IKEA smart home gadgets are everywhere at the moment, meaning they’re often sold out on IKEA’s website. Still, if you’ve managed to get your hands on one or two, you’re probably ready to start adding them to your wider smart home setup.

If you’ve been here before, you’ll know my smart home is built around Amazon Alexa, so a lot of my guides focus on getting new devices working smoothly with Amazon’s best smart speakers. 

1. Open up the Amazon Alex app

This first step can vary depending on the brand – sometimes you need to use the manufacturer’s app, other times the Alexa app itself. For IKEA devices, the set up process takes place in the Amazon Alexa app.

Tap the + icon in the top right corner. Your device may already appear here automatically. In my case, Alexa picked up a few gadgets I’d set up previously, even though they weren’t powered on at the time.

If your device doesn’t show up, you can search for IKEA manually and select the device you want to connect.

2. Connect your device

Once you’ve selected the device, just follow the on-screen prompts. This usually involves scanning the QR code on the back of the device and putting it into pairing mode. For most IKEA devices, that means removing the batteries and popping them back in again, unless there’s a physical on/off button you can press instead.

You’ll also be asked which Echo speaker you want to connect it to. I’ve got a few around the house, so I chose my Echo Show 8 in the kitchen. From here, Alexa should confirm that the device is connecting to your smart home setup.

This bit is important – if you’re prompted to enter a Thread Network Key, restart your Amazon Alexa speaker and try the process again. Sometimes the connection can drop and trigger this message, but it isn’t necessary as IKEA devices are Matter-compatible, so everything should reconnect automatically once the speaker restarts.

3. Enjoy!

You should now be fully connected, and you can use the device however suits you best. For the TIMMERFLOTTE sensor, I’ve added it to my Echo’s smart home widget so I can see the temperature at all times. That said, a lot of people will probably prefer to just ask Alexa what the temperature or humidity is in the room where the sensor lives – it’s completely up to you!