Why Is Simplisafe Camera Not Detecting Motion? Complete Fix Guide

If your Simplisafe camera not detecting motion all of a sudden, you’ve come to the right place to resolve your issue!

By the end of this guide, you won’t only know what could be impacting your camera’s functionality, but also the best troubleshooting solutions recommended by the users with the same problem.

Your Simplisafe camera might be picking up motion, but if the notifications aren’t enabled, you won’t know. Your camera could have also disconnected from the WiFi, have issues with the power, or is unable to read the QR code.

Knowing that you’re almost ready to troubleshoot the issue. Let’s first learn more about the possibilities and then jump into the solutions.

Why Simplisafe Camera Won’t Detect Motion?

First things first, it is good checking out whether you have installed the camera correctly.

By installation, we mean connecting it to your phone and having the notifications enabled. Another big cause for your camera to go blind is the WiFi of course.

If disconnected from the WiFi, the camera will stop sending footage in the app and you won’t know that the camera is detecting the motion.

With that in mind let’s take a look at the most frequent reports on Simplisafe camera not detecting any motion:

1. Power Issues

The first and most frequent cause for your camera to stop detecting motion is power issues with the source it is connected to.

2. Disabled Notifications

Your camera might detect motion actively, but without turning on notifications, you won’t be notified when it does.

3. App Issue

The wrong configuration in the app’ settings might also suppress your Simplisafe camera from detecting.

4. WiFi Connectivity

If your camera has been disconnected from the WiFi by any matters, this might prevent it from notifying you for motion detection.

5. Hardware Issue

Lastly and most unlikely, is the fact that your camera has come to an end life.

Now that we’ve taken the possible causes under consideration, let’s take a look at some of the best working solutions to fix your Simplisafe camera.

How To Fix Simplisafe Camera Not Detecting Motion?

Before we proceed, make sure that there isn’t a power outage or something of greater scale that might impact your camera’s ability to detect motion.

After all, if the power goes out, your camera will go off as well.

If that isn’t the issue, then perhaps some of these fine solutions will manage to fix the problem:

Solution #1 Power Cycle The Camera

The first and most easy way to fix the camera without much bother is to perform a power cycle.

This will actively discharge the camera out of any remaining electricity and when you boot it afterward, it should run a bunch more smoothly.

Here is how to power cycle your Simplisafe camera in a few easy steps:

1. Open the camera’s battery compartment by unscrewing the 4 screws.
2. Once taken out of the compartment, eject the included battery.
3. Wait for 30 seconds and insert the battery back into the compartment.
4. Reinstall everything and test.

If that didn’t work, proceed with the next solutions where we will diagnose the charging of your device more firmly.

Solution #2 Recharge The Camera

If power cycling didn’t help at all, then perhaps there is a problem with the internal charge of your battery.

Even if it might take a while, it is best to plug your camera for at least 10 minutes to determine whether it is charged properly or not.

We also suggest plugging the camera elsewhere this time, in a proven wall outlet with another charging adapter if possible.

You will know that your camera is charging and everything is fine as soon as you see the yellow LED blinking at a breathing-like pace.

Let it charge for at least 10 minutes and then test the motion detection.

Solution #3 Enable Notifications

It is possible that you haven’t enabled the notifications for your camera.

This way, you won’t be notified at all whenever the camera starts picking up motion from the surrounding area.

In the steps down below, we will guide you through the mobile app.

We assume that you already have the app installed so let’s enable the notifications of your Simplisafe camera:

1. Unlock your smartphone device.
2. Tap on the “Settings” tab and go to “General”.
3. From there, you should be able to navigate to a tab called “Notifications”.
4. Once in the notifications tab, if you’re struggling to find the Simplisafe app, you can write it down in the search field.
5. Next, tap on the app and enable the notifications through the green slider on top of your screen.

From now on, you will be directly notified whenever your camera starts picking up motion, via notifications to your smartphone!

Note: Keep in mind that the notifications will come to the device that scanned the QR code and activated the camera.

To choose a different device for the notifications receiver, you must re-scan the QR code from the device’s camera.

Solution #4 Reinstall The App

Selecting any wrong settings and configuring the app badly, might sometimes impact your camera’s functionality.

In addition, if you haven’t scanned the QR code at all, the camera will not detect any motion.

The steps below will show you how to reinstall the Simplisafe app and re-configure it properly:

1. Go to your smartphone’s storage unit and locate the Simplisafe app.
2. Uninstall the app and head to the app store as soon as you do that.
3. Re-download the Simplisafe Home Security App.
4. Scan the QR code on the back of your camera and start using the app.

Now, test out if the camera is going to detect any motion. If not, then it’s probably something wrong with the WiFi, so let’s find out!

Solution #5 Re-Connect With WiFi

The next cause for your camera not being enabled to detect any motion would be if it isn’t connected to WiFi.

If you recently had an internet outage, your camera could have gotten disconnected and once the internet came back, it probably didn’t connect.

Here is a guide on how to reconnect your camera with WiFi:

1. Open the Simplisafe home security app and tap on your camera.
2. Head to the camera’s options and locate the “WiFi and connectivity” tab.
3. Open the tab and click on “Scan for networks”.
4. Wait for the camera to scan for your network, tap it once and insert your WiFi security key.

Give the camera a couple of minutes to connect and once it is done you should be able to test out the motion detection.

Solution #6 Resolve Connectivity Issues

Before you proceed any further it’s time to identify if there are any problems with your internet connection.

Your WiFi could be accessible if there is no internet connection to it, your app will be disconnected from the app, and notifications won’t be sent through.

To identify problems with the internet, connect any device to the WiFi and test some proven applications such as YouTube, Netflix, or simply browse the internet.

You can also use a free online internet speed test to determine if your internet is good or not.

In case of any internet problems, you’ll need to either change the WiFi your smartphone and camera are using or resolve the problem itself.

Solution #7 Reset The Camera

If your camera is still unable to detect any motion, then perhaps factory resetting it might help.

The factory reset will reset ALL settings to default and hopefully, that will solve the problem for good.

Having that said, here is how to reset your Simplisafe camera in a few easy steps:

1. Unmount the camera from the mounting slot.
2. Locate the reset button on the back of the camera.
3. Hold the reset button for 20 seconds.
4. Once the LEDs of your camera start going off, release the button.
5. Wait for the reset to complete.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, your camera should reset and reboot.

Then you can test the motion detection and hopefully, it will work.

If not, then you can contact Simplisafe customer support for more help before you bring your device for repair service.

Read Next: Does Blink Camera Work Without WiFi?

Bottom Line:

If your Simplisafe camera isn’t picking up any motion, make sure the notifications are turned on and reconnect the camera with WiFi. Next, power cycle the camera, charge it properly, and reinstall the Simplisafe app.

Lastly, you can perform a factory reset which in most cases turns out to be helpful.

Now that you know why the Simplisafe camera not detecting motion, you should be able to easily fix the issues with our easy-to-apply solutions.

In the end, the issue could be based on a hardware malfunction so you must consider replacing the camera or delivering it for a repair.