Tapo Facial Recognition Not Working? A Troubleshooting Guide

Troubleshooting Tapo's Facial Recognition Feature

Tapo's Facial Recognition is a powerful AI feature that transforms your security camera from a simple motion detector into a personalised monitoring system. It allows you to receive specific alerts telling you who has been seen, such as a family member arriving home. However, when it fails to work, it can be tricky to diagnose the problem.

This guide will help you troubleshoot the common issues that prevent Tapo's Facial Recognition from working correctly, from initial setup problems to inaccurate identifications, ensuring you get the most out of this advanced Tapo Care feature.

Pre-requisites: Why Can't I See the Facial Recognition Option?

Before you start troubleshooting, you must meet two fundamental requirements. If you can't find the Facial Recognition settings, it's because you are missing one of these:

1. Compatible Camera: Not all Tapo cameras support this advanced feature. You must have a compatible model (such as the Tapo C225, C325WB, and others). Always check your camera's product page to confirm it supports AI Facial Recognition.
2. Tapo Care Subscription: Facial Recognition is a premium feature and is only available with an active Tapo Care subscription. It will not work on the free plan.

Steps to Fix Facial Recognition When It's Not Working

If you have a compatible camera and a Tapo Care plan, but the feature is unreliable or not functioning, follow these steps.

### 1. Enable All Necessary Settings

Several settings need to be active for the feature to function.

• Motion Detection: Go to your camera's settings in the Tapo app, then to Detection & Alerts. Ensure Motion Detection is toggled on.
• AI Detection: Within Detection & Alerts, make sure AI Detection is enabled. If this is off, the camera's advanced analysis will not run.
• Facial Recognition: Finally, go into the Facial Recognition sub-menu and ensure the main toggle for the feature is on.

### 2. Build and Manage Your Face Profiles

The system needs to learn who is who. It does this by capturing images and asking you to identify them.

• Review Unknown Faces: The app will collect snapshots of unidentified faces. You need to go into the Facial Recognition settings and review these. For each face, you can assign it to an existing person's profile or create a new one (e.g., "John," "Sarah," "Delivery Driver").
• Add Photos Manually: You can also proactively build profiles. Go to the profile of a person and choose the option to Add Photos. You can then upload clear photos of that person from your phone's gallery to help the AI learn faster.
• Merge and Correct: If the camera creates two separate profiles for the same person, use the Merge function to combine them. The more accurate images a profile has, the better the recognition will be.

### 3. Optimise Camera Placement and Lighting

The accuracy of Facial Recognition is highly dependent on the quality of the image it analyses.

• Lighting is Key: The feature works best in well-lit conditions. If the area is too dark, the camera may not be able to see enough facial detail. Ensure the area is adequately illuminated, especially at night.
• Avoid Backlighting: Do not point the camera directly at a bright light source, like the sun or a security light. This creates a silhouette effect, making the face dark and unrecognisable.
• Direct Angle: The camera should be positioned to capture faces as directly as possible. Faces seen from a sharp angle, from too far away, or only the side of a head are very difficult for the AI to identify. The ideal position is at head height, looking down a path or hallway.

### 4. Check Your Notification Settings

If the feature seems to be working but you're not getting alerts, check your notification settings.

• Rich Notifications: Ensure Rich Notifications are enabled in the Tapo app's notification settings. This allows the alert to include a snapshot of the person's face.
• Person Alerts: In the camera's Detection & Alerts section, make sure that notifications for Person Detection are turned on. Facial recognition alerts are a type of person alert.

Final Considerations

Factors like hats, face masks, sunglasses, or even significant changes in facial hair can impact the AI's accuracy. Continuously managing your face profiles by adding new images and correcting misidentifications will improve the system's performance over time. If problems persist after trying all these steps, ensure your Tapo app and camera firmware are fully updated, and consider reaching out to Tapo support.