If your Google Nest camera or doorbell is offline, it could be due to a number of issues. Start here for troubleshooting steps if your Nest camera or doorbell has already been set up in the app, but has been disconnected.
Important: Before you begin, you should be at home so you have physical access to your camera or doorbell to fix offline issues. You won't be able to perform many of the troubleshooting steps remotely.
These are some signs that your camera or doorbell is offline:
- The app sends you a notification or email that says your camera is offline or has disconnected.
- It says your camera is offline in the app. The app might also say there's Wi-Fi interference, a weak connection, or not enough upload speed.
- If your camera's status light is off or blinking yellow, it could be a sign that your camera is either powered off or having trouble connecting.
- There are gaps in your camera's video history that say the camera was offline or powered off. Note: If your camera has event recording (EBR), gaps where no events were detected are normal.
Basic first steps to troubleshoot
Check the power
Nest cameras
- If your camera is running on battery power, check whether the battery charge is low, and charge it if needed. Cold temperatures can affect your camera's battery life, so you may need to charge it more often.
- If your camera is plugged into a power source, make sure that the power is switched on at the breaker box. If your home's power is switched on but there's no power, there might be a power outage. In this case, contact your local energy service provider.
- Plug your camera into a different power outlet and check if it turns on. If your camera works with the new outlet, you might have to move your camera or contact an electrician to fix the outlet.
- If power is on for your home but your camera doesn't seem to work in any outlet, the power cable might have an issue. Replace the cable and check whether your camera works.
- If you've connected your Nest Cam (battery) to the solar panel, it can't charge your camera when temperatures fall below 32°F (0°C). So you may need to take your camera indoors and charge it with the included charging cable.
Cold weather battery charging behavior in Nest cameras and doorbells
Nest doorbells
- If you have a Nest Doorbell (battery), check whether the battery charge is low, and charge it if needed. Cold temperatures can affect the battery life, so you may need to charge it more often.
- The battery can't charge when temperatures fall below 32°F (0°C). In cold weather, you may need to bring the battery indoors and charge it with the included charging cable.
- If your Nest Doorbell (battery) is connected to another power source, it still uses battery power to work. So you may need to manually charge the battery in cold weather.
- If your doorbell is wired to your home's doorbell system or plugged in with a power adapter, check that your home has power and that your doorbell is wired correctly.
- If your doorbell uses the doorbell wiring to stay powered and is properly connected, check the wire voltage. If it isn’t meeting the voltage and power requirements, you might need to upgrade the power transformer.
Cold weather battery charging behavior in Nest cameras and doorbells
Check the app version
Check if your camera or doorbell feels really warm or cold
If it's very hot or cold (below or above your camera's operating temperatures), your camera or doorbell might disconnect from Wi-Fi to help protect itself. Very cold temperatures can also affect the battery life of some Nest cameras and doorbells.
If your camera feels unusually warm, unplug your camera and let it cool down. Plug it back in and check if it comes back online.
Note: If your indoor camera is getting too warm, make sure it's not in direct sunlight, above a fireplace, around a vent, or near another heat source. If it is, you might need to move it to another location to resolve the issue.
If your doorbell gets unusually warm, you can find tips to keep your Nest camera cool in our Help Center.Troubleshoot specific camera or doorbell offline issues
Select the issue you've encountered for troubleshooting steps.
Your camera, doorbell and other devices are all offline
If all connected devices in your home go offline, there might be an issue with the router or network. Restart your router, modem, and any Wi-Fi range extenders or repeaters that you have.
- Unplug your modem and router power cords. Tip: You may have a combination modem/router, or they might be separate devices. All the lights on your modem and router should be off.
- Wait for 30 seconds, then plug your modem and router back in.
- Your modem and router will restart. Wait a couple of minutes or until you see steady power and connection lights. You may also see a quickly flashing data light. Note: Every router is different. You might need to consult your router's user manual for specific instructions on how to restart your router.
- Open the offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes.
If the live video stream appears, the camera has reconnected. If none of your devices reconnect, there might be a network outage in your area. Contact your internet service provider for more information.
Only your camera or doorbell is offline
1. Restart your camera or doorbell
Restart your camera or doorbell to refresh its connection.
After restarting, wait a few minutes and then go to your offline camera's video stream. If the live video stream appears, your camera has reconnected.
2. Turn off other devices connected to Wi-Fi
Your internet service provider might limit the amount of bandwidth after it reaches a certain threshold. If you have a lot of devices connected to Wi-Fi, it can cause connection issues for your Nest camera or doorbell.
If your camera or doorbell goes offline because of limited bandwidth, temporarily disconnect some of your devices and check if your camera or doorbell reconnects. Here's how:
- Disconnect another device that is currently using your internet connection. Some devices can simply be unplugged, while others have to be disconnected from Wi-Fi in their connection settings. Tip: You can also turn the video stream off for another Nest camera in your home to open up some bandwidth and check if your camera reconnects.
- Open your offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes.
- If the live video stream appears after you've disconnected other devices, your camera has reconnected.
- If the live video stream doesn't appear, your camera is still disconnected. Continue to disconnect other devices in your home, checking whether your camera reconnects each time you disconnect a device.
- To help keep your camera online after it reconnects, you can try these things:
- Lower your camera's bandwidth or video quality settings so that less is required to keep it online, streaming, and recording video.
- Change your camera's schedule to reduce the number of devices that are online at the same time.
- As a more permanent fix, consider upgrading your internet bandwidth and speed to meet the requirements for your home. Contact your internet service provider to upgrade the connection.
3. Move your camera, doorbell, router, or other things
Your camera or doorbell might disconnect when it's slightly out of range of your Wi-Fi. It can also disconnect due to wireless interference from large furniture and appliances, walls and floors, and other electronics.
Nest cameras
- Move your camera a foot or two away from its original location, wait a few minutes, and check your camera's live video stream in the app.
- Move your camera closer to your Wi-Fi router, then check if your camera's connection becomes more reliable.
- If it's easier, move your Wi-Fi router closer to your camera instead.
- Move objects near your camera or router that might cause wireless interference.
If this resolves the issue but you want to move your camera or Wi-Fi router back to where it was, you might need to extend your Wi-Fi network's range.
Nest Doorbells
While you might be able to move the location of your doorbell to improve its connection (especially if it's battery powered), it may not be the best solution. If possible, try the following instead:
- Move your Wi-Fi router closer to your doorbell.
- Move objects near your doorbell or router that might cause wireless interference.
4. Restart your router and modem
Restart your router and modem to reset your internet connection. You should also restart any Wi-Fi range extenders or repeaters that you have.
- Unplug your modem and router power cords. Tip: You may have a combination modem/router, or they might be separate devices. All the lights on your modem and router should be off.
- Wait for 30 seconds, then plug your modem and router back in.
- Your modem and router will restart. Wait a couple of minutes or until you see steady power and connection lights. You may also see a quickly flashing data light. Note: Every router is different. You might need to consult your router's user manual for specific instructions on how to restart your router.
- Open the offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes. If the live video stream appears, the camera has reconnected.
5. Disable any network extenders
Your camera might be trying to connect to an incompatible network extender, which can cause disconnection issues.
- Unplug or disable any network extenders.
- Open the offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes. If you see the live video stream appear, the camera has reconnected.
6. Factory reset your camera or doorbell
Important: If you have any footage in your camera's video history, make sure to save any clips you want to keep before performing a factory reset.
If your camera or doorbell still doesn't come back online after following the above steps, factory reset it.
Your camera or doorbell keeps disconnecting and you get a lot of offline notifications
If you're getting a lot of camera offline notifications, this usually means your camera doesn't have a consistent Wi-Fi connection. It's likely disconnecting, then reconnecting again.
Note: If you don't want to receive camera offline notifications, you can turn off push notifications in the app.
1. Check the Wi-Fi connection
Since all Nest cameras and doorbells use Wi-Fi, check that you can get online with another device in your home.
For example, try to connect to a website with your browser to check if your connection is working. If you're using a cell phone, make sure you turn off cellular data and turn on Wi-Fi to test your connection.
If you can't connect, try using a different device to double check. If you can't connect with any device, contact your internet service provider to check the service status in your area.
2. Move your camera, doorbell, router, or other things
Your camera or doorbell might disconnect when it's slightly out of range of your Wi-Fi. It can also disconnect due to wireless interference from large furniture and appliances, walls and floors, and other electronics.
Moving these things around a little bit can make a big difference. Here are some ways you can try to help your camera reconnect to Wi-Fi.
Nest cameras
- Move your camera a foot or two away from its original location, wait a few minutes, and check your camera's live video stream in the app.
- Move your camera closer to your Wi-Fi router, then check if your camera's connection becomes more reliable.
- If it's easier, move your Wi-Fi router closer to your camera instead.
- Move objects near your camera or router that might cause wireless interference.
If this resolves the issue but you want to move your camera or Wi-Fi router back to where it was, you might need to extend your Wi-Fi network's range.
Nest doorbells
While you might be able to move the location of your doorbell to improve its connection (especially if it's battery powered), it may not be the best solution. If possible, try the following instead:
- Move your Wi-Fi router closer to your doorbell.
- Move objects near your doorbell or router that might cause wireless interference.
3. Restart your camera or doorbell
Restart your camera or doorbell to refresh its connection.
After restarting, wait a few minutes and then go to your offline camera's video stream. If the live video stream appears, your camera has reconnected.
4. Restart your router and modem
Restart your router and modem to reset your internet connection. You should also restart any Wi-Fi range extenders or repeaters that you have.
- Unplug your modem and router power cords. Tip: You may have a combination modem/router, or they might be separate devices. All the lights on your modem and router should be off.
- Wait for 30 seconds, then plug your modem and router back in.
- Your modem and router will restart. Wait a couple of minutes or until you see steady power and connection lights. You may also see a quickly flashing data light. Note: Every router is different. You might need to consult your router's user manual for specific instructions on how to restart your router.
- Open the offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes. If the live video stream appears, the camera has reconnected.
5. Try disabling any network extenders
Your main router sometimes has a better connection than any extenders you have. Your camera or doorbell might also be trying to connect to an incompatible network extender, which can sometimes cause disconnection issues.
- If possible, move your network extender closer to your camera or doorbell.
- If that doesn't work, unplug or disable any network extenders.
- Open the offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes. If you see the live video stream appear, the camera has reconnected through the router.
6. Check your Wi-Fi network or router settings
Incompatible settings on your home Wi-Fi router can cause your camera or doorbell to disconnect or show as Offline in the app.
Recommended Wi-Fi network and router settings
7. Turn off other devices connected to Wi-Fi
First, here are some things you should know about internet bandwidth:
- Your internet service provider might limit the amount of bandwidth after it reaches a certain threshold. Check with your service provider on these limits.
- Some devices that connect to Wi-Fi and use bandwidth include laptops, tablets, wireless printers, streaming or casting devices, and audio systems.
- Audio and video streaming and online gaming on the same Wi-Fi network can take up a lot of bandwidth.
- If you have more than one camera or many devices using bandwidth, your camera might have connection issues because of network traffic.
Temporarily disconnect some of your devices to troubleshot:
- Disconnect another device that is currently using your internet connection. Some devices can simply be unplugged, while others have to be disconnected from Wi-Fi in their connection settings. Tip: You can also turn the video stream off for another Nest camera in your home to open up some bandwidth and check if your camera reconnects.
- Open your offline camera's video stream and wait a few minutes.
- If the live video stream appears after you've disconnected other devices, your camera has reconnected.
- If the live video stream doesn't appear, your camera is still disconnected. Continue to disconnect other devices in your home, checking whether your camera reconnects each time you disconnect a device.
- To help keep your camera online after it reconnects, you can try these solutions:
- Lower your camera's bandwidth settings so that less is required to keep it online, streaming, and recording video.
- Change your camera's schedule to reduce the number of devices that are online at the same time.
- As a more permanent fix, consider upgrading your internet bandwidth and speed to meet the requirements for your home. Contact your internet service provider to upgrade the connection.
8. Factory reset your camera or doorbell
Important: If you have any footage in your camera's video history, make sure to save any clips you want to keep before performing a factory reset.
If your camera or doorbell still doesn't come back online after following the above steps, factory reset it.