Delete CCTV footage from mobile is a good choice for busy people, with one touch from your mobile you can delete every unwanted video clip but how?
There are several ways used to delete security camera footage depending on where you store your videos: is it on an SD card, DVR/ NVR, PC, or Cloud storage.
So, for deleting CCTV footage with your mobile.
First, you must use one of the above methods that support the connection between mobile and device, Second, have admin privileges access to do the task.
But, before diving into How to Delete CCTV Footage From Mobile, there is an important Question.
Do security cameras delete footage? (Explained In Details)
To understand how to delete CCTV footage from mobile, we must first know how CCTV footage is recorded and stored.
In the past the analog Closed Circuit Television Camera captured the images in an analog form, and then by using cables or wireless signals sent the footage to the Digital Video Recorder to process the footage and store it.
The Storage process of the captured images work in sequence like if the cam captures the last 10 days footage what is happen is
Day1 ⇒Day2 ⇒Day3⇒ Day4 ⇒Day5⇒ Day6⇒ Day7⇒ Day8 ⇒Day9⇒ Day10
When a new day’s footage ( Example Day0 )is captured and storage capacity is full, what happens in most security cameras is overwritten.
Overwritten technology means the last Day10 will erase permanently and the new day recordings will replace it. It goes like
Day0 ⇒Day1 ⇒Day2 ⇒Day3⇒ Day4 ⇒Day5⇒ Day6⇒ Day7⇒ Day8 ⇒Day9
This is what most security camera systems do to keep storage for future videos, you can set up the overwrite in your system setting to be done automatically or manually.
So, when you are busy or don’t know how to delete CCTV footage the cam will do it naturally by overwriting it automatically.
In case, you want to delete the cam videos you can do with specific methods by using mobile or PC.
Now, Let’s see
How to delete CCTV footage from mobile Methods
Method1: How to delete CCTV footage from mobile SD card
If you’re one of the people who use an external SD card to record and save their security camera’s video, then this method is suitable for you.
You can easily delete camera footage without needing to pay money and hire someone to do it for you. It’s a DIY method.
First, Bring your memory card reader if you don’t have one, you can purchase from Amazon and online shops. It’s cheap.
Second, take out the SD card from the camera and be careful while doing this task to avoid scratches on the SD card.
Third, Insert the Memory card into the reader, then connect it to your mobile.
Forth, Open your mobile file manager and you’ll see USB Storage or USB External Storage, click on it and select the unwanted recordings to delete.
Pro Tip: make sure the memory card reader you have or purchase has a Micro USB connector for Smartphones/Tablets.
In case you have Night Owl camera, you can read our Full guide on How to Delete Security Camera Footage Night Owl, there is more ways that will help you to get rid of unwanted videos, and images.
Method2: How to delete CCTV footage from Cloud Storage using mobile
The second method in How to delete CCTV footage from mobile is by erasing videos from cloud storage.
As many people use the 2 storage options local and cloud to save their cam-recorded videos in more than one place.
For example, for local storage, they store recorded videos on SD card, PC, and Hard Drive of DVR/NVR.
You can delete CCTV footage from mobile SD cards as we mentioned above, but it’s too hard or impossible to do with PC and video recorders of the surveillance camera whatever DVR or NVR.
In cloud storage you can delete CCTV footage from mobile within seconds, just do the following steps
Step1: Open the Security Camera Provider mobile app.
Step2: Login into the App.
Step3: Open the recorded videos page and select carefully the videos you want to delete.
Cloud storage in security camera systems is useful more than you think. It keeps your data secure and easy to get from anywhere.
Plus, It helps you to see, rewind, fast forward, download, or delete the recorded videos of your IP camera easily.
The Above two methods are perfect for learning How to delete CCTV footage from mobile. The other 2 methods( erase CCTV footage from PC, or DVR) can’t be done by using mobile.
In case you have a Samsung security system or standalone camera, there’s a detailed blog post we wrote previously about how to delete footage from Samsung Security Camera.
How long do security cameras keep footage (Explained)
Important info you should know before thinking about How to delete CCTV footage from mobile is how long do security cameras keep footage? Is it for days or months?
This is a question many people ask from beginners to business owners, each one wants to know how long do security cameras keep footage to calculate the days.
However, there is no specific answer for a question like this as there are many factors the camera depends on to keep videos for a long period.
Factors include the number of cameras you have in your house or office, the resolution of the cameras, also the method that the cam uses in recording, and the capacity of your storage space, and this is the important factor.
So, a short answer for this question is: The amount of time security cameras keep footage in storage space totally depends on the amount of available recording space.
For example, a customer with a 10TB hard drive surveillance system will keep security camera footage for a longer time than a customer with a 2TB hard drive.
Also, the recording capability is important to know How long do security cameras keep footage, the cam that records 24/7 will keep videos for a shorter time than the cam that records at a specific time.
We use the below formula to calculate How long does footage stay on security cameras
Recording Days = Storage Space (GB) * 10242 * 8/ Bitrate (kb/s) * 3600 * 24 * Cameras
Can CCTV footage be recovered after deleting it?
Yes, you can get what you deleted! A lot of people format their security camera videos by mistake or clean their storage capacity.
After which they discover that the deleted videos have important data and it should be restored. Don’t Worry! You can fix it
So the short answer for this question is: The CCTV footage can be recovered after deleting on the hard drive unless overwritten.
It does not get erased permanently, it’s still on the hard drive until the overwritten time comes.
Even if it’s overwritten, There are companies that can recover deleted, formatted, and overwritten data on hard drives and SD Memory Cards.
All you have to do is to take off your video recorder HDD and connect it with computer to run the recovery software.
Previously I do this solution when i forget and start to delete recording from Hikvision DVR.
Resources:
Reolink: Delete CCTV Footage off
