Is A Ring Doorbell Always Recording? Does It Record 24/7? Here’s What Our Experts Say

Ring Doorbells act as an instrumental part of your DIY home security system. They provide you with the benefits of convenience and ease when it comes to keeping a check on who enters and exits your home and when. And you would naturally expect your home security system to store recordings for you so that you can review them later for whatever reason. Right?

However, Ring Doorbells do not store recordings of videos they capture unless you purchase one of their Ring Protect Plans. These plans allow you to store recordings on its cloud storage and view them later at your convenience. But the bigger question here stands: is a Ring Doorbell always recording? Continuous recording is a feature that many users want to be incorporated into their video doorbells and security cameras. This is offered by other security systems like the video doorbell from Nest. But what about Amazon’s Ring Doorbell? Keep reading to understand how the Ring Doorbell works in terms of the recordings it makes for you to be aware of how much this video surveillance tool has you covered.

Is a Ring doorbell always recording?

The answer is no. Your Ring Doorbell is not always recording. Currently, Ring Doorbells (and Ring cameras also) do not support continuous recording but only allow recordings of varying lengths under certain circumstances discussed below.

However, it is important to note that the company had announced that it would be launching this feature soon. This hasn’t put been put into effect yet, though.

Do Ring doorbells record sound?

Some of Ring’s Doorbells record sounds along with videos, such as the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, the Ring Video Doorbell Elite, and the Ring Video Doorbell 2.

Once your doorbell starts recording, it will record the sound that is heard around it. Moreover, you can also speak through the device to indulge in two-way talk. This feature means that your smart device can record and play sound simultaneously to allow you to talk to the person standing in front of, or speaking into, your Ring Doorbell.

However, check and explore before buying the device to ensure that it records sounds and supports the two-way talk function if you wish for this feature to be incorporated into your home security system.

When is my Ring doorbell recording?

There exist some triggers that could initiate recording from your Ring Doorbell. We can assess these by breaking the feature down into the following areas:

During motion

When your ring door sensors’ motion sensors detect any movement that could qualify as motion, they start recording. If you have a Ring Protect Plan, the application will save this recording.

Note: This recording does not get saved in your account for you to view later if you haven’t subscribed to a Ring Protect Plan. In this case, you can only open the Ring App and view the footage in Live View once your device notifies you.

Live view

This view will be manually enabled. To access the video stream in Live View, you will have to open the application. The live capture that you are able to view in the Live View will be saved into your account only if you have purchased a Ring Protect Plan.

You cannot access this view via the website. Here’s how you can access the live view on your Ring App directly from one of your specific devices:

• Open the Ring App.
• You will see three lines on the top left corner of your dashboard. Tap that.
• Tap ‘Devices.’
• Choose your device (Doorbell in this case).
• Tap the ‘Live View’ button visible to you underneath the device’s image.
• To end the view, tap the red button.

Note: Live view turns off automatically after ten minutes of activation.

Doorbell activation

Your Ring Doorbell gets activated when someone presses the button. As soon as this happens, the device will start recording the events that take place after that.

This feature could also be linked to the motion detection feature that triggers the recording. The time interval before the doorbell is pressed could be covered under the motion-triggered recording.

It is essential to keep in mind that your Ring Doorbell will only record and store the videos it captures if you have purchased any of Ring’s Protect Plans.

How do I know if my Ring doorbell is recording?

The Ring App that you have installed on any of your devices notifies you whenever the device starts recording, or you have the option of checking for the red LED light displayed on the device itself. This red LED light indicates that it is recording.

Knowing when your device is recording is crucial in terms of the footage you can expect to find if you wish to retrieve any of the footage stored on your cloud storage.

How long does Ring doorbell keep recordings?

This depends on the Protect Plan you purchase and your commitment to timely resubscriptions. If you have a Ring Protect Plan, you can easily access, download or delete the videos stored.

The key here is ensuring that you are covered under the plan throughout the period you wish to record and that there is no lapse between coverage to avoid losing access to any of the stored videos. If your plan expires, the recordings associated with your account will be deleted automatically following the date of expiration.

Who can view my recordings on my Ring doorbell?

No one can view recordings made by your Ring Doorbell or any other Ring device for that matter unless you voluntarily share them with other people or groups.

You have three sharing options:

• By adding users to your account to grant access to your data.
• By creating a shared link and sending it to the people you wish via email or text. This share link allows anyone to view your recordings, download and delete them via using the link.
• By posting them on the Neighbors app by Ring or publicly on the Internet. This action lets members of the general public access your recordings.

Note: Be careful who you authorize as a user to your account. Sharing links for access seems to be the safest option for sharing your recordings with a third person.

Does the Ring doorbell record without Wi-Fi?

The general answer to this is no. Ring Doorbells cannot record any video without a secure Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. Storing these video recordings in your account if you have a Ring Protect Plan also requires an Internet connection.

The device works by sending data over the Internet to its servers. When the device isn’t connected to the Internet, it would not be able to share the data it captures with the application on your smartphone or other devices.

Why is my Ring doorbell not recording?

There could be two major issues that could lead to this.

Your internet connection is unstable

If you have an unstable Internet connection or your connection isn’t strong enough, your device might face issues in recording videos and sending them to your applications. Internet issues could arise in any of the following forms:

• The download and upload speeds on your Internet’s servers are low.
• Poor Internet connection on your devices.
• Poor internet connection between your Ring Doorbell and the router.

Your motion zones

Sometimes you might face this issue if your motion zones haven’t been drawn appropriately or due to any other potential problems. As motion detection is one of the most important triggers for enabling recording, you need to check these thoroughly from time to time.

 Check for the following to make sure that you don’t face any problems related to motion zones in terms of recording:

• Recheck the ‘Motion Settings’ for your Ring Doorbell to ensure that the motion zone is drawn correctly to cover your desired area.
• Check for sensitivity levels in the motion settings to ensure that the Motion Sensitivity slider has been set correctly.
• Check to verify that there isn’t any ‘Motion Schedule’ set during the time you experience this issue. A clock icon will appear next to your Ring Doorbell on the dashboard of your application if a motion schedule has been enabled.

Can you stop Ring doorbell from recording?

Yes, you can stop your Ring Doorbell from recording. The most common way is to turn off motion record control from your application to disable recording. Follow these easy steps to stop your Ring Doorbell from recording any time you want.

• Open your Ring app.
• You will see three lines on the top left. Tap that.
• Tap ‘Devices.
• Choose the device you wish to adjust.
• Turn ‘Record Motion’ off on the device’s screen.

Final thoughts on is a Ring doorbell always recording!

Ring Doorbells do not offer 24/7 recording yet. However, the company’s promise for this feature in the future gives its loyal users some hope. If you wish, you can wait for this feature to be launched by the company. Details of this launch have not been revealed, though. Be sure to subscribe to a Protect Plan if you want to hold onto the recordings made by your device.

Here is another guide on how you can sneak past a Ring device without getting caught!