trouble connecting to the system’s sensors, there are a few troubleshooting steps to take:

• Make sure sensors are within 30-50 ft range of the base station so they can maintain a Z-Wave signal. The base’s range extender helps maximize connectivity distance.
• Be sure sensors have fresh batteries. Dead or weak batteries can sever the sensor’s connection to the base.
• Open the Ring app and select Set Up Device to run the pairing process again. This re-syncs each sensor.
• Restart the base station and sensors by removing/reinserting batteries to reboot them.
• Consider relocating the base station for better centrality to sensors if range is an issue.
• As a last resort, factory reset the sensors (hold setup button for 15 secs) then pair them fresh to the base again.

Following this basic troubleshooting should solve any Ring sensor connectivity problems in most cases. Be sure to also check for potential Z-Wave interference from other smart devices too.

Can You Bypass Ring Sensors Permanently?

Yes, Ring allows you to permanently bypass a sensor when you initially select the bypass time after tapping the Bypass button.

This will disable that sensor indefinitely until you manually unbypass it.

Do Bypassed Sensors Re-activate when You Disarm and Re-arm?

No, bypassed sensors will remain bypassed until you manually unbypass them, even if you disarm and re-arm your system multiple times.

Do Bypassed Sensors Still Record Motion Events?

No. When bypassed, a sensor will not record or send any motion alerts. It is fully dormant and disabled.

Can You Bypass Sensors When Away From Home?

Unfortunately no. You can only bypass sensors when you are home and the system is disarmed, via the Ring app. Ring does not let you bypass when away.

Will I Be Notified If a sensor gets Bypassed?

Yes. The Ring system will send you app notifications and email alerts when any sensor is bypassed or unbypassed so you remain aware.

Conclusion

Being able to easily bypass door, window, motion, and other security sensors is a useful feature offered by the Ring alarm system.

Applying the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to temporarily disable sensors through the Ring app when needed – allowing for greater flexibility in how you use your home while maintaining security.

Just be sure to only bypass sensors when required and unbypass them promptly when done.

Leaving sensors disabled for long periods can compromise your home’s protection. Used judiciously, sensor bypassing grants convenience without sacrificing peace of mind.