Arlo Camera Not Detecting Motion: How to Troubleshoot

If your Arlo has suddenly stopped detecting motion, keep reading.

In this article, we explain why your Arlo camera isn’t detecting motion and how to fix it. If that sounds like what you’re looking for, let’s head right into it.

First off, here are some reasons your Arlo camera isn’t detecting motion:

The camera isn’t positioned correctly.
You haven’t enabled motion detection.
Your motion sensitivity settings are set too low.
You haven’t configured your Arlo app to send you notifications.
Your Arlo account is registered with the wrong email address.
Your Arlo camera’s firmware is outdated.

That said, let’s dive into the troubleshooting tips.

Table of Contents

Troubleshooting Arlo Camera Motion Detection Issues

If your Arlo camera isn’t detecting motion, try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Remove the Battery from the Arlo Camera

Take the following steps to remove your Arlo camera’s battery:

Press the button on the camera’s charging port. You can find the charging port underneath the camera. Once you press the button on the charging port, you’ll hear a clicking sound, and some of the camera parts will slide out of the camera’s housing.
Keep pulling the camera until you completely detach it from its housing.
Next, pull the battery to remove it from the camera. You may need to pull the battery for several seconds before it finally comes out of the camera.

2. Remove the Camera from Your Arlo Account

Here’s how to remove your camera from your Arlo account:

Open the Arlo app on your smartphone.
Click on Mode.
Then select the base station where the Arlo camera you want to remove is connected.
Tap Disarmed to disarm the base station.
Next, click on Settings. Then select My Devices.
Choose the Arlo camera you want to remove.
Now, tap Remove Device at the bottom of the page.
Tap Yes to confirm that you want to remove the camera from the account.

3. Resync the Camera

After removing the camera from your Arlo account, you’ll need to resync the camera to re-activate the device.

Follow these steps to resync your Arlo camera:

Make sure your Arlo camera is placed near the base station.
Then sync your Arlo camera to the base station. To sync your Arlo camera to the base station, press the sync button for about 2 seconds before releasing it. Please note that your sync process may be blocked if you press the button for too long. If you use an Arlo base station, you can find the Sync button on the side or at the back of the base station. In contrast, the sync button is located at the top of the Arlo Pro base station.
After releasing the sync button, wait for the LED light on the base station to blink green.
Press the sync button on your Arlo camera for 2 seconds before releasing it. If the sync is successful, the LED light on the camera will flash blue.
Next, check the camera’s LED light on your base station. If the LED light has turned solid green, your camera resync process is complete.

After resyncing your camera, remember to re-insert your batteries into their compartment to restart the camera.

Your Arlo camera should work fine now (detect motion properly). If not, continue to the next steps.

4. Position Your Camera Properly

If your Arlo camera is still not detecting motion, you may not have positioned the device properly. This means you didn’t elevate the camera to an appropriate height.

To resolve this issue, mount your Arlo camera to the right height. Your Arlo camera should be elevated to over 7 feet high. While mounting your camera, remember to aim the device downwards. This will improve the performance of the motion sensor.

5. Aim Your Arlo Camera Away from Glass Surfaces

Aiming your Arlo camera towards mirrors or glass surfaces may reduce its motion sensor performance.

So, if your Arlo camera isn’t detecting motion, check that it is not aimed to look through a mirror, plastic, or glass.

You can change the aim of your camera using Position Mode. Position Mode lets you view what your camera is seeing in real-time.

The following steps will show you how to change the aim of your Arlo Camera with Position Mode:

Open the Arlo app on your phone.
Click on Settings. Then select My Devices.
Select the camera you want to adjust.
Next, select Device Utilities.
Tap Camera Positioning.
You will now see what your Arlo camera is viewing in real-time.
If your camera is positioned towards glass, slowly move the camera away from that position. Do this until the glass is no longer within the viewing angle of the camera.

Your camera should now give you a better view of the motion detection area and will start detecting motion.

6. Enable Motion Detection for Your Arlo Camera

Another likely cause of motion detection issues with your Arlo camera is that you haven’t enabled motion detection on the device.

As you probably know, your Arlo Camera does not detect motion by default. So, if the camera isn’t detecting motion, check that the motion detection feature is activated.

Follow the steps below to enable motion detection in your Arlo camera:

Open the Arlo app on your phone/tablet.
Tap Mode on the homepage of the app.
Next, select the camera you want to work on.
Then click on the Pencil icon beside the Mode option under the camera.
This should take you to the Rules section. You’ll find another pencil icon in the Rules section. Click on it to continue.
Now, check the box with the words ‘Motion is Detected’.
Tap Save to save the changes. Then tap Done to complete the process.

7. Adjust Your Motion Sensitivity Settings

If your motion sensitivity is too low, your camera may not detect motion.

Motion sensitivity is the degree to which your camera detects motion. For instance, a camera with low motion sensitivity may not sense people walking around its viewing angle. Low motion sensitivity only detects large motions like running.

If your Arlo camera has never detected motion since you started using it, you might need to increase its motion sensitivity settings.

Follow the steps below to increase motion sensitivity settings on your Arlo camera:

Launch the Arlo app on your phone.
Click on Settings.
Next, select My Devices.
Select the camera you want to adjust. Then select Device Utilities.
Click on Motion Detection Test.
Now, move the slider on the Motion Detection page to the right to increase your camera’s motion sensitivity.

Before you exit the Motion Detection page, walk in front of your camera to test its motion sensitivity.

If your camera detects this motion, the new motion detection sensitivity might be high enough for your needs.

Click on Save once you are satisfied, and exit the Arlo app.

8. Activate Notifications in the Arlo App

Your Arlo camera might be detecting motion, but you may not get any alerts if you haven’t enabled notifications on the Arlo app.

If you aren’t receiving any motion detection alerts on your phone, you need to enable notifications in the app.

Take the following steps to enable notifications in your Arlo app:

Open the Arlo app on your phone.
Click on the Menu icon on the home screen.
Next, tap Settings and select Notifications.
Click on Go to Settings.
Now select Notifications.
Tap the Show Notifications button to switch it on.
Tap Allow sound and vibration if you want your phone to vibrate when you receive a new motion alert.

9. Change the Registered Email Address on Your Arlo Account

When your Arlo camera detects motion, the alerts are sent directly to your email address. But if you’ve registered your Arlo camera with the wrong email address, you will not receive the alerts.

You can resolve this issue by logging in to the registered email address or changing the registered email to your current email.

Here’s how to change your email address on the Arlo account:

Launch the Arlo app on your phone.
Tap Settings and select Profile.
Select Login Settings.
Click on Change Email Address.
Now input your new email address.

You’ve now changed the email address on your Arlo account, and you should start receiving motion detection alerts soon.

10. Update Your Arlo Camera’s Firmware Version

If you haven’t received motion detection alerts on your phone in a while, your Arlo camera’s firmware might be outdated.

Old firmware versions often contain bugs that cause some malfunctions. For instance, the camera may fail to deliver motion detection notifications because of the bug.

Here are the steps to take to update the firmware versions for Arlo Pro and Arlo Ultra cameras:

Open the Arlo app and tap Settings.
Then click on My Devices.
Select the Arlo camera you want to update the firmware.
Select Device Info and tap Firmware.
Tap Update. Now, wait for the firmware update process to complete.

If you use an Arlo Ultra or Arlo Pro Camera, here’s what will happen after you download the firmware update:

While the Arlo camera firmware is downloading, the LED light on your camera will start blinking, alternating between amber and blue. When the download is complete, the LED light will go off for about 2 minutes. The camera installs the firmware during this period. After the firmware has been updated, the camera will resync to the base station, and a blue light will start flashing from the camera.

In contrast, Arlo Go and Arlo Q Camera users will experience the following after downloading the firmware update for their camera:

When the firmware is downloading, the camera LED light flashes—alternating blue and amber. Then the LED light goes off, and the camera reboots. Once the reboot is complete, the LED light turns on again.

So that’s how to update your Arlo camera’s firmware, and it should help with motion detection issues.

Final Words

If your Arlo Camera isn’t detecting motion, remove the battery, remove the camera from the Arlo app and resync the camera to the base station. If the Arlo camera still fails to detect motion after this, position the camera properly.

Then move the camera’s aim away from glass surfaces. Enable motion detection for your camera in the Arlo app and adjust motion sensitivity settings.

Finally, activate notifications on the app, change or email address and update your Arlo camera firmware.

Your camera should start detecting motion after you’ve tried all these tips.

If the problem persists, try contacting Arlo Customer Support for help.

You may also like to see how to troubleshoot motion detection issues in Vivint Doorbell Camera, SimpliSafe Camera, and Eufy Doorbell Camera.