Why Is Your Motorola Camera Missing Recordings?
A security camera's primary job is to record important events. When you discover that your Motorola camera has failed to capture a crucial moment, it can undermine your sense of security. Missed recordings are usually caused by a handful of common issues related to connectivity, settings, or storage. This guide will help you systematically troubleshoot the problem.
## 1. Check Your Wi-Fi Connection
The single most common cause of missed recordings for cloud-connected cameras is an unstable Wi-Fi signal. The camera may have detected motion, but if it cannot maintain a connection to the cloud server, the video clip cannot be uploaded and is lost.
- Signal Strength: In your Motorola camera app, find the device settings and look for a Wi-Fi signal strength indicator. If the signal is weak or poor, the camera is likely to drop its connection intermittently.
- Solution: If the signal is weak, you need to improve it. Try moving your Wi-Fi router closer to the camera. If that's not possible, consider installing a Wi-Fi range extender or a mesh Wi-Fi system to provide a stronger, more reliable signal to the camera's location.
- Reboot: Try rebooting your router and power-cycling your camera (unplugging it and plugging it back in). This can often resolve temporary network glitches.
## 2. Fine-Tune Motion Detection Settings
If your Wi-Fi is strong, the next place to look is the camera's motion detection settings. If these are not configured correctly, the camera may simply not be triggering a recording when it should.
### Motion Sensitivity
- Problem: If the sensitivity is set too low, subtle or distant movements may not be enough to trigger a recording. A person walking at the far edge of the frame might be ignored.
- Solution: In the camera's settings, find the "Motion Sensitivity" slider. Increase it by one level at a time and test by walking through the camera's view at various distances.
### Activity Zones
- Problem: Activity Zones are great for reducing false alerts, but if drawn incorrectly, they can cause missed events. You may have drawn a zone that is too small or that has a small gap, causing motion in the excluded area to be ignored.
- Solution: Go to the Activity Zones settings. Review your zones to ensure they completely cover all areas of interest. If in doubt, try disabling the zones temporarily to see if the camera starts capturing the previously missed events. If it does, you know your zones need to be redrawn more carefully.
## 3. Verify Your Storage and Subscription Plan
Where does your camera save its recordings? The answer can reveal the source of the problem.
- Cloud Subscription: If you rely on a cloud storage plan, log into your account on the Motorola website. Verify that your subscription is active and has not expired. If your payment method failed, the service would have stopped, and no new recordings would be saved.
- SD Card Storage: If your camera records to a local microSD card, two issues can arise:
- The Card is Full: If the "Loop Recording" feature (which overwrites the oldest footage) is turned off, the camera will simply stop recording when the card is full.
- The Card is Corrupt: SD cards can wear out over time. A corrupted card may prevent the camera from writing new files.
- Solution: Check the SD card status in the app. If it's full, enable loop recording or manually delete old files. If you suspect it's corrupt, use the "Format" function in the app to erase it and start fresh. If the problem persists, replace the SD card.
## 4. Review Schedules and Power Source
- Schedules: Many camera apps allow you to set a schedule for when motion detection should be active. Double-check that you haven't accidentally set a schedule that disables recording during the times events are being missed.
- Power Source: Some battery-powered cameras have a "pre-record" feature that is disabled to save power. This can result in recordings that start a second or two late, potentially missing the very beginning of an event. If this is happening, consider running the camera on mains power if possible.
By methodically checking these four key areas—connectivity, detection settings, storage, and schedules—you can identify and fix the reason your Motorola camera is missing recordings.