Haven
If you are new to the BlackVue family, you might wonder where the recording files go. The answer actually depends on the BlackVue camera model you own. But, if you are using a Cloud-compatible dashcam, you can expect a total of four storage locations for your files. The caveat is, files do not automatically get duplicated in all four locations. Read further below to learn how you can secure your files from getting deleted.
SD Card
All BlackVue dashcam models record and store files on the SD card. Of course, the number of recordings stored depends on the capacity of the SD card itself, whether your camera is a single or a dual-channel model, and the file size that depends on the resolution and image quality settings among others. In other words, the bigger the capacity of the SD card, the more files will be saved. And a single channel camera approximately produces recordings twice as many as a dual-channel type of the same model. Higher resolution and image quality settings can mean bigger file sizes and so lesser number of files recorded. Check out the estimated recording time length of some of our cameras according to quality settings and bitrates.
NOTE: Since BlackVue dashcams are designed to record videos in an overlooping fashion, recording files are overwritten from the oldest ones to allocate space for continuous recording. Some camera models have the "Protect Event Files from being Overwritten" option in the firmware settings that prevents the camera from deleting fifty event files. However, the camera will also delete the oldest protected event files to make space for the recording of newer event files if there are already fifty protected event files. Always make duplicate copies of important recordings in the following two recording storage locations. Recording files cannot be deleted from the SD card while the camera is running, unless you choose "Format SD card" in the submenu of a camera.
Overwritten files can be recovered using third-party file recovery software but we cannot guarantee the quality or performance of such software programs.
Internal Memory of Phone (Downloaded Videos)
Internal Memory storage is the first backup storage location for recording files. This Internal Memory refers to the internal memory storage of a mobile device (e.g. mobile phone, tablet PC). Users of simple WiFi and Cloud-compatible dashcams have the option to copy important recordings into the Internal Memory of the mobile phone.
Simple WiFi dashcam users can access their recordings by connecting a mobile device to the camera via the Direct WiFi feature of the BlackVue mobile app. In addition to this option, Cloud-compatible dashcam users have the second option of accessing camera recordings via the Cloud feature in the mobile app. The Cloud-compatible camera should be registered to the Cloud account of a user and the Cloud service should be enabled. Cloud dashcam users can access recordings remotely as long as the camera is "Cloud-connected".
NOTE: A user can duplicate copies of important files to the internal memory of a mobile device manually. This means that the user should connect to the camera via Direct WiFi or Cloud and then manually save copies of the file(s) into the Internal Memory storage. A user can delete files stored in the Internal Memory anytime. Also, deleting the BlackVue app will delete the files stored in the internal memory.
Cloud Storage
The second backup storage for recording files is Cloud Storage. This storage is only available for Cloud-compatible dashcams. The camera should be registered to the Cloud account of a user and should be "Cloud-connected" at the time of file transfer. The user accesses the camera via the Cloud feature (even remotely) and manually copies files from the SD card to the Cloud storage. The mobile device being used to access the camera remotely should also be connected to the internet.
NOTE: By default, all BlackVue users who create a BlackVue account and register a camera are given 5 Gigabytes of Cloud storage. Files manually transferred from the SD card to the Cloud storage do not have an expiration date. However, the user should delete some files to make space for the storage of recording files in the Cloud Storage or Live Event Upload Storage.
Files that were deleted in the Cloud storage are non-recoverable or non-restorable.
Live Event Upload Storage
The live event upload feature is only available to Cloud-compatible cameras (except DR650GW). Once this feature is activated and set according to the user's preference, the camera will automatically upload event files only into separate Cloud storage, as long as the camera is "Cloud-connected" at the time of event detection.
NOTE: For free plan users, event files automatically uploaded in this storage remain saved for seven (7) days and will be automatically deleted thereafter. For paid Cloud plan subscribers, these files expire after thirty (30) days of being automatically uploaded. Users can delete files that are stored in this storage location.
Files that were deleted in the Event Auto-upload storage are non-recoverable or non-restorable.
Furthermore, the total Cloud storage allocated for an account is shared by the videos manually saved in the Cloud folder and the automatically uploaded files in the Live event upload storage.