TCL AC app can't find the unit, goes offline or shows Identification Failed

Find your symptom first

TCL’s app problems fall into three cases, and each has a different fix:

• The app can’t find or add the AC during setup. Usually a network problem: the 2.4 GHz band, the password, range, a firewall or a phone permission.
• The app shows “Identification Failed”. TCL’s Smart Life guide says this means the AC’s Wi-Fi was reset and your phone lost permission to control it. Reconnect it, or delete it from the app and add it again.
• The app says the air conditioner is offline. The AC or the router has no power, or the AC’s connection settings were changed.

All of this applies only to Wi-Fi models. TCL’s guides say the app steps are “for wifi models only”, and TCL’s support site notes that not every TCL home comfort product has Wi-Fi and that some use a different app or none.

Which app you should be using

TCL’s manuals name Smart Life (Wi-Fi guide for window units), TCL Home Comfort (2021 through-the-wall and portable guides) and TCL Home+ (2021 window guides). TCL’s current US support article for air conditioners names the TCL Home app and says to download or update it. Its screens may differ from the manuals. If the app your manual names isn’t available, check with TCL which app your model needs before you troubleshoot the network.

The app can’t find or add the AC

Work through these in order. They come from TCL’s troubleshooting tables, which agree across the three app generations.

1. Use a 2.4 GHz network. Every TCL guide says the app supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only. Connect your phone to the 2.4 GHz network before you start. TCL’s support article adds that if your router gives 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz the same network name, you may need to give them separate names in the router settings; your internet provider or router maker can explain how. TCL also advises against guest networks, public Wi-Fi and networks that need a separate sign-in page.
2. Check the Wi-Fi name and password you entered in the app. The 2021 window guides list a wrong password as a cause and say to enter it again.
3. Get closer. If the app loses the AC during setup, the router may be too far away. Move the router closer to the AC, or keep the phone, AC and router within range of each other.
4. Check the router’s firewall. TCL says to make sure the router isn’t blocking the app.
5. Allow Location. If the app can’t find or join your Wi-Fi network, give it Location permission in your phone’s settings. Where the setting lives depends on your phone and its system version.
6. Restart everything. Restart the router, the AC and the phone, then add the AC again. TCL’s current support article suggests unplugging the router for about 15 seconds and the AC for about 3 minutes. Turn the AC off with its power button first: TCL’s portable guide says not to switch the unit off by pulling the plug.
7. Switch from CF mode to AP mode. If setup in CF mode keeps failing, TCL’s tables and support article say to add the AC using AP mode, where the AC makes its own Wi-Fi hotspot for your phone to join, if your model has it. In the Smart Life and TCL Home Comfort guides, you press Display on the remote 6 times within 6 seconds to return to CF, then 6 more times to switch to AP, allowing 10–15 seconds each time; the 2021 TCL Home+ window guides don’t describe AP mode. The full AP steps are in Connect a TCL air conditioner to Wi-Fi.

If setup stops partway

TCL’s current support article covers setup that freezes around 80%. Its extra checks:

• Fully close and reopen the app.
• After restarting the phone, reconnect it to your home Wi-Fi before opening the app.
• Turn off mobile data for the setup.
• Turn off any VPN, iCloud Private Relay, ad blocker or private DNS on the phone.
• Try a different phone or tablet with the app installed, to see whether the phone is the problem.

The app shows “Identification Failed”

According to TCL’s Smart Life guide, this message means the air conditioner has been reset, so your phone has lost permission to control it. TCL doesn’t say which kind of reset. One the guides do describe is pressing Display six times, which resets the AC’s Wi-Fi setup to CF mode, so if someone did that on a unit that was already connected, this message is a likely result.

1. Connect the AC to your Wi-Fi again, following the same CF-mode (or AP-mode) setup you used the first time (setup steps).
2. If that doesn’t restore control, delete the air conditioner from the app and add it again as a new device.

The app says the air conditioner is offline

TCL’s Smart Life guide gives three causes:

• The AC’s connection settings were reconfigured or changed. Set the AC up again on your current network.
• The AC has no power. Check that it’s plugged in and switched on.
• The router has no power. Check that the router is on and your home Wi-Fi is working.

Then check both links: between the AC and the router, and between your phone and the router.

If none of this works

Note which case you’re in and what the AC’s display showed (CF, AP, PP or SA; what those codes mean), then contact TCL support (1-800-825-6747 in TCL’s US guides). TCL’s support article says they may ask for your TCL User ID, which the TCL Home app shows under Profile.

TCL’s Wi-Fi guide says not to unplug the Wi-Fi module yourself. Don’t open the AC to get at the module; none of these fixes need it.