How to create, save, share and view video clips and timelapses in the Nest app

With a Google Nest Aware subscription you can create, save and share video clips and timelapses from your camera’s video history. 

• Clips let you save things like your child’s first steps or the crazy things your pets do while everyone’s away.
• A timelapse compresses a long clip into a short one. You can relive that memorable surprise party in a couple of minutes, or watch a meal get cooked in a few seconds.
• You can also easily share clips and timelapses that you’ve created and post them to Youtube, Twitter or Facebook, or create a link to share with friends and family.

Note: You’ll only be able to create, share, and save clips and timelapses from your video history in the Nest app. You can use the Home app to view camera events, but you can’t use it to create, share or save clips.

There are some differences between what you can do on a phone or tablet, or on a computer.

	Phone or tablet	Computer
Create clips	Up to 2 minutes 30 seconds per clip	Up to 1 hour per clip
Create timelapses	No	Up to 24 hours per timelapse
Share clips	Yes	Yes
Download clips	Only clips created with your phone or tablet	All clips and timelapses
Watch clips	Only clips downloaded to your phone or tablet	All clips and timelapses

When creating clips and timelapses, keep the following in mind.

Timeline Gaps

• If you have an EBR subscription (Nest Aware or Nest Aware Plus), you’ll see dark gray gaps in your camera’s Sightline between events. This is normal.
• If you have a Nest Aware Plus subscription, after 10 days you’ll see gaps in your camera’s Sightline. This is because the app will remove video that contains no activity, so you’ll only see video clips of activity.
• If you have a 1st gen Nest Aware subscription, you’ll only see gaps in your camera’s Sightline if your camera was turned off or was offline.

Storing clips

• You can store up to 3 hours of clips in the Nest app.
• If a clip is too big to be saved in your remaining storage space, you’ll see a message letting you know that you’re out of storage space.
• You’ll have to delete older clips to make room before you can save a new clip.

If you’re having problems creating a video clip from your Nest cam’s video history, use this troubleshooting article for help.

How to create, save and share video clips with a phone or tablet

Important: A shared link can only be viewed on a computer, it can’t be viewed with a phone or tablet. If you want people to be able to view your video with their phone or tablet, we recommend sharing via Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or Nextdoor.

There are three ways you can create a clip with your phone.

Create an instant clip

When you make an instant clip, the Nest app will search for the beginning and the end of activity near the time you’ve selected and create a custom clip of that activity. 

Your clip can only be viewed by you and other people who share access to your home until you choose to share it. You can share your clip with other people via Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor and other apps. 

If you want to share the clip from the app, you need to share it when you make the clip. Otherwise the clip will be saved to your account, and you can share from your computer at a later time from home.nest.com.

1. Select the camera that you want on the Nest app home screen. 
2. Rewind to where you want the clip to begin.
   • Either scroll through your camera’s Sightline or tap on a mark in your camera’s activity track.
3. Tap New clip  to automatically create an instant clip. It will take a short time to create your clip and save your clip in the Nest app.
4. Choose what you want to do with your clip. 
   • Tap Save to photos to download the clip to your phone or tablet
   • Tap Share link to see your options for how to share the clip 
   • Tap Cancel to delete the clip

Create a custom clip

You can create custom clips while watching the live video stream or after rewinding your video history. The maximum clip length on a phone or tablet is 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Your clip can only be viewed by you and other people who share access to your home until you choose to share it. You can share your clip with other people via Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor and other apps. 

If you want to share the clip from the app, you need to share it when you make the clip. Otherwise the clip will be saved to your account, and you can share from your computer at a later time from home.nest.com.

1. Select the camera that you want on the Nest app home screen. 
2. Rewind to where you want the clip to begin.
   • Either scroll through your camera’s Sightline or tap on a mark in your camera’s activity track.
3. Press and hold New clip  when you would like the clip to start, then release to mark the end. It will take a short time to create your clip and save your clip in the Nest app.
4. Choose what you want to do with your clip. 
   • Tap Save to photos to download the clip to your phone or tablet
   • Tap Share link to see your options for how to share the clip 
   • Tap Cancel to delete the clip

Create a clip from event history

Note: This is currently only available for the iOS version of the Nest app.

Your clip can only be viewed by you and other people who share access to your home until you choose to share it. You can share your clip with other people via Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor and other apps. 

If you want to share the clip from the app, you need to share it when you make the clip. Otherwise the clip will be saved to your account, and you can share from your computer at a later time from home.nest.com.

1. Select the camera that you want on the Nest app home screen.
2. Tap Event history .
3. Swipe left on the event clip that you want to save and tap Save. The Nest app will take a short time to process your clip and save it to the Nest app.
4. Choose what you want to do with your clip: 
   • Tap Save to photos to download the clip to your phone
   • Tap Share link to see your options for how to share the clip 
   • Tap Cancel to delete the clip

How to create, save and share video clips on a computer

Create a video clip

1. Go to home.nest.com and sign in.
2. Select the camera that recorded the video you want to use.
3. Click Clips  in the lower right corner of the screen.
4. Click Create clip.
5. Sliders will appear on your timeline. Drag them forward or backwards to select the start and end times for your clip.
6. Name for your new clip and click Save.
7. A popup will appear that says “Your clip is ready. View your clip.” Tap View your clip.
8. If you’re satisfied with the clip, click Done.
   • If you’re not happy with the clip or would like to select different start or end times, click Delete to erase it and tap Back  to start again.

Create a quick event clip

1. Go to home.nest.com and sign in.
2. Select the camera that recorded the video you want to use.
3. Hover over the event in your timeline. A popup will appear with a clip of the event.
4. Click New clip .
5. Sliders will appear on your timeline marking the duration of the activity or event.
   • You can drag them forward or backwards to adjust the start and end times for your clip.
6. Name your new clip and click Save.
7. A popup will appear that says “Your clip is ready. View your clip.” Tap View your clip.
8. If you’re satisfied with the clip, click Done.
   • If you’re not happy with the clip or would like to select different start or end times, click Delete to erase it and tap Back  to start again.

Make a timelapse

You can create a timelapse in much the same way you make regular video clips. You can condense up to 24 hours of video into a timelapse.

1. Go to home.nest.com and sign in.
2. Select the camera that recorded the video you want to use.

3. Click Clips  in the lower right corner of the screen.

4. Click Create Timelapse.
5. Sliders will appear on your timeline. Drag them forward or backwards to select the start and end times for your clip.

6. Click Length to choose how long you want to make your timelapse.
   Note: Changing the length of the timelapse won’t move its start and end times.

   • 6 seconds
   • 15 seconds
   • 30 seconds
   • 1 minute
   • 2 minutes
7. Name your new clip, and click Save. 

View clips

1. Go to home.nest.com and sign in.
2. Select the camera you want to view.
3. Click Clips  in the lower right corner of the screen.
4. Click View clips.
5. Click on the clip that you want to view and it will open in a popup window.
6. Select Play  to start playing your clip.

Share or download clips

1. Go to home.nest.com and sign in.
2. Select the camera you want to view.

3. Click Clips  in the lower right corner of the screen.

4. Click View clips.
5. Select the clip you want to share or download.

6. Click one of the icons at the bottom of the video window to share your clip.

   • Click the Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or Nextdoor icon to quickly post your clip to one of these social media sites.
   • Click Link  to create a link for your clip.
     • Click Copy and paste the link paste the link where you want ot share it. Anyone who has the URL can watch your clip.
     • Important: A shared link can only be viewed on a computer, it can’t be viewed with a phone or tablet. If you want people to be able to view your video with their phone or tablet, we recommend sharing via Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or Nextdoor.
   • Click on the download icon  to download a clip to your computer in mp4 format.

Delete clips

You can store up to 3 hours of clips in the Nest app. They’ll be securely saved online until you delete them. If you want to free up some space for new clips, you can delete any clips you don’t want.

Note: You won’t be able to recover clips after they’ve been deleted. Make sure that any clips you want to keep have been saved to your computer before you delete them from the Nest app.

1. Go to home.nest.com and sign in.
2. Select the camera you want to delete clips from.
3. Click Clips  in the lower right corner of the screen.
4. Click View clips.
5. Hover over the clip you want to delete and click Trash .
   • If you want to view the clip before you delete it, click on the clip and select Play .