Doorbell cameras are a popular home accessory. They’re a convenient smart home gadget that helps you keep an eye on your front porch and front door. In this guide, we’ll specifically discuss the Ring doorbell system, its recording settings, subscription options, and how far back the Ring doorbell history goes.
Ring doorbell history goes back up to 180 days with a subscription to their Ring Protect service. Without a subscription, the dashboard will only show the last captured image.
With functions like two-way communication and motion alerts with video previews, it’s no wonder many households across the country favor the Ring brand. Also, cloud subscriptions are more common for storage with video doorbell gadgets like the Ring doorbell.
Keep reading below for more on video storage capabilities with the Ring doorbell.
How Does Ring Doorbell Store Videos?
Before we head on to talk about how long your Ring doorbell can store history and videos, let’s first understand how Ring records and stores videos recorded through your doorbell camera.
Ring doorbells use the Ring cloud storage. This is where your videos and snapshots are uploaded for you to have access to and view at a later time. You can access this cloud storage, the live view feed, and other camera settings through the Ring app.
Ring’s cloud storage is a service you pay for, like most subscription-based doorbell cameras.
Ring Protect subscription plans
Ring has three Protect Plans you can choose from. All three offer video recording and storage.
Ring Protect Basic offers video recording for one doorbell or camera for $3.99/month or $39.99/year.
Ring Protect Plus offers video recording for all your Ring home devices for $10/month or $100/year.
Ring Protect Pro offers video recording for all home devices, Ring Alarm professional monitoring, and more, starting at $20/month or $200/year.
Learn more about Ring Protect subscription plans here and here.
Ring Protect free trial
All Ring home devices come with a Ring Protect 30-day free trial. This means whenever you activate a new Ring device, you automatically activate and begin a free trial for 30 days.
Current Ring Protect subscribers, however, are not eligible for the free trial.
If you aren’t a current Ring Protect subscriber and your 30-day free trial ends, all of your recorded videos are deleted as well, unless you purchase a subscription before the trial ends.
How Far Back Does Ring Doorbell History Go?
Depending on where you are and where you bought your Ring doorbell from, there are varying time frames in which Ring stores your recorded footage in the Ring cloud.
For a short and quick answer, Ring doorbells store recorded videos for up to 180 days with a subscription to Ring Protect. Without a subscription, you will only be able to see the last image captured.
For UK and EU-bought units, the default video storage time is set to 30 days while it’s 60 days for Ring doorbells bought in the US, Latin America, Middle East, and Asia.
For the convenience of those subscribed to a Ring Protect plan, Ring allows users to manually adjust storage time. Ring video storage time can go from as little as one day to as long as 180 days.
Below are some more options for video storage time:
- 1 day
- 3 days
- 7 days
- 14 days
- 21 days
- 30 days (UK and EU default setting)
- 60 days (US, Latin America, Middle East, and Asia default setting)
- 90 days
- 120 days
- 180 days
Changing video storage time setting
As mentioned above, you can manually change the video storage time setting for your recorded videos.
To do this using the Ring app:
- On the Ring app, go to the Control Center.
- Select Video Management and then tap on Video Storage Time.
- Look for the device whose setting you’re changing.
- Next to the device name, click on Edit and choose a video storage time among the given options. These options can vary depending on your location.
To do this from a web browser:
- Go to Ring.com and log in to your account.
- Go to Account and then to Control Center.
- Select Video Management and then tap on Video Storage Time.
- Look for the device whose setting you’re changing.
- Next to the device name, click on Edit and choose a video storage time among the given options. These options can vary depending on your location.
How to download videos from Ring cloud
As we’ve already established, all recorded videos will be automatically deleted after your set storage time has lapsed, unless, of course, you manually download them.
To download your Ring doorbell videos with the Ring app:
- On the Ring app, go to Menu and tap on History.
- Look for the video you want to download and then tap on the three dots next to the file.
- Select Share and click on Download.
Downloaded videos will appear on your iCloud or Photos album. Remember, you can only download one video at a time on the Ring app.
If you want to download multiple videos at once, do so using a web browser on your PC or laptop.
To download your Ring doorbell videos with a web browser:
- Go to Ring.com and log in to your account.
- Go to History and tap on Manage.
- Select the videos you want to download and click on Download.
Videos are downloaded as a .zip file and need to be unzipped for each .mp4 video file.
Other Things to Know About Ring Video Storage
- You would need a Ring Protect Plan or a free trial to access the cloud storage containing your recorded footage.
- You would also need a subscription plan to adjust video storage time.
- A new video storage time setting applies only to videos recorded after the change is made.
- Videos are permanently deleted after the storage time setting expires, if they are deleted, or if your subscription lapses.
What About Ring Doorbell Snapshots?
Ring’s video storage time settings do not affect snapshots captured by the doorbell through the app. Snapshots have their own storage time of up to seven days. As of this writing, users cannot manage storage time for Ring snapshots.
Data and Security Concerns
Ring doorbells use cloud services and subscriptions. This means your data, videos, and snapshots are uploaded to the cloud. Ring may have access to this as this is a service they provide. Cloud services are also a risk when it comes to hacking.
There’s also news (1, 2) about Ring and Amazon giving the police access to Ring videos under police subpoenas or emergency requests, even without the owners’ permission. Emergencies, in this sense, are defined as “cases involving imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to any person.”
With this recent news and with rising concerns for data and privacy protection, it doesn’t come as a surprise many people prefer to stay away from doorbell cameras and other security camera measures requiring cloud subscriptions.
Lucky for these people, there are tons of doorbell cameras and security cameras available that use built-in storage with SD cards instead of cloud storage.
Conclusion
Ring doorbells are one of the more famous doorbell video cameras out in the market right now. They provide a convenient way to let you know if someone is on your door while also keeping a watchful eye out on your doorstep.
Ring doorbells use the Ring cloud storage to store recorded videos. This entails a Ring Protect subscription plan. Currently, Ring offers three Ring Protect plans.
Ring doorbells store recorded videos for at least 30 days on its default settings. With the app and with an active plan, users can change video storage time from as little as one day to as long as 180 days.
With the Ring app or with a web browser, users can also download videos so they have a copy before it gets permanently deleted after the video storage time frame has expired.
Ring doorbell snapshots have a storage time of up to seven days. Currently, users cannot manage snapshots storage time.
And that has been our guide on how far back does Ring doorbell history goes!
