Is Your Guardzilla Camera's Storage Full? Here's What to Do.
A "Storage Full" notification from your Guardzilla app is a critical alert. When your storage space is maxed out, your camera can no longer save new motion-triggered recordings, potentially leaving you without a record of an important security event. Whether you use cloud storage or a local SD card, managing your space is essential for continuous protection.
This guide will show you how to effectively manage your Guardzilla's storage, clear out old footage, and optimise your settings to prevent the issue from happening again.
## Understanding Your Guardzilla Storage
First, it's important to know how your camera stores video. Most Guardzilla cameras rely on a cloud storage subscription. This means your videos are uploaded and stored on Guardzilla's servers. The amount of storage you have is determined by your subscription plan, which is often based on a number of days of video history (e.g., 7 days, 14 days, 30 days).
When your plan's limit is reached, the oldest footage is typically deleted automatically to make room for new recordings. However, if you have a high volume of recordings, you might hit a data cap, or the automatic deletion process might fail, leading to a "full" state.
## How to Free Up Storage Space
The most direct way to solve the problem is to delete old, unnecessary video clips.
### 1. Bulk Deleting Video Clips
Manually deleting hundreds of clips one by one is tedious. Thankfully, the Guardzilla app usually provides a way to delete in bulk.
- Open the Guardzilla app and navigate to your library of recorded events.
- Look for an Edit, Select, or Manage button. Tapping this usually enters an editing mode.
- You should now be able to tap on multiple video clips to select them. You might also have a "Select All" option.
- Once you have selected the clips you wish to remove, find and tap the Delete icon (it often looks like a rubbish bin).
- Confirm your choice. Be aware that this action is permanent and deleted clips cannot be recovered.
It's a good practice to first scroll through and download any important clips to your phone before performing a bulk delete.
### 2. Optimising Settings to Save Space
Deleting footage solves the immediate problem, but optimising your settings can prevent it from recurring.
- Adjust Motion Sensitivity: A camera with high sensitivity will record every little movement, from swaying branches to changing shadows. This fills up your storage very quickly. Go into your camera's settings and lower the motion sensitivity to a medium or low level.
- Use Activity Zones: If your model supports it, set up activity zones. This allows you to draw specific areas in the camera's view to monitor for motion. By telling your camera to ignore motion outside these zones (like a busy pavement), you drastically reduce the number of unnecessary recordings.
- Shorten Recording Length: In the settings, you can often define how long the camera should record after detecting motion. Reducing the clip length from 60 seconds to 20 seconds, for example, will use only a third of the storage space per event.
- Lower Video Quality: High Definition (HD) video looks great, but it creates much larger file sizes than Standard Definition (SD). If storage is a constant issue, switching to SD can make a significant difference.
## Upgrading Your Storage Plan
If you've optimised your settings and still find that you need more storage, it may be time to upgrade your subscription plan. Check the "Subscription" or "Account" section of the Guardzilla app to see the available options for more days of video history or a higher storage capacity.