Troubleshooting: When Unifi Protect Can't Save Recordings Locally
Being able to view your Unifi Protect camera feeds is one thing, but being able to save and export crucial footage locally to your computer is a fundamental security feature. If you're encountering errors or are unable to save clips, this guide will help you diagnose and fix the problem, which typically lies with the hard drive, system configuration, or user permissions.
### Phase 1: Diagnosing the Hard Drive (HDD)
The most common point of failure for local storage is the physical hard drive inside your Network Video Recorder (NVR), such as a UNVR, Dream Machine Pro, or Cloud Key Gen2+.
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Check Physical Installation:
- Power down your NVR completely.
- Remove the hard drive tray and ensure the drive is securely seated and that the SATA connectors are properly aligned and connected.
- Re-insert the tray firmly and power the NVR back on. A loose connection is a simple but surprisingly common issue.
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Verify Drive Status in Unifi Protect:
- Open your Unifi Protect controller and navigate to the Settings area.
- Select the Storage or Disk Management section.
- Here, you should see your installed hard drive.
- If the drive is not listed: It's not being detected by the system. This could be due to the loose connection mentioned above, an incompatible drive model, or a dead drive.
- If the drive is listed with an error: The system has detected the drive but cannot use it. This is often a formatting issue.
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Format the Drive:
- CRITICAL: Formatting will erase all data on the drive. Proceed only if you do not need any existing recordings.
- If the drive is new or is showing a configuration error, you will likely need to format it.
- In the Storage settings, there should be an option to Format the drive. This will prepare it with the correct EXT4 file system that Unifi Protect requires. The process may take some time.
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Check Drive Health:
- The storage settings menu also provides a health status for your drive, often using SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) data.
- If the status is anything other than "Good" or "Healthy" (e.g., "Failing," "Errors Detected"), the drive is unreliable and is the source of your problem. It cannot write data correctly and must be replaced.
Phase 2: Checking Permissions and Network Access
If the hard drive appears healthy and correctly formatted, the issue may be with your user account or how you are accessing the system.
### User Role and Permissions
Unifi OS allows for different user roles with varying levels of access.
- Go to the Users section of your Unifi OS dashboard.
- Check the role assigned to your account. To download and manage recordings, you need a role with "Full Management" or at least "Read & Write" permissions for the Protect application.
- If you have a "View Only" role, you will be able to watch live and recorded footage, but all options for downloading or deleting will be disabled.
### Access Method
How you access your recordings matters.
- Local Network vs. Remote Access: For the most reliable performance, especially when downloading large files, access your Unifi Protect controller from a computer on the same local network.
- Web Browser vs. Mobile App: While the mobile app is convenient for viewing, the web browser interface on a desktop or laptop is the recommended method for exporting and saving clips to your local machine. It provides a more stable connection and better file management. If a download fails on the app, always try it from a web browser before assuming a system fault.
By methodically checking the physical drive, its software configuration, and your access permissions, you can resolve nearly all issues preventing you from saving your Unifi recordings locally.