CCTV & VMS

CCTV System Not Recording — Common Fixes

You need footage from last Tuesday and it is not there. Before anyone panics, work through these in order — most "missing recordings" complaints come down to one of five things.

By Saul, CARIBE Security Solutions · Updated October 13, 2026

1. Check the recording schedule, not just the camera

Many VMS platforms record on a schedule — continuous, motion-triggered, or a mix by time of day. A schedule edited for one building area and never applied everywhere, or a motion-detection threshold set too high after a lighting change, will produce exactly this symptom: the camera looks fine live, but nothing was saved. Confirm the schedule assigned to the affected camera actually covers the time window you need.

2. Check storage health and retention settings

Full or failing storage is the single most common cause of "gaps" in recordings. Check disk health and available space on the recording server or NVR, and confirm the retention period actually matches what the building thinks it is buying. A drive quietly dropped from a RAID array, or a retention setting lowered during a past troubleshooting session and never restored, both produce silent gaps that nobody notices until footage is needed.

3. Confirm camera licensing hasn't lapsed

Many VMS platforms license per camera channel. If a license expired, was never applied after a software update, or was accidentally reassigned during a camera swap, the camera can appear online in the interface while quietly not being recorded at all. This is especially common after a VMS version upgrade.

4. Rule out network and stream health

Intermittent recording gaps are frequently a network symptom: bandwidth contention, a failing switch port, or a camera silently dropping to a lower stream profile. Check the camera's connection log and compare recording gaps against any network events in the same window.

5. Verify user permissions before assuming footage is gone

Sometimes the recording exists but the person looking for it does not have permission to view that camera group, or is searching the wrong archive server in a multi-site deployment. Before escalating a "missing footage" ticket, confirm the search is scoped to the correct camera, time zone, and server.

If footage is needed for an incident

When recordings are missing and the footage matters — an incident, a claim, a legal request — do not wait and keep guessing. Export what exists immediately before retention cycles overwrite it further, then bring in a specialist to diagnose the gap properly.

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