How Long Does The Average Security Camera Store Footage?

This proliferation of video surveillance raises an important question – how long does the average security camera store footage as they are continuously recording?

Yes, For both businesses and individuals using security cameras, understanding how long your recorded video is stored can help you better manage your camera system.

Last month, my small boutique shop was broken into and robbed. Only after police reviewed the security camera footage, the perpetrator was identified and caught.

This experience made me realize how crucial having adequate video storage is for capturing crime events.

I learned most systems only retain recordings for a few weeks! Now I know I must optimize my cameras to store more footage to have proof when incidents occur.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore the typical duration that security cameras store footage, look at the factors impacting retention time, review best practices for setting camera video storage policies, and provide tips to improve your surveillance data management.

Let’s get started.

How Long Does The Average Security Camera Store Footage

Most security cameras don’t store video indefinitely – the footage is stored temporarily on onboard storage drives before being erased or overwritten.

But how long is this retention period?

The exact duration that a camera stores footage can vary considerably based on factors like:

• Camera storage capacity and memory card size
• Video resolution and compression settings
• Type of recording – continuous vs motion-activated
• Network connectivity for cloud storage vs onboard storage

However, most basic security cameras store video for security camera footage storage between 24 hours up to about 30 days.

For example, a typical home security camera with 32GB of onboard storage recording compressed 720p HD video with motion-detection may store around 7-10 days of footage before needing to be erased.

More advanced systems offer longer retention duration. Commercial IP cameras directly connected to a large enterprise security camera video storage capacity network video recorder (NVR) storage array may store footage for 90 days or more.

But in general, most standard security cameras used by consumers and small businesses retain recordings for security camera footage retention between one day and one month.

Key Factors Affecting Security Camera Video Retention Duration

What exactly determines the storage duration of a security camera system? Here are some key factors:

• Storage capacity – Larger onboard camera storage, memory cards, and NVR hard drives allow for longer video retention. For example, a 4TB NVR drive may store a month of footage, while a 500GB drive fills up in a week.
• Video resolution – Higher resolution recordings take up significantly more storage space than lower res footage. So 720p HD video won’t store as long as 480p recordings.
• Compression – Modern IP cameras use H.264/H.265 compression to reduce video file sizes with less quality loss. Higher compression = smaller files = longer retention.
• Motion-based recording – Cameras that only record when motion is detected take up far less space than continuously recording cameras for longer retention duration.
• Overwriting – Most systems automatically overwrite the oldest recordings once the storage is full. So the retention period is fixed based on the drive size unless archiving is done.
• Camera settings – Bitrate, frames per second, and other camera settings affect the video file size and total retention time.

Recommended Practices for Security Camera Footage Retention

So how long should you set your security cameras to store recordings? What are some best practices for configuring footage retention?

The proper retention period depends on your specific needs and regulatory requirements. Here are some general guidelines:

• Start with the capabilities of your camera – The onboard storage capacity limits the maximum retention time. No way to exceed what the camera allows.
• Match retention to operational needs – Do you need 24/7 continuous access to live feeds, or occasional recordings to investigate incidents? Shorter retention may suffice for occasional needs.
• Develop written policies – Have formal guidelines for the retention period given to all staff and monitored for compliance. Consistency is key.
• Consider legal obligations – Regulated industries like financial services often have mandatory retention laws. Make sure you meet any compliance duties.
• Archive critical footage – Back up important recordings to another device so they aren’t automatically erased after the retention period.

Having a thought-out camera footage storage plan based on your specific environment is better than just accepting default settings.

Creating a Security Camera Footage Retention Policy

A key best practice is creating a written policy for video retention and storage management.

This provides all personnel with clear, consistent guidelines to follow. Retention policies typically include:

• Standard retention period – The number of days or weeks recordings will be stored before automatic deletion.
• Handling of critical incidents – Are these events archived? If so, for how long?
• Security and access protocols – Who can access stored footage and under what circumstances?
• Compliance considerations – Does your business sector have mandated retention laws?
• System monitoring procedures – Who checks the video storage capacity and usage? How often?
• Protocols for footage requests – Formal process for providing video to law enforcement or third-parties.

Regular policy reviews and updates help account for new storage technology, changes in regulations, and evolving workplace needs.

Storing Footage Long Enough to Be Useful

Aside from setting general policies, how do you decide what video retention duration is optimal?

The goal is storing footage long enough to achieve its intended purposes. Key benefits of keeping recordings include:

Investigating Incidents and Claims

A key advantage of security video is having image evidence to investigate and reconstruct facility incidents, accidents, worker injuries, liability claims, criminal acts, and more.

The ability to review footage is invaluable for determining causes, sequences of events, responsibilities, and required actions.

But retaining video too briefly can mean crucial evidence is erased before an incident is detected or investigated.

Finding the right balance requires assessing:

• The types of incidents you want to capture footage of.
• The time needed to notice, report, and investigate these occurrences.
• How far back you may need to review footage for relevant events leading up to an incident.

For minor occurrences, 24-48 hours may be sufficient. Major incidents often require retaining video for weeks or more.

Meeting Legal, Regulatory and Evidentiary Requirements

Many organizations in regulated sectors like finance, healthcare, and retail have legal mandates specifying minimum video retention periods for security systems.

This could range from just a few weeks for general surveillance purposes to multiple years in highly-regulated industries.

Even without specific laws, longer retention may be advisable to preserve video evidence and avoid spoliation allegations.

While storage space is finite, the value of potentially crucial evidence should be weighed when setting maximum retention periods in policies.

Balancing Storage Costs and Benefits

One downside of lengthy video retention is increased storage expenses. More saved footage requires higher capacity NVR drives, backup systems, and file servers.

For large enterprise camera networks, longer retention can significantly impact storage budgets.

But some video recordings provide extremely high value for investigations and compliance needs.

So the benefits of keeping selected footage longer can justify the storage cost trade off.

The key is being selective – use tiered retention duration for different types of cameras and selectively archive only certain events long-term.

Maximizing Your Security Camera Storage Capacity

Optimizing camera systems for longer video retention while minimizing costs requires some storage management strategies.

Here are some tips:

Choose Cameras with Adequate Onboard Storage

Today’s security cameras offer a wide range of onboard storage capacities, from less than 100GB to several TBs.

When selecting hardware, think long-term – how much capacity will you realistically need for desired retention duration?

Pay the premium for extra storage now rather than needing to constantly delete recordings or add external drives later.

Use Network Video Recorders with Expandable Storage

For extensive camera systems, standalone NVR appliances provide from hundreds of GBs to tens of TBs of highly scalable centralized storage.

Some tips when choosing an NVR:

• Look for systems that support additional external drives for future expansion.
• Calculate the total storage volume needed for the full camera network.
• Select enterprise-grade server-style NVRs for longer retention and greater capacities.
• Leverage redundant storage with RAID configurations to extend retention periods.

Automatically Overwrite Old Footage

Once the storage is full, most NVRs and cameras automatically overwrite the oldest recorded video files to make space for new recordings.

Setting this purging of outdated footage as a matter of routine maintenance ensures you always have the most relevant recent recordings without needing to manually delete files.

Optimize Video Files with Compression

H.265 video compression can reduce file sizes by up to 50% compared to H.264, with less image quality loss. Using cameras and NVRs that encode with H.265 will extend storage duration considerably.

Just be aware that higher compression and lower bitrates make digital zooming and enhancement more difficult if examining recordings forensically.

Use Lower Resolution Video When Possible

Higher megapixel HD cameras take up far more space than lower resolution alternatives.

If you don’t need the enhanced details of 4K or 5K video, using 1080p or 720p resolution can maximize retention duration.

Similarly, reducing the frame rate below 30fps will decrease files sizes substantially.

FAQ

How Long Do Home Security Cameras Keep Footage?

This depends on the storage capacity of your home security camera system and settings like video resolution. But most standard home cameras store recordings for 1-4 weeks typically.

For example, a common indoor WiFi camera with a 32GB microSD card may retain 7-10 days of 1080p video before needing to be overwritten or transferred to a computer.

Outdoor cameras with larger onboard storage or additional SD cards can retain 15-30 days of footage generally.

Higher 4K resolution will take up storage faster, reducing retention time. Events triggered motion recording also takes up less space than continuous capture.

And wireless streaming to the cloud usually won’t hold more than a few days of recordings for home use.

So for standard home security cameras, figure a retention time of about a week or two of usable footage before older video starts getting automatically deleted. Going with larger storage capacities or lower resolution settings can extend this.

Do Home Security Cameras Record All The Time?

Many home security cameras can record continuously 24/7. But all-the-time continuous recording eats up a lot of storage bandwidth quickly.

To optimize storage on home security cameras, most systems record based on detecting motion events only. This means the camera stays idle until its motion sensors pick up activity in the area it’s covering.

Once motion triggers the recording, it will capture video for a set duration after the movement stops – usually from 20 seconds up to a few minutes. Then the camera goes idle again.

This type of motion-based recording can save a tremendous amount of storage space versus recording every minute of the day.

But it does mean that periods where no motion is detected won’t be captured.

For full continuous capture, you’ll need a wired camera system with lots of bandwidth and storage capacity.

Battery-powered WiFi cameras generally rely on motion-based recording to conserve resources.

Can I Get CCTV Footage From 1 Year Ago?

It’s usually not possible to retrieve CCTV security camera footage from a full year ago.

Most CCTV video recorder systems only store recordings for 30-90 days maximum before automatically deleting older footage.

However, some organizations with CCTV networks archive important video footage related to incidents, liability claims, police investigations, or compliance needs.

This archived CCTV video data may be stored for 1-3 years in some cases.

But finding footage from random events a year later is unlikely. You would need to know exactly when the event occurred so that any archived video from the date and time could be located and retrieved from offline storage.

With standard CCTV systems, the footage is generally gone within 3 months. So don’t count on being able to just search through a full year of historical CCTV video.

Maintaining massive video archives for an entire large camera network is cost-prohibitive for most users.

Which Security Camera Records Continuously?

For continuous 24/7 recording, your best options are wired security cameras connected to a dedicated NVR (network video recorder) system.

This provides the bandwidth and storage capacity needed for uninterrupted capture.

Many NVR camera systems allow you to set up both continuous and motion-triggered recording schedules.

For example, you could have your cameras record nonstop during business hours, and then switch to motion-based recording after hours when less activity is expected.

Battery-powered wireless security cameras generally rely solely on motion-based recording to avoid draining their power source.

But wired options with constant power can record continuously when set up properly.

Just make sure your NVR has adequate storage for all the footage that will be produced.

Can Security Cameras Listen To You?

Most standard security cameras only capture video and do not include microphones for audio recording.

However, some advanced IP camera systems do have built-in mics that can listen and record audio along with video.

These audio-enabled cameras are used to record verbal interactions and sounds in the environment along with visual footage. The audio tracks can help provide valuable context and evidence.

That said, there are laws in certain states and jurisdictions restricting unauthorized audio recording, especially in private spaces.

Always check local regulations before deploying microphones and audio capture with security cameras.

In public areas like stores, audio-enabled cameras are commonly used legally. But be aware that these systems can listen to conversations in their mic range.

Proper signage and disclosure should be provided. Privacy should always be considered when deploying such cameras.

How Long Will a Security Camera Record on a SD Card?

For security cameras that accept SD card storage, the recording duration depends on the SD card’s capacity and the camera’s video settings.

Some common examples:

• A 32GB SD card recording 5MP 1080p video at 15fps can store up to about 5 days of motion-based footage.
• With a 128GB SD card, the same camera can record up to 20 days typically.
• Lower resolution video at 720p uses less storage, allowing over 30 days recording on a 128GB SD card.

So in summary, expect to get between 5-30 days max of 24/7 recording from an SD card in a security camera, depending on capacity and video quality settings. Rotate cards frequently for continuous use.

How Much Memory Do Security Cameras Have?

Memory capacity in security cameras includes onboard storage and SD card slots. Lower-end cameras may only have 32-64GB of onboard memory while higher-end units can have up to 1TB built-in. SD card slots allow for additional external storage.

• Indoor WiFi cameras – Typically 32-128GB onboard storage with SD card slots up to 512GB.
• Outdoor wireless cameras – Up to 512GB onboard storage, with SD card support.
• Wired NVR cameras – No onboard storage, instead record to the NVR’s hard drives (1TB to 64TB range).

So total memory for storing recordings ranges from 32GB in basic cameras up to terabytes of data in enterprise camera networks.

Just keep in mind that higher resolution video consumes storage quickly.

Is It Better to Have Wired or Wireless Security Cameras?

Wired and wireless security cameras both have pros and cons:

Wired

Pros:

• Continuous power source for uninterrupted recording.
• More reliability and stable connectivity.
• Usually higher video resolution and frame rates.
• Store footage on NVR instead of cloud.

Cons:

• More complex installation.
• Less flexible camera placement.
• Can’t easily reposition or move cameras.

Wireless

Pros:

• Quick and easy installation.
• Can position cameras anywhere.
• Easy repositioning if needed.
• Wireless cloud storage options.

Cons:

• Limited battery life and bandwidth.
• Potential interference and connectivity issues.
• Most don’t support constant recording.

So in summary, wired systems are better for high-quality continuous recording and reliability.

But wireless options provide more flexibility and quick setup. Evaluate your priorities and usage needs when choosing between the two.

Conclusion and Summary

The amount of time security cameras retain recorded video varies widely based on factors like storage capacity, video settings, motion detection, and company policies.

While most systems overwrite footage every 24 hours to 30 days, retention can be extended by managing camera storage properly.

Here are some key tips covered in this guide:

• Match your retention period to actual investigative and compliance needs. Don’t keep footage forever just because.
• Create written policies for video storage management and retention duration. Continually review for effectiveness.
• Archive important footage offline for longer-term storage and evidence.
• Carefully plan storage capacity when selecting cameras and NVRs for maximum retention.
• Use compression and lower resolution wisely to optimize storage space.
• Automatically purge older data once maximum retention is reached.

With the right retention policies and storage management tactics, you can strike the right balance in getting the most evidentiary and operational value from your security video.

Just be sure to think long-term when planning capacity, not just immediate needs.