Back up and restore your Philips Hue Bridge

Why back up your Hue Bridge

If you have spent hours tuning scenes and zones, a bridge reset or a replacement bridge means doing that work again. A backup file gives you a copy of that setup that lives outside the bridge.

Good times to make a backup:

• Before you reset or replace a bridge.
• After a big change, such as new zones or a batch of new scenes.
• Every so often, so the copy you have is recent.

What the backup file contains

HueCommand exports the following from the bridge you choose into a single JSON file, named with the bridge name and the date and time:

• Rooms and zones
• Scenes, including each light's on/off state, brightness, color and color temperature, and the palette and speed of dynamic scenes
• Smart scenes
• Automations stored on the bridge
• Lights and devices, with their names

If you have more than one bridge, pick which one to back up before exporting.

What a restore can bring back

When you restore, HueCommand shows what is in the file and lets you choose what to bring back with separate switches:

• Zones are created if a zone with the same name does not already exist.
• Scenes are created in the matching room or zone, including dynamic scenes.
• Automations are created when every room, zone, scene, light or device they refer to can be found on the bridge. Ones that cannot be matched are skipped and listed.

Some things are not restored:

• Rooms are not recreated. The Hue API does not let apps create rooms this way, so set up your rooms first.
• Light and device names are not changed. The backup uses names to find your lights again, so they need to match.
• Smart scenes are read-only and are skipped.

A restore only adds. It does not delete anything already on the bridge. When it finishes you get a summary of how many zones, scenes and automations were created and any errors.

How to back up your bridge

1. Open HueCommand on your iPhone or iPad and go to Settings.
2. Under Tools, tap Backup & Restore.
3. If you have more than one bridge, choose the bridge to back up.
4. Tap Backup Bridge. The share sheet opens with the JSON file.
5. Save the file somewhere safe, such as the Files app or iCloud Drive, or AirDrop it to another device.

How to restore to a new or reset bridge

Restore matches by name, so prepare the bridge first:

• Add your lights and accessories to the new bridge, for example with the official Hue app.
• Create your rooms with the same names as before.
• Give your lights and devices the same names they had when you made the backup.

Then, in HueCommand, open Settings, then Backup & Restore, tap Select Backup File, check the summary, turn the Zones, Scenes and Automations switches on or off, and tap Restore. A progress bar shows each step. Restoring the same file twice can create duplicate scenes, so run it once.

Bridge Backup is a Pro feature

Bridge Backup requires HueCommand Pro: $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year in the US, or a one-time Lifetime unlock (prices vary by country). HueCommand is listed on the App Store as Command for Philips Hue. See all features.