2026.6.3
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Unpair an accessory or bridge

The Unpair an accessory or bridge action forcefully removes all pairings from an accessory so you can pair it again. Use it when an accessory is no longer responsive and you want to avoid deleting and re-adding the integration entry.

Occasionally, the public key for a paired device goes missing because of pairing failures, which can make one or more devices show the accessory as unavailable. Unpairing and re-pairing ensures the integration has the public key for each paired client.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To unpair an accessory from an automation or a script:

  1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
  2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create to start a new one.
  3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger.
  4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
  5. From the search box, search for and select HomeKit Bridge: Unpair an accessory or bridge.
  6. Select the Device to unpair.
  7. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Device (Required)

The device to unpair.

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this action as homekit.unpair:

ActionActions are used in several places in Home Assistant. As part of a script or automation, actions define what is going to happen once a trigger is activated. In scripts, an action is called *sequence*. [Learn more] 
action: homekit.unpair
data:
  device_id: a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4

This removes all pairings from the selected device so you can pair it again.

Options in YAML

device_id string Required

The device ID of the accessory or bridge to unpair.

Good to know

  • After unpairing, the accessory behaves as if it’s set up for the first time. You need to restore its name, group, room, scene, and automation settings.
  • When you set up HomeKit from the UI, this action avoids the sometimes time-consuming process of deleting and recreating the integration entry.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Open Developer tools > Actions, search for this action, fill in the fields, and select Perform action. You see what happens on your actual entitiesAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more] without writing a line of YAML.

More examples

Real scenarios where this action shows up in automations and scripts. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Tip

You don’t need to edit YAML to use these examples. Copy a YAML snippet from this page, open the automation editor in Home Assistant, and press Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac). Home Assistant automatically converts the pasted YAML into the visual editor format, whether it’s a full automation, a single trigger, a condition, or an action.

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Tip

AI assistants like ChatGPT or Claude can also explain actions or suggest the right one when you describe what you want in plain language.

Related actions

These actions work well alongside this one: