Night Owl Camera Not Recording Motion? – Easy Solutions!

Wondering why the Night Owl camera not recording motion? Keep reading!

Motion detection is one of the amazing features of Night Owl cameras. Using this feature, you will get an instant alert on your mobile as the camera detects any activity.

Sometimes, however, our cameras can’t quite detect important events and in this guide, we’ll find a solution!

The Night Owl camera is not recording motion because of Low Detection Sensitivity, wrong camera placement, Outdated Firmware, or any System Bug. The solution involves a thorough inspection of ALL possibilities in chronological order.

Let’s learn how you can fix your Night Owl not recording issue in a matter of minutes!

How To Fix When Night Owl Camera Not Recording Motion?

If your Night Owl camera is not recording motion, then it is probably because of some system or configuration issue.

Fortunately, the solution is simple, you only need to ensure that you don’t miss any of the steps and follow our solution in order. 

Note: Ensure that your Night Owl camera and recorder are set up correctly in the app!

Solution #1 Reactivate Motion Detection

Night Owl recorders are already set to detect motion by default.

There is a possibility that unintentionally you may have disabled it and that’s why it is not recording motion anymore.

So, all you need is to make sure to re-enable the Motion Detection for your Night Owl camera!

Here is how you can re-enable the motion detection for your Night Owl camera:

1. Go to the recorder-connected TV/PC.
2. Right-click on the screen.
3. Tap on the Main Menu.
4. Sign in to your recorder by entering the correct credentials.
5. Go to Settings.
6. Tap on the Event.
7. Go to Motion Detect under the Detect section.
8. Select your Camera Channel.
9. Recheck the Enable check box for motion recording.
10. Tap on Apply to save settings.
11. Tap on Save and exit from the settings.

You can now test by imitating motion in front of the Night Owl camera. It takes little to no time for a test and you should use this technique throughout the guide.

In case the camera does not record any motion, proceed with the next solution!

Solution #2 Increase Detection Sensitivity

If the motion detection is already enabled, but still Night Owl is not recording, then there is a possibility that the camera detection sensitivity is too low.

The low detection sensitivity will prevent the camera from detecting certain motions, but the setting is there for a reason!

Note: People intentionally lower the sensitivity to prevent the camera from capturing pets, leaves, cars, and other environmental and unnecessary motion!

Here is how you can increase the detection sensitivity for the Night Owl camera:

1. Go to your TV/Monitor.
2. Right-click on the screen to access the Main Menu.
3. Login to your Night Owl recorder.
4. Go to Settings > Camera > Motion.
5. Adjust your recorder sensitivity to medium, probably between 30-70.
6. Adjust the threshold between 15-40 for proper motion detection and recording. 
7. Tap on the setup to configure the camera area and adjust the motion areas!

The red area will probably show the motion recording area and other color grids show the not allowed area.

This way you can exclude certain parts of the camera’s point of view.

Tip: You can find much more helpful instructions in the Night Owl User Manual.

Solution #3 Enable Push Notification

A helpful feature of the Night Owl camera is pushing alerts, which inform users of whatever activity the camera detects.

Since you haven’t received any notifications from the recorder or app, it’s possible that your camera is capturing motion but you are unaware of it.

Push notifications will give you instant alert notifications in the form of messages on your mobile and as a buzzer sound from the recorder TV/Monitor.

We need to enable them!

Here is how you can enable push notifications for your Night Owl camera:

1. Open the Night Owl Connect App.
2. Tap on three dots to enter Settings.
3. Enable the Device/Push Notification.
4. This will enable the notification alert.

When you’re ready, restart the mobile and you will get an alert whenever the Night Owl camera detects and records motion.

Feel free to perform a test and check whether this helped.

Important: Also unmute the notification for the Night Owl Connect App from your mobile!

Solution #4 Switch Camera Placement

The main cause of a camera not detecting motion is inappropriate camera positioning.

Since the camera won’t detect any motion if there is an obstruction in its path or if the detection area is inadequately set up, the recorder won’t capture anything either.

Let’s have a look at what might be obstructing the camera from detecting object motion:

• An obstacle in front of the Night Owl camera, possibly a wall, window or shade.
• The camera is too far away from the region of camera detection.
• The Night Owl camera is facing the wrong direction.
• The camera is placed too far from the WiFi router.

How To Configure Detection Zone?

1. Go to the recorder-connected TV/PC.
2. Right-click on the screen to access the Main Menu.
3. Sign in to your recorder by entering the correct credentials.
4. Go to Settings > Event > Motion Detect under the Detect section.
5. Select your recorder channel.
6. Tap on Setup and select the option for detection. 
7. Drag on the screen to set up the area from which the recorder has to detect.
8. Tap on Apply to save settings.
9. Tap on Save and exit from the settings.

Note: The recording area will appear in RED color!

Solution #5 Inspect Recorder Schedule

Night Owl records motion when its recording schedule is set up.

If your Night Owl recorder is detecting motion but not capturing anything, there’s a possibility that the recording schedule is disabled.

Let’s take a look at whether everything is correct with yours!

Here is how you can inspect Night Owl Record Schedule:

1. Go to the recorder TV/Monitor.
2. Right-click to access the Main Menu. 
3. Tap on Record from the menu. 
4. Select your camera channel.
5. From REC. MODE, go for the Scheduled Record or Always on the recording mode. 

By enabling the schedules of your camera record according to your preferences, the thing that matters the most is the correct camera detection and configuration settings.

Tip: Make sure that your Night Owl camera has enough storage to record and save motion detection recordings.

Solution #6 Update Camera Firmware

If you have tried all the above troubleshooting steps but still your Night Owl camera is not recording motions, then your system’s firmware needs to be updated.

By updating the firmware, all bugs from your camera and recorder will be removed, which will hopefully help!

Note: The recorder and camera have to be connected to the internet/WiFi!

Here is how you can upgrade the Night Owl camera firmware:

1. Go to TV/Monitor and log in to your recorder.
2. Right-click on the screen to access the Main Menu.
3. Go to Tools > System Info > Firmware Version.
4. Tap on the check to scan for a new version.
5.  Your Night Owl system will automatically start to update. 

As the recorder updates, it automatically restarts, but make sure to not turn off the device.

After the firmware update, your camera and recorder will easily detect and record motion if you have set up all settings properly for motion detection from our guide.

Tip: The update takes time, based on your internet speed so be patient.

Night Owl Not Recording Motion Still…

If you have tried all of the aforementioned solutions and set everything up accordingly, but your Night Owl camera is still not detecting motion, it’s time to seek help.

Sometimes the problem is with the camera unit and we can’t help with this at home. 

Head over to the Night Owl Support Team and share what you are experiencing with your product in detail, so they can provide adequate assistance.

With a bit of luck, it would go smoothly.

Quick Recap:

Whenever your Night Owl camera does not record motion, re-enable the Motion Detection from the recorder and set an appropriate Detection Sensitivity. Also, make sure that the recording schedule and camera are set up properly, and update your Night Owl Setup!

Final Thoughts:

In this guide, we have covered why the Night Owl camera not recording motion.

Now we know which are the primary suspects and how to troubleshoot the problem accordingly.

We hope that this guide was helpful and for more related content, don’t forget to check our blog!