How to Stop False Alerts on Your Xiaomi Security Camera
Xiaomi security cameras offer an affordable and effective way to monitor your home, but like any security camera, they can sometimes be a little too sensitive. If you're being bombarded with notifications for things that aren't genuine threats—like your cat chasing a toy, changing light patterns, or even a spider setting up home on the lens—it's easy to become frustrated.
These constant false alerts can be more than just an annoyance; they can cause you to miss a real security event. This comprehensive guide will provide you with practical, easy-to-follow steps to troubleshoot and significantly reduce the number of false alarms from your Xiaomi camera, ensuring you only get alerted when it truly counts.
Understanding Why Your Xiaomi Camera Sends False Alerts
The first step in solving the problem is understanding the cause. Most false alerts are triggered by the camera's motion detection algorithm misinterpreting everyday, harmless events.
- Environmental Movement: The most frequent cause is movement in the camera's field of view that isn't a threat. This includes pets, swaying plants, curtains moving in a breeze, or insects flying close to the lens.
- Changes in Lighting: Sudden changes in light are often registered as motion. This can be caused by clouds passing over the sun, car headlights sweeping across a room, or indoor lights being switched on or off.
- Shadows and Reflections: As the sun moves, shadows shift. A moving shadow can be large enough for the camera's sensor to interpret it as a significant motion event.
- Insects and Dust: Small particles like dust floating in the air or insects crawling across the lens can trigger motion alerts, especially at night when the infrared LEDs attract them.
Step-by-Step Guide to Reducing False Alerts
You can solve most false alert issues by adjusting a few key settings within the Mi Home app.
1. Adjust Motion Detection Sensitivity
This is your most important tool. By default, the sensitivity might be set to 'High', making it react to the slightest movement.
- How it helps: Lowering the sensitivity tells the camera to ignore minor movements.
- What to do:
- Open the Mi Home app and select your camera.
- Tap the three dots in the top-right corner to open 'Settings'.
- Go to 'Motion detection settings' (this may be under 'Home surveillance settings').
- You will see an option for 'Motion detection sensitivity'. Change it from 'High' to 'Low'.
- Monitor the alerts for a day. If you are now missing important events, you can try the 'Medium' setting as a compromise.
2. Set a Surveillance Schedule
You can prevent alerts during times you know there will be a lot of harmless activity (like when your family is home and active).
- How it helps: Scheduling ensures motion detection is only active when you need it, for example, overnight or when you're out of the house.
- What to do: In the 'Motion detection settings' menu, look for a 'Schedule' option. Here you can set the specific times and days for the camera to be active.
3. Optimise Camera Placement
Where your camera is positioned can have a huge impact on the number of false alerts.
- Avoid Windows: Pointing cameras directly out of windows can cause issues with glare, reflections, and alerts from activity outside.
- Check for Moving Objects: Ensure the camera's view is clear of things that move, like curtains, plants near a fan, or decorations that might sway.
- Consider the Background: A plain wall is a much better background than a busy road or your neighbour's garden.
4. Keep the Lens Clean
A clean lens is crucial for accurate detection.
- What to do: Regularly wipe the camera lens with a soft, microfibre cloth. Check for and remove any cobwebs, as spiders are frequently attracted to the warmth and IR light of security cameras, and their webs will trigger constant alerts.
By carefully adjusting these settings and considering your camera's environment, you can dramatically decrease the number of false alerts from your Xiaomi security camera, making it a much more reliable and useful part of your home security setup.