Why is My Eufy Camera Not Recording Events?
There are different reasons why your Eufy camera is not recording events. It may stop recording and you will not be able to see any clips or episodes of detected activity because:
1. Your camera settings are turned off
To restore camera settings from the eufySecurity mobile app:
1. Go to Devices tab
2. Click on Gear icon (Settings)
3. Select Camera Settings
4. Check if the toggle tool is on or off
5. Turn it off then off and see if this resolves the problem
2. Your automatic app updates are not working
Your phone may not be receiving the recordings of clips of motion or activity detected at the spot where the cameras are placed because the automatic update button is in the wrong position. You need to keep this button on so that it can alert you to changes in new footage from your camera.
Just toggle the button to the ON position and you are camera will display the recordings of the day you want to look at further.
To check if your HomeBase and eufysecurity app have been receiving automatic updates:
- Click on three dots (denotes more options) on top right of eufySecurity app homepage
- Select the System option on the top right of new page
- System page opens up and shows a list of homebase and software updates and the time and date of updating.
You may be unable to receive the automatic updates on your eufySecurity phone app also due to lack of storage on your phone or you may be receiving notifications of new activity or new clips but do not see the recordings.
This problem can be resolved by manually updating the phone app on Google Play for Android and App store to replace current version with latest release.
3. Incorrect HomeBase Time
If the software is updated, then maybe the HomeBase could the problem area. Try changing the time format. The time settings you have chosen could be causing a recording error.
- Go to eufySecurity app
- Click on the gear icon (settings) in the HomeBase tab
- Choose time settings
- Choose either the twelve hour or twenty four hour format
- Check for any changes in recording live view
You could try out other solutions and test out the ones that your Eufy camera responds to.
For instance, you could move the Eufy camera closer to the HomeBase or remove any barriers that could be impeding the camera or homebase.
Narrowing the camera range and clearing the view for better picture quality could resolve the issue of recording events. After this check to see whether this solution has changed the camera recording for the better.
4. Inadequate Wi-Fi and battery charge
The eufySecurity app automatically refreshes your phone settings quietly behind the scenes if your phone and camera are connected to a stable Wi-Fi and both have enough battery charge.
If your connectivity is poor and have low or no power, your automatic app updates will not work and your camera will cease recording the events.
- Recordings are there but cannot be sensed by the Playback feature
The Eufy camera and mobile app are linked and collaborate really well but some features in both are not yet linked.
For instance, the camera could record events in real time “Live” mode but you may not be able to see them in “Playback” mode on your app. You will not see your recordings in the View tab on your phone as expected. But if you go to your app the bottom right box that has three dots … (to indicate more options) just next video display page it will bring up your Events page and with it your “missing’’ recordings.
This is a software update issue that the developers need to look into to optimize the interactivity in both the mobile app and camera.
5. Check whether firmware is up to date
- Got to the Eufy camera app
- Click on My Device
- Tap on the three dots (…) more options
- Choose Settings
- Select General
- Scroll down to About Device
- Click on Check for Firmware Update
This shows the current firmware version. Wait and see whether it shows you any available updates. If you see any.
- Choose Update option
- Memory card is full
Inadequate memory on the SD card may affect your camera’s ability to document activity. When the memory is full you may need to follow a two-step process and see whether this clearing action will help to resume the recording of events:
- delete all videos as new clips tend to overwrite older recordings to remove all existing footage and format SD card.
In order to format the SD card of a Eufy Spotlight camera use the following path.
- Select Settings
- Go to General Menu
- Click on Storage
- Navigate to Local Storage
- Choose Format option
- Dialogue box appears
- Select Confirm
You should note that formatting the local memory deletes all the data stored in it. This process takes a few minutes. Before you click that confirm button be complete sure that you want to proceed with this option.
Formatting the SD card deletes all the files on your camera and enables you to start recording afresh.
6. Your camera needs refreshing
There are several solutions you could use to see if your recorded events will come back. These solutions are close related. Therefore it is important that you distinguish various DIY solutions seen when dealing with electronic devices such as your Eufy cameras. You may see these words in manuals, product user guides, or in the Eufy camera support page.
By understanding these terms, you will know what you are doing and why you are doing it.
The first term is reboot. It means you have executed a graceful restart to your camera. It involves shutdown and then a fresh start.
To do this on the Homebase:
- Go to eufySecurity App
- Click on the gear icon(Settings)
- Scroll down and click on Device
- Choose HomeBase name
- Click on Restart
Go back and check whether there is a Live view recording
Or
You can
- Turn around the HomeBase to face you
- Press the CYCLE button
- Restart the device
The second word is shutdown. It means that you have elegantly shutdown or closed off your camera operating systems.
These two are recommended as they tend to save data, settings and applications. You can use them
The third is a forceful shutdown. This method instantly terminates and closes all operating systems and does not give your camera adequate time to save important recordings, settings and applications. It is not recommended and you should avoid it as could cause errors or faults to crop up later when you switch on the camera again.
The fourth is a forceful reboot. It is the same as a forceful shutdown with the exception that your Eufy restarts immediately. It shares similar hazards with the forceful shutdown. You should also avoid this.
The fifth term is the power cycle. This is fully disconnecting your Eufy camera from the electrical socket. It resets the device and its connections and helps solve troubleshooting issues.
The HomeBase has a built in back battery. You can power cycle the HomeBase by:
- Turn off power
- Unplug the AC power adapter and power cable
- Press the power off button
- Wait for a few minutes
- Plug in AC power adapter and power cable
- Start HomeBase
- Wait for light to turn white before checking eufySecurity app again
- Soft Reset and Hard factory reset
You now know other terms used to refer to reset such as power cycling or rebooting. A soft reset or soft reboot or soft power cycle is restarting your Eufy camera from Eufysecurity camera app without losing any of your clips or other data.
A hard factory reset, or hard reboot or hard power cycle removes all clips, data, applications and settings in your camera and returns the device to the default state that you received it in when it was delivered to you from the factory.
The difference between these two methods and the power cycle above is that these are done in the EufySecurity app and camera settings and are do not involve manual handling of the electrical components of your Eufy camera.
To soft reset your Eufy Spotlight camera:
- Go to Homebase
- My Device screen and locate your Eufy Spotlight camera name
- Choose settings icon
- Scroll down to bottom of Settings screen
- Select Restart Device option
- Dialogue box opens up inquiring if you really wish to Restart Device
- Click on Confirm option
- Eufy Spotlight camera shuts down and restarts after a few minutes
To soft reset a Eufy 2k Indoor camera from the camera settings follow this procedure:
- Make sure your camera is plugged in
- Ensure you have backed up existing recorded video clips
- Check the back of your Eufy 2k indoor camera
- Locate the SYNC button at the bottom on the back of the Eufy 2k indoor camera
- Press and hold this SYNC button for ten seconds until you hear two beeps
- Let go of SYNC button
- This action resets the applications on your camera.
Syncing is paring process which seeks to help your camera communicate better with the mobile app.
If your camera still does not produce that beep sound twice, charge your phone for thirty minutes, then touch and hold the SYNC button on the camera five times each in three seconds intervals (fifteen seconds) until you hear the two beeps.
The camera is now restored to default settings but you may need to reconnect the eufysecurity app settings again.
Hard Factory Resets occur in two phases:
- Formatting the MicroSD
- The actual factory reset
Formatting your Eufy 2K Indoor Camera MicroSD card deletes all current data on it, increases compatibility, makes it reusable for new data in the new allocated file system and prevents decreased performance or data corruption.
The reason we need to format the camera’s microSD card before the hard factory reset is because it:
- could be filled up with images;
- might have internal errors in it;
- is not working as perfectly as it should be; or
- has not been formatted for a long time exposing it to unsafe data.
As a rule, make sure you have backed up your data before formatting. Perhaps you could save your data on an external hard drive or a USB stick or on the cloud.
The first method you can use to format your Eufy 2K Indoor Camera MicroSD card is in computer:
- Power down Eufy 2K Indoor Camera
- Card Slot is exposed
- Push or press down on MicroSD card which springs out from card slot
- Remove the microSD card from camera
- Put it into desktop or laptop MicroSD slot to format
The second method you can use to format Eufy 2K Indoor Camera is in the EufySecurity app
- Tap on the settings cog at the top right of app
- Scroll down through all options and choose Storage
- Select MicroSD storage in Storage page
- Click on Format at the bottom of phone screen
You will get up a pop-up window that asks you whether you are certain that you want to wipe all existing data on your MicroSD
- A Confirm or Cancel option appears
You will receive a new prompt box encouraging you to back up any important data. After you do this:
- Click on Confirm to initiate formatting
Formatting and diagnosing your card could take you a few minutes and it is important that you do not eject your MicroSD card from or power off your Eufy 2K indoor camera.
If you do any or all of these actions the formatting pauses or stops and does not reach the optimum 100% stopping you from resolving the problem of not recording events.
- The memory card is now wiped. You will get a message “Formatted Successfully.”
Your MicroSD will now work reliably and properly.
After formatting your MicroSD card Eufy 2K indoor camera you can now move on to the second phase which is the hard factory reset. A hard factory reset erases everything and reestablishes the default settings.
There are two methods you can use to execute a hard factory reset to your Eufy 2K indoor camera. These involve the eufyseurity app or the SYNC button.
Hard factory reset Method 1
- Tap on the eufysecurity Settings cog icon
- Click on Camera Settings option
- Scroll down to bottom of camera settings screen
- Select Remove Device
When you choose this option your Eufy 2k indoor camera reboots, wipes all the configurations and is removed from your account
Hard factory reset Method 2
- Pick up your Eufy 2k indoor camera
- Turn it around to face you
- Locate the SYNC button on the bottom left
- Press SYNC button for fifteen seconds while still powered on
- You will hear one beep first
- Keep holding SYNC button until you hear two short beeps following each other in quick succession
- Do not stop pressing until the fifteen seconds have elapsed
Now your camera is factory reset. It has no memory in the MicroSD card, is rebooted, and has reset its’ configurations, it can longer be recognized by your app and no longer record events.
The factory reset option is a last resort when all has failed as it means that you will have to reinstall your eufySecurity app, your HomeBase and your camera. Try other solutions first.
7. Replace Eufy Camera Or Contact Support
If you’ve tried all of the fixes above and you still can’t get your camera to work, you can try replacing it.
I personally use the Eufy S210, which I picked up from Amazon.
Note: Only pick up a new camera if you’re convinced the one you currently have has too many issues. There’s no point in picking up a new camera if the problem with your current camera can easily be fixed.