Smart plug - How to factory reset?

Hi, I have a couple of Givenergy smartplugs and configured them to connect to an old wifi extender I had lying around. I have now replaced that with a tp-link mesh one so I don't have to connect to differently named APs. Anyway, I removed the plugs from the app and have been trying to pair them using my normal access point name, but it fails when setting the wifi settings and just seems to cause the plugs temporary network to disappear and the app never completes the task. Hence, I would like to factory reset the plugs so I can start from scratch with them as they paired fine the first time I did it. Does any one know how to factory reset them please? Many thanks.

Press and hold the power for 10s, release.
Fast flashing mode, then press and hold for 5s to get back to slow flashing and restart the pair process

Hi. I just got two smart plugs. One has connected without any problems but the other one is being really stubborn. I keep getting the following error message:

"Not connected to the smartlife network".

I am definitely connected to the smart plugs hotspot.

I've reset the smartplug a million times and restarted the whole process over and over again with no luck. Any help?

Odinias I get the same issue. I get to step where the phone/app is connected to the plug on it's hotspot, click the button and it never completes. What happens is the hotspot disappears and then the phone connects back to my house router and the app reports the error. I have tried theDragon's suggestion above to hold the power button for 10 seconds initially but that doesn't work either. I have tried using the android app from a fire tablet and I get the same issue. I have tried an iphone 6s on ios 15, which doesn't work. My iphone 14 on ios16 doesn't work and I do have network access and location allowed, so I don't think that's an issue as that has been mentioned on other posts.

Essentially, what I have now is two dumb mains switches that happen to have a pretty blue on indicator. Not great. Certainly not smart.

It seems that these smart plugs lock themselves to the first Wifi network that they connect to and it's not possible to change wifi.

My smartplug was originally connected to my wifi extension network (by mistake) so I reset it to connect to the main wifi but now I get the aforementioned error. It's a massive flaw because if people change wifi networks (such as yourself) then they can't connect the smartplugs to the new network. How on earth did GivEnergy miss this bug?!

I have contacted GivEnergy support to see if they have a solution so I'm just waiting for a reply. I would suggest you contact them as well to try to get the ball rolling:

support@givenergy.co.uk

Odinias Will do, hopefully we will get an answer. There must be some way to revert them back to a factory fresh state, as every other device I own that connects to a network lets you do that, otherwise that would be a massive design flaw.

Pure speculation this, but I have seen a post that mentions the smart plug encryption key had expired in a previous version of the app. I wonder if that might be the case here?

Can't comment on that unfortunately as I'm not clued up on the intricate workings of these plugs.

However, I have spoken to someone at GivEnergy and they are investigating. The gentleman that I spoke to is going to try the above himself over the weekend to see if he gets the same error. He said he would get back to me early next week, hopefully with a solution. If there is no solution then I'll just send them back for a refund as I am still within my refund period.

Got a response from the support team. They tested this and ran into the same problem as well so it appears to be a widespread bug with the smartplugs, quite a big one too!

He said he will now speak to the dev team to see why this error comes up and will get back to me.

The support guy also contacted me and said that the devs said that you should just be able to add the plug again which wasn’t the most helpful reply I have ever had. Glad they have acknowledged the issue to you though.

The dev team said that to me as well, that I should just be able to add the plug by clicking on "Add Plug". I told them that's exactly what I've been doing and they asked me to send a video but by that time I had already returned the plug for a refund. I don't know if they will continue to investigate or not so it's all down to you now lol

Update: Givenergy support told me to send the plugs back after sending them a video of the issue. After trying lots of things suggested by the seller and them still not registering, I did send them back. The seller tried to register them and they worked for him so I got a 50% refund which isn't ideal, especially considering shipping costs but he did offer to return the plugs to me, but by that point I had no faith in them working again on my GE account. The experience kind of makes me think that the plug ID's are still linked to my GE account and that is what is stopping them from being re-registered onto a different SSID.

Has there been ny progress with this one? took me ages to get the dongle working but finally managed to do that after changing wifi, but cannot get the plugs to change anyone had any luck or is it still the same issue?

Hi guys, I have had the same issue but managed to sort it this way.

Plug in the smart plug. (Make sure the socket switch is off)
If you can see the old WiFi connection on your router as off line remove the device
Switch on the socket switch
Hold power button for more than 10 sec (until it flashes blue, slow flashing)
This will reset the plug
Switch off the socket
Switch on the socket
Start the new smart plug process again.
(Your device must be on the same WiFi network you want the plug to join)
You must not be using a VPN ( this tripped me up as I forgot about it, so just pause before you start.
One last thing, that’s important, when it says connect to WiFi using your settings choose manual, and choose the network and enter the password.

I too get this "Cannot connect to SmartLife network" when trying to reset a GE Smart Plug.
It is very frustrating.

When the pairing process occurs the local key (used for encryption) is changed.
This may be the source of the difficulty.

I realised this when I played with integrating my GE Smart Plug into Home Assistant using the "Tuya Local" integration. The plugs, although branded as Giv Energy, are actually pretty generic but it is possible to regain control of the plugs via the "Tuya Smart" App.

In fact, the pairing in Tuya appears to be done via blutooth rather than the Access Point (AP) mode (where the GE App requests that one temporarily connect to the SmartLife-XXXX WiFi access point created by pressing the button for 5 to 8 seconds twice after power is applied).
In contrast, for Tuya, the pairing occurs with only one press for 5 - 8 seconds, thus not using the AP mode.

It is possible to discover a newly generated local key by accessing the plug from the Tuya Cloud at https://iot.tuya.com/
However: beware, here be dragons!
Once a trial a/c is created, it is necessary to create a project and link devices to it using "Link Tuya App Account"
This will reveal the Device Id that has been allocated for the smart plug device.
The Device Debugging option permits the switch to be turned off/on as proof that the cloud is communication with the GE Smart Plug.

To discover the local key (which is needed if you desire Home Assistant to control the device), use the API Explorer functionality of the Tuya IoT Platform.
Query Device Details is a useful GET request to try as it just need the device_id
It will respond with some json contraining lots of useful information, including "local_key" value (needed by Home Asssistant).
My plug also identifies as a model "RMC005" but I guess your mileage may differ.

Now the gotcha: While I can happily switch the plug off/on via Home Assistant (without needing the cloud) and I can do the same via the Tuya App, I cannot restore the device to use it with GivEnergy, so it seems to have acquired a new personality.

Try as I might, I cannot get the smart plug to pair using the Access Point mode and the GE App.

I've even forced the "Restore Factory Defaults" from Tuya IoT Platform which wipes the device taking it out of the Tuya ecosystem.

If anyone else can shed light on how to restore the Smart Plug to the initial GE personality then I for one would be most appreciative!

Ok, just an update to this issue:
I installed the Smart Life App (as opposed to using Tuya or GivEnergy Apps) and paired the device successfully.
Once paired, I was able to use the "delete & wipe data" option, which as far as I can tell has effectively done a factory reset 🙂
Then, back in the GivEnergy App I was able to go through the rigmarole of the AP mode pairing.
That appeared to be successful, but only because I had a note of the Serial No and Verify Code on the back of the plug (the data is also supplied on a piece of paper with the original packaging).

TIP for future: take a photo of the back of the plug.
It makes it a lot easier when it comes to AP pairing when both data vales need to be entered!

Just to advise that I had exactly the same problem, and I followed Icarus solution above, and yes, it works!!
The trick I found was to alter my BT SmartHub to 2.4gHz, and turn off as many internet devices as I could, reducing the load. I used Smart Life app. as well. A bit fussy, but I got there in the end.
It is clearly a GivEnergy bug, and I really think the re-setting go the plug should be built into the software, without going someplace entirely separate. An imperfect world!!

I found as well as resetting the plug, clearing the app data (settings, preferences,advanced) resolved the ‘not connected to the smartlife network’ error for me. Logged back in, added plug and it went straight through.