Access to a Nest thermostat is shared through the Google Home app. A home Admin invites people, who become Members with limited control or Admins; Google's older Family Accounts article for the Nest app explains that depending on the level of shared access you choose, people you invite can add, remove and control Nest products, and it advises each person to use their own account. Sharing your sign-in credentials can compromise security and cause unexpected behavior with features like Home/Away Assist, because the thermostat uses the phones of home members to decide who is home.
The checks in more detail
To add someone, open Home Settings, tap plus, enter their email and choose a role, and they accept from their own Google account. Presence is per person, so each member's phone location permissions matter, and Google's presence article explains what happens when someone's phone does not report. If a person cannot control the thermostat, check they accepted, that they use the invited account and that their role allows changes.
Removing a person removes their access at once. If a thermostat belongs to another home or account, it will not show for you until it is moved. A factory reset does not remove members. Keep a list of who has access and remove people who move out. A new member who sees no thermostat may be signed in to a different Google account. Ask each new member to try one change to confirm access.
Agree in the household who changes the thermostat and when, since two people adjusting it against each other looks like a fault but is only a disagreement. If a family member leaves the home in the app, the thermostat stops counting their phone, so removal is immediate and complete, which is worth remembering when someone moves out. Because Home/Away Assist reads the phones of home members, a family member who turns off phone location can leave the house looking permanently occupied, and a quick chat about location settings often fixes energy waste.
Differential
Likely causes of “Nest thermostats shared users or family members cannot control it”, and how to tell them apart
- 1
An invitation not accepted
What separates it The person cannot see the thermostat because they have not accepted the invitation
How to confirm Resend the invitation, and ask them to accept it in the Google Home app
- 2
The wrong account
What separates it Nothing is visible because they are signed in with a different account
How to confirm Ask them to sign in with the account that received the invitation
- 3
A shared login
What separates it Home and Away make errors because several people share one login
How to confirm Use separate accounts for each person, so that presence is worked out from each phone
- 4
A Member role
What separates it The person cannot change settings because they have the Member role
How to confirm Raise their role if appropriate, so they can change the thermostat's settings
- 5
Missing phone location
What separates it Presence is wrong because a member's phone has location switched off
How to confirm Enable location on each member's phone, so the home knows who is at home
Before you touch a setting
Record this first — changing settings destroys the evidence
- The role given to the person and the email address invited
- Whether the person has accepted the invitation
- The location setting on their phone
- Whether several people share one login
Try in this order
0 of 7 completedOpen Home Settings
ReversibleOpen Home Settings in the Google Home app, where the members of your home are managed.
Invite by email
ReversibleInvite the person by email, and choose the role that suits what they need to do.
Ask them to accept
ReversibleAsk them to accept the invitation using their own Google account, and not yours or another person's.
Enable phone location
ReversibleEnable phone location for each member, since the thermostat uses it to work out presence.
Do not share logins
ReversibleDo not share logins, and give each person their own account, so that presence stays correct.
Review members
ReversibleReview the members regularly, and remove people who no longer live there or need control.
Contact Google
ReversibleContact Google if it fails, and tell them the email that was invited and the role chosen.
Model-specific
What is true of this model and not of its siblings
- Presence
- Home and Away uses each member's phone.
- Roles
- Member and Admin.
- Other models this page answers
- These steps also fit the Nest Thermostat.
Stop boundary
When this stops being a self-service repair
- !If Home and Away misbehave, check each member's presence and location settings
- !If the thermostat is on another account, transfer it
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Sharing access.
Members and Admins.
Home and Away.
Presence problems.
The company and its products.
Exact questions
Common questions
What happens if we share a login?+
If you share a login, Home and Away can misbehave, since one phone stands for several people.
Can a Member change the temperature?+
A Member can change the temperature depending on the role, so check what the role allows.
Does presence use phones?+
Yes, presence uses the members' phones, through their location settings.
Where do I invite?+
You invite people in Home Settings, in the Google Home app.