Your Nest security camera is meant to be a watchful eye that helps you take care of your home and family (even when you’re not there).

But it won’t be much use if you get back home and can’t see what’s been going on.

Why Is My Nest Camera Not Showing History?

A security camera over looking somebody's property

Your Nest Camera might not be showing history because it may have been accidentally turned off, it may have a poor connection to the internet, or you might have an issue with your subscription.

There are a few reasons why your Nest Camera may not showing history.

First, check if your app or operating system is up to date so that everything is running smoothly.

A common issue is that you haven’t signed up or have missed a payment for the Nest Aware subscription.

If this is the case, you may not see your recent activity.

It’s also possible that you might have had a weak Wi-Fi or cellular connection, causing gaps in history.

You won’t see your Nest history if your camera is off or not correctly connected to the internet.

Keep in mind that the type of subscription you signed up for also affects how much history you will see.

With an event-based recording (EBR) subscription, for example, you’ll see gray areas with “No activity detected” when your camera didn’t register movement or sound.  

The Nest Aware Plus subscription gives you 60 days event video history and 10 days 24/7 continuous video history.

And basic Nest Aware subscriptions only include 30 days event video history.

How To View Your Saved Video And Event History On Nest

Open your Google Home app and tap the “Feed” icon on the Home screen.

Here, you’ll see “Recent Events” and you’ll be able to scroll through them to see if you missed anything.

You can tap on any video clip to learn more about events at that time.

Tap “Go To History” at the top of the page to see history for the past 60 days or to look at individual days.

You can also see video and event history in the Nest app.

Open the app and on the Home screen tap the camera’s live video stream.

Here you’ll see video clips of all events and you can tap on any clip to see further information about that event.

And if you want to see a timeline of events just tap the “Sightline Icon“.

You can also save and share clips by tapping on “New Clip” at the bottom of the screen.

Read Next: Will An iPhone Ring If I’m Blocked? (Explained)

How To Get Your Nest Camera History Working Again

Before you contact Google’s customer service, you can try the following tips to get your Nest history showing again.

Check That Your Device’s Time And Date Are Accurate

If you are using a Nest Camera while traveling you may not be receiving notifications simultaneously because you are outside of your home timezone.

Be sure your device has been updated to reflect the current time zone.

Update Software And Check For Low Batteries

Check your phone’s app store (Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store) for Nest app updates.

Install any pending OS updates because they could affect the app’s functionality.

Low batteries can also impact functionality.

If there are no issues with the above, try to uninstall the Nest app and install it again.

And check to see if the issue persists from another device, either a phone or computer.

What To Do If part Of Your Nest Camera History Is Missing

The recording history of your camera might show gaps that say “The camera was off or offline.”

Gaps appear when your camera isn’t streaming video for various reasons, including:

  • If you set your camera to Home or Away, it may have shut off automatically.
  • If you manually scheduled the camera, the camera might have turned off.
  • The camera’s battery may have run out.
  • There may have been an outage in your neighborhood.
  • The Wi-Fi may have gone down.
  • Your internet bandwidth may be insufficient. (If so, try changing the video quality on your camera).

If you do not have an active Nest Aware subscription, your camera will not record video, and live video will only be available if:

  • Nest Aware’s free trial ended before you bought a subscription.
  • Nest owner canceled a Nest Aware subscription.
  • A Nest Aware subscription lapsed due to the expiration of its credit card.

Home managers or owners of Nest Homes should change their payment details before this happens.

How To Keep Your Nest Recordings Safe

Nest Cameras detect motion and sound, but they won’t save your clips without a Nest Aware subscription.

You can see what’s happening through those clips even when you don’t have the app open. 

Although Nest stores your videos in the cloud, it’s always good to take extra measures to keep them safe.

It’s a good idea to save them on your PC.

First, you will need to access the complete recording from the cloud and then create clips on your phone or computer. 

Your phone will only take clips that last up to 2 minutes and 30 seconds, but your computer can create up to one hour clips.

Also, your phone can only download clips made in the Nest app, but your computer can download videos from anywhere. 

Creating Clips On Your Phone

Open the Nest app and scroll through your camera’s history. 

Once the video starts playing, press and hold “New Clip” to begin recording a new clip and release at the end. 

Tap “Save” and download it on your phone.

Creating Clips On Your Computer

Go to home.nest.com and open your camera.

Click on “Clips“, and then “Create Clip“.

Move the sliders to choose your desired slice.

Click “Save“.

Conclusion

Nest cameras are usually reliable, as long as you have a decent internet connection and the right subscription.

If you’re not seeing history, check that your camera hasn’t lost connection to the internet recently and check that everything is okay with your subscription.