Why Did My Ring Device Miss a Recording?
It’s a deeply frustrating experience: you know an event happened—a package was delivered, a visitor came to the door—but when you check your Ring app's history, there is no recording of it. A security camera that doesn't record when it's supposed to can feel useless. Fortunately, the cause of missed recordings is usually a settings or connectivity issue that you can fix.
This guide will walk you through the most common reasons why your Ring camera or doorbell might miss an event and how to resolve them.
The Number One Cause: Your Ring Protect Plan
Before we dive into any other settings, you must have an active Ring Protect subscription. Without a subscription plan, your Ring devices can send you real-time motion alerts and you can answer doorbell presses, but no video from any event will be recorded or saved.
- How to Check: Open your Ring app, go to the menu, and tap on Account. You can check your subscription status there. If you don't have a plan, you will need to subscribe for recording to work.
Step 1: Check Your Wi-Fi Connection
A weak or unstable Wi-Fi connection is one of the most frequent culprits for missed recordings. Your device needs a strong connection to notify the Ring servers to start recording.
### How to Check Your Signal Strength
- Open the Ring app.
- Navigate to the Device Health page for the camera in question.
- Look for the Network section and check the Signal Strength (RSSI) value.
- Good Signal: An RSSI value between -40 and -60 is generally considered good.
- Weak Signal: If your RSSI is -61 or higher (e.g., -70, -80), your signal is weak and likely causing the problem.
### How to Improve Your Signal
- Move your Wi-Fi router closer to your Ring device.
- If you can't move the router, install a Ring Chime Pro or another Wi-Fi extender between the router and the device to boost the signal.
Step 2: Optimise Your Motion Settings
If your connection is strong, the next place to look is your motion detection settings. If they are not configured correctly, your camera may not be triggering when it should.
### Adjust Your Motion Zones
Motion Zones tell your camera where to look for movement. If an event happens outside of an active zone, it will not be recorded.
- Go to your device's Motion Settings in the app.
- Tap on Motion Zones.
- Ensure your zones are drawn to cover all the areas where you expect to see activity, such as walkways, driveways, and porches. Be thorough and don't leave any gaps where a person might walk.
### Increase Motion Sensitivity
The sensitivity slider determines how much motion is needed to trigger a recording. If it's too low, it might ignore subtle or distant movements.
- In Motion Settings, find the Motion Sensitivity slider.
- Try increasing it slightly. Make small adjustments and test each one to find the right balance between catching all events and getting too many false alerts.
Step 3: Understand Recording Frequency
Some Ring devices, particularly battery-powered ones, have a "cooldown" period after recording an event to conserve power. If another event happens during this brief period, it might not be recorded.
- In your Motion Settings, look for a Motion Frequency or similar setting.
- This allows you to choose between frequent, standard, or periodic motion checks. Selecting a more frequent option will reduce the time between recordings but will use more battery. For powered devices, ensure this is set to the most active setting.
By ensuring you have an active subscription, a strong Wi-Fi signal, and carefully optimised motion settings, you can drastically reduce the chances of your Ring device ever missing an important event again.