Is Your Ring Camera Not Recording? Here's How to Fix It
A Ring camera that doesn't record defeats its primary purpose: to capture important events around your home. When you receive a motion alert but find no corresponding video in your event history, it's a significant security concern. Fortunately, the issue is usually caused by a handful of common problems that are easy to fix.
This guide will walk you through the essential troubleshooting steps to get your Ring device recording again.
The Most Important Check: Your Ring Protect Subscription
Before you check anything else, you must verify the status of your Ring Protect plan. This is the number one reason that Ring devices stop recording.
- What it is: Ring Protect is a paid subscription service that allows your devices to save video recordings to the cloud.
- Without it: Without an active subscription, you can get motion notifications and watch the live view, but no video clips will be recorded or stored.
How to check your subscription:
- Open the Ring app.
- Tap the menu icon (☰) in the top left.
- Tap on "Account".
- Look for your Ring Protect plan status. If it has expired or been cancelled, you must resubscribe to enable recordings.
Essential Settings to Verify in the Ring App
If your subscription is active, the next step is to check the settings for the specific device that isn't recording.
Check Motion Detection Settings
It's possible that recording has been inadvertently turned off.
- From the app's dashboard, tap the settings icon for the problematic device.
- Ensure that "Motion Detection" and "Motion Alerts" are both toggled ON. If Motion Detection is off, the camera will not be triggered to record.
Review Your Motion Schedules
Motion Schedules allow you to disable motion alerts (and thus recordings) during specific times. You might have a schedule active that you've forgotten about.
- In the device's settings, go to "Motion Schedules".
- Check if any schedules are enabled that might be preventing recordings at the time the events are happening. Disable any unwanted schedules.
Connectivity: The Unseen Barrier to Recording
A poor connection between your Ring device and your Wi-Fi router can prevent video clips from being successfully uploaded to the cloud.
- Check Signal Strength: Go to the "Device Health" page for your camera in the app. Look for the Signal Strength (RSSI) value. For reliable video recording, this value should be -60 dBm or better (e.g., -55, -45).
- What to do about a weak signal:
- Move your router: Try moving your Wi-Fi router closer to the Ring device.
- Reduce interference: Ensure the router isn't placed near dense building materials or other electronics that could cause interference.
- Use a Wi-Fi extender: A Ring Chime Pro acts as a Wi-Fi extender specifically for your Ring devices and can solve connection problems.
Final Troubleshooting Steps
If you've confirmed your subscription, settings, and Wi-Fi, here are a couple of final steps to try.
- Reboot the Device: A simple power cycle can resolve many temporary issues. For battery devices, remove the battery for 15-20 seconds. For wired devices, turn off the power at the circuit breaker for 30 seconds.
- Check for Firmware Updates: Ring devices update their internal software (firmware) automatically. However, a failed update could cause issues. Rebooting the device will usually trigger it to re-check for any available updates.
By systematically checking these key areas—subscription, in-app settings, and Wi-Fi connectivity—you can solve almost any issue causing your Ring camera to stop recording.