What to Do When Your August Storage is Full
The August ecosystem, including the August View Doorbell Camera and other smart devices, relies on cloud storage to save video clips of events, such as motion detection or doorbell rings. This allows you to review past activity at your doorstep. However, this cloud storage is not infinite. If you receive a notification that your "August Storage is Full," it means you have reached the clip limit for your account's subscription plan. This can prevent new recordings from being saved, potentially causing you to miss an important event.
This guide will explain how August cloud storage works, how to manage your saved video clips, and what your options are for ensuring you always have space for new recordings.
### Understanding August Cloud Storage
It's important to clarify that this message does not refer to the storage on your smartphone. All video clips are uploaded and stored on August's secure servers in the cloud. Your ability to store clips depends on the subscription plan linked to your account.
Common symptoms that your storage is reaching its limit include:
- Receiving a specific "Storage Full" push notification or email from August.
- Noticing that new events (like motion or a doorbell press) are no longer generating video recordings.
- The app feels slower when trying to load the activity feed.
- Being unable to view a video clip for a very recent event.
- The app prompting you to upgrade your subscription plan.
How to Manage Your August Video Storage
Follow these steps to effectively free up space and ensure your camera can continue recording.
### 1. Review and Download Important Clips
Before you start deleting, it's crucial to save any recordings you might need in the future. You may have clips of a delivery, a visitor, or a suspicious event that you want to keep as a permanent record.
- Open the August App: Navigate to your Activity Feed, where all your recorded events are listed chronologically.
- Identify Key Videos: Scroll through your history and identify any clips that are important.
- Download to Your Phone: Select an important clip to view it. Look for a 'Download' or 'Share' icon (this often looks like a box with an arrow pointing out of it). Use this function to save the video file directly to your phone's photo gallery or files. The clip is now stored locally on your device and is safe to delete from the cloud.
### 2. Delete Unnecessary Video Clips
Once you have saved any essential footage, you can begin clearing out old and unimportant clips to free up your cloud storage space.
- Manual Deletion: Go through your Activity Feed in the August app. For each clip you no longer need, select it and find the 'Delete' option (often represented by a trash can icon). You will likely need to do this for each clip individually, which can take time but prevents accidental mass deletion.
- Focus on Older Clips: Start with the oldest recordings in your feed, as these are likely the least relevant.
### 3. Understand Your Subscription's Rolling Storage
Most smart camera cloud subscriptions, including August's, operate on a rolling storage basis. This is a key concept to understand.
- Example: If your plan includes "30 days of video history," it doesn't mean you have a fixed bucket of storage that fills up and stops. It means that any video clip will be automatically and permanently deleted from the cloud once it is 31 days old.
- Why You Still Get 'Full' Alerts: You can still get a "storage full" message on a rolling plan if you generate an exceptionally high number of recordings in a short period (e.g., a camera facing a very busy street). However, for most users, the automatic deletion of old clips means you shouldn't have to manually delete videos very often.
### 4. Consider Upgrading Your Subscription
If you find that you are constantly running out of storage space or that the rolling history included in your current plan is too short, the most effective long-term solution is to upgrade your August subscription.
- Check Plan Options: Visit the official August website or check within the app for subscription management.
- Benefits of Upgrading: Higher-tier plans typically offer longer video histories (e.g., 60 or 90 days instead of 15 or 30), which means you have more time to review and download clips before they are automatically deleted. This provides a larger buffer and reduces the likelihood of ever seeing a "storage full" notification.
By regularly curating your video clips and choosing a subscription plan that matches your needs, you can ensure your August camera never misses a moment.