How do I set up backup SD card storage on my Arlo Go camera?

How do I set up backup SD card storage on my Arlo Go camera?

This article applies to:

All Arlo video recordings are stored to the cloud, but you can connect a Micro SD card to your Arlo Go camera and use the Micro SD card as a second location to store Arlo Go recordings locally. Local storage on a Micro SD card cannot be used on its own as a substitute for cloud recording. If you connect a Micro SD card, the camera records to both the cloud and the Micro SD card. If the camera is powered on but its LTE connection drops, the camera continues to record to the Micro SD card. Micro SD card recordings made while your camera is not connected to the cloud are not uploaded to the cloud. To view Micro SD card recordings, you must remove the Micro SD card from your Arlo Go camera and view them on a computer with an Micro SD card reader. For more information, see How do I view Arlo videos saved on an Micro SD card?. The Arlo app notifies you if the Micro SD card is low on storage space or is full. If you select automatic overwrite, the oldest recordings are automatically deleted when available storage on the Micro SD card is below 20%. Unrelated files that are not in the Micro SD card’s Arlo folder are not deleted by automatic overwrite. 

Required hardware:

  • An Arlo Go camera
  • An SDHC or SDXC Micro SD card with at least 200 MB of available space.

If you are using best quality video settings, one hour of recordings is approximately 180 MB. You need more storage space if your Arlo Go is in a high-traffic area, your camera is set to record long video segments, or you do not want to use automatic overwrite. For more information about SD card types, see What type of Micro SD card do I need for my Arlo Go camera?.

Set up SD card storage

To set up local backup storage on an Arlo Go camera:

  1. Open the battery compartment by pressing the latch and pulling back gently.

Arlo Go Open Battery Compartment

  1. Remove the battery.
  2. Removing the battery makes it easier to access the SD card slot and ensures that your Arlo Go camera recognizes the inserted SD card when it powers up again.
  3. Insert a compatible SD card into the right-hand card slot of the camera, with the contacts facing up and the text facing down, until you hear and feel it click into place.

Arlo Go SD Card Slot

  1. Reinsert the battery and close the battery compartment.
  2. Launch the Arlo Secure App or log in to your Arlo account at my.arlo.com.
  3. Tap or click Devices and select the Arlo Go camera into which you inserted the Micro SD card.
  4. Tap or click Local Storage. If you see a green circle next to SD Card and the status message Ready, skip to step 9.
    Note: If you already named your SD card using a computer, the name displays instead of SD Card.
  5. If you see the message “Requires Formatting” next to SD Card, the SD card is not in the correct format (FAT32). You must format the SD card before you can use it for local storage.
    Warning: Formatting the SD card erases all data from the card. If you want to keep any files that are on the SD card, copy those files to another location before you format the SD card.

To delete all files on your SD card and format it for local video storage:

  1. Tap or click next to SD Card.
  2. Tap or click Format SD Card.
  3. Tap or click Format to confirm that you want to delete all existing data on your SD card.
  4. Wait for SD Card Status to change from Formatting to Ready.
    Warning: Do not remove the SD card, open the battery compartment, or interrupt power to the camera while the SD card is being formatted. The SD card might become permanently unusable.
  5. If you do not want old videos to be deleted when your SD card is low on storage space, tap or click the slider next to Automatic Overwrite to turn it off.
  6. If automatic overwrite is turned off, the Arlo Secure App notifies you when storage gets low so that you can change to a different SD card. If storage is completely full and automatic overwrite is turned off, videos are only recorded to the cloud until you turn on automatic overwrite or insert a different SD card. 

Enable or Disable SD Storage in the Arlo Secure App

To turn SD storage on or off:

  1. Launch the Arlo Secure App or log in to your Arlo account at my.arlo.com.
  2. Select Devices and tap or click on the Arlo Go camera for which you want to enable or disable Micro SD card recording.
  3. Select Local Storage.
  4. Tap or click on the slider next to SD Card Recording.
    • If the slider is all the way to the right against a green background, Micro SD card recording is enabled.
    • If the slider is all the way to the left against a white background, Micro SD card recording is disabled.

Safely Remove an SD Card

It's important to safely remove the SD card from your Arlo Go camera. If you remove an SD card while information is being recorded on it, the SD card might become permanently unusable or the files on the card might be corrupted. If you remove the SD card that is connected to your Arlo Go camera, SD card recording is disabled until you insert another SD card.

To safely remove an SD card from your Arlo Go camera:

  1. Launch the Arlo Secure App or log in to your Arlo account at my.arlo.com.
  2. Tap or click Devices and tap or click the Arlo Go camera into which your SD card is inserted.
  3. Tap or click Local Storage.
  4. Tap or click > next to SD Card.
    Note: If you named your SD card using a computer, the name displays instead.
  5. Tap or click Safely Eject SD Card. Wait for the Unmounting SD Card progress message to close.
    WARNING: Do not interrupt power to the camera or remove the SD card while the SD card is being unmounted.
  6. Open the battery compartment and remove the battery so that you can access the SD card slot.
  7. Gently push the SD card back into the camera until it pops out.
  8. Remove the SD card from your Arlo Go camera.
  9. Reinsert the battery and close the battery compartment

Last Updated:05/13/2024 | Article ID: 1202121

Was this article helpful?

image description Yes image description No

Arlo Community

Learn from other Arlo users like you and experts that are offering up best practices and answering some common questions. Get involved and suggest your own topics to discuss as well.

Ask the Community

Contact Us

Have additional questions? Try our live chat or give us a call. Our team of Arlo experts is ready to answer your questions and help in any way that we can.

Contact Support