Hueblog: Backup & Restore: All 4 Hue working on backup solution

Backup & Restore: All 4 Hue working on backup solution

Currently still in beta stage

It is probably the absolute worst case that especially users with a large installation fear: A total failure of the bridge. Unfortunately, Philips Hue still does not offer any backup function, even almost ten years after its launch. This means that if the bridge fails and cannot be restarted, there is a lot of work to do.

René Wahl, the developer of the All 4 Hue application, which is particularly popular on Android, is currently addressing this issue and for the first time offers something like a backup function in the new beta version of his app. However, there are some details that need to be taken into account.


First of all, a manual data backup must be made. In All 4 Hue, all settings of the bridge are loaded and saved in a file that is stored on the smartphone. This file can then be used for restoration in case of an emergency.

However, when resetting the bridge or switching to a completely new bridge, you cannot simply press a button and everything is as before. The ZigBee system is simply not designed for this, because the individual lamps are permanently coupled to the bridge and are assigned a unique ID.

So some manual work is still necessary. It is best to reset all lamps, switches and sensors and then let the new bridge search for them. Then you can continue with the restore via All 4 Hue.

Rooms, switch assignment & more can be restored automatically

At the beginning of the recovery, the hardware is “linked”. From the backup, All 4 Hue obtains the unique serial numbers of the various devices and links them to the new identifications that the devices have received after pairing with the new bridge. If problems occur, the affected lamps or accessory products can also be linked manually.

After that, however, it becomes quite convenient, because All 4 Hue can restore the software data on its own. The developer tells us: “Software resources are elements that are generated on the Hue Bridge via apps such as All 4 Hue, i.e. memory sensors, light groups, zones, rooms, light scenes, room scenes, timers, alarms, rules and rule groups. All 4 Hue is able to automatically recreate all these resources as part of the recovery.”

So the effort is actually minimised considerably. In the current beta version of All 4 Hue, this new feature has to be unlocked for a one-time fee of 6.99 euros. It is not yet known when All 4 Hue will offer this new feature in the final app and also on other platforms.

all 4 hue
all 4 hue
Developer: Rene Wahl
Price: Free+

Note: This article contains affiliate links. We receive a commission for purchases via these links, which we use to finance this blog. The purchase price remains unchanged for you.

Check your local Philips Hue Online Store for availability of Hue products in your country. There you will also find all the technical information and prices.



In den letzten Jahren habe ich mich zu einem echten Experten in Sachen Hue & HomeKit entwickelt. Mittlerweile habe ich über 50 Lampen und zahlreiche Schalter im Einsatz. In meinem kleinen Blog teile ich meine Erfahrungen gerne mit euch.

Comments 5 replies

  1. Just lost my hub. Fascinating to see how crippled my home is without it and yet Hue has no mitigation in place. Long term adoption of smart home solutions will require vendors to think about recovery and redundancy.

  2. I’ve got 70 bulbs and 30 sensors up using 2 bridges.
    If my bridges would fail, I will have a hard time rebuilding the plan from scratch.

    Is there any response from Signify on WHY the backup/restore function is not present?
    It is the number 1 request of millions of users.

    Thank you.

  3. This is clearly the number one issue for many years, along with the inability to add a bridge to existing account. I don’t understand why this is not done.

  4. I can generally conclude this is a feature which must become available by Signify for all users who payed for this quite expensive solution. Yes, the HUE products and operating availability is of high quality and performance but not backing up a Bridge is a HUege Single point of Failure.
    If a second Bridge in RAID mode would be the solution, I already bought it but now it can only Balance the current network. In the meantime I paid huge amounts with my 72 Bulbs in house, 16 External (partly on a Tradfri Bridge as the HUE also has it’s Maximum) but next I have 7 motion Sensors, 3 Wall Outlets and 8 Switches and Many Many Light Configurations in the Switches, Sensors, Rooms, Zones and Scenes. When this is lost it will tak eme days to reconfigure – even I have it well documented -. The amount of Money on these products may support a Backup/Restore Functiontionality in my opinion. ANd yes, if this can be done with a second or third bridge in RAID, I am happy. Still the number of devices also has to be increased, because serious users requesting for a Backup are the users with kind of large configurations…

  5. You write that “The ZigBee system is simply not designed for this”, yet I note that Philips itself implemented a full backup and restore solution that worked, for customers upgrading from the old (round) bridge to the current (square) one. These customers did not have to reset lights, use serial numbers, or anything. The bridge was new, and it just worked with the previous setup.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2024 hueblog.de