Should I Have Loop Recording On My Dashcam?

If you've invested in dashcam to record incidents and protect yourself while on the road then you might be wondering what happens when your cam gets full, will it skip or miss important footage? 

This is where loop recording is useful on a dashcam, it's where the cam will continue to record even when the SD card gets full, overwriting old footage to make space for recent footage.

If you want to learn more about why loop recording is beneficial, how to stop loop recording from deleting files and why your loop recording might not be working we've composed a short guide with everything you need to know below. 

Why Is Loop Recording On a Dash Cam Important? 

Having continuous recording on your dash cam is very important, it stops you from missing essential video recording during incidents and also saves you time from having to go through and delete dash cam recordings to make space on your SD cards. 

Loop recording mode on your memory card also helps you to store and divide videos into smaller clips and files to make sorting through hours of footage easier.

How Many Files Can a Dash Cam Store?

If you are worried about your video files getting overwritten too often then it makes sense to get the largest memory card as it will allow you to store more footage, we've listed a few estimates as to what different capacity SD cards can hold in terms of footage below. 

• 8GB memory card - Up to 55 minutes before looping.
• 16GB memory card - 110 minutes.
• 32GB memory card - 220 minutes.

How To Stop Loop Recording Deleting Files 

If you are worried that your dashcam loop recording might delete important video files then there are a couple of ways you can save important footage below. 

• Have the G-sensor on - A g-sensor is a smart part of a dashcam that automatically locks and saves video recording into a separate file if a collision was detected at the time of the video file, this means incident files on your cam will never be overwritten.
• SOS recording - Some dashcams have a manual SOS recording option which allows you to press a button to save important footage.
• Make a copy - Although it's a lengthy process, you can always remove the SD card and copy the footage you want straight onto your laptop. Some dashcams nowadays can connect to your smartphone too so you can wirelessly copy the footage you want.
• Set a smaller recording limit - Most dashcams allow you to set a default recording time for each clip, this could be three minutes, five minutes or eight minutes.

Why Is My Dashcam Loop Recording Not Working?

If you've reviewed your dashcam footage only to find that the loop recording hasn't been working the whole time it can be frustrating to figure out you've lost footage. 

We've listed out a few troubleshoots to fix the loop recording on your device below.

• Go through the locked videos - Your SD card might be full of locked videos which is why it can't record any new clips, in this case, you will simply have to go through and delete some locked footage or copy it over to make space on your card.
• Format the SD card - One of the most important troubleshoots to do when you can stop loop recording is by formatting the SD card inside, this help to clear and rest the SD card according to your, beware it will delete all files inside too.
• Change the SD card - Your SD card has become corrupt, this can happen eventually to older cards and it simply means you need to replace the card inside.
• Adjust settings - There might be a setting on your dashcam which is preventing loop recording on the device, try changing the file size and make sure the loop recording is turned on.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dash Cams & Loop Recording

How often should I format my SD card? 

You should aim to format the SD card for your dashcam at least every 3 weeks, this will reduce the chances of it ever getting corrupt and keep space on your card.

Is it possible to make more room on your SD card? 

Yes, you could either do one or two things, one could be by lowering the resolution of your clips as this stores them in a smaller MB size, or, you can also set your dashcam to record in smaller amounts.

Do other cameras have loop recording? 

Most action cameras such as dashcams, go pro and others all have loop recording do the fact they are set to take continuous footage.

Which size should my loop recording files be? 

We suggest choosing a lower segment size for your files, you can typically choose between 3 minutes, 5 minutes and longer, people suggest smaller file sizes are easier to download to your phone over WiFi and there are fewer chances of your files becoming corrupt.

Can you manually delete files from a dashcam? 

You can indeed manually delete files from your camera either via the SD card on a computer or via the delete button on the device.

Last Words 

To conclude, loop recording on a dashcam means that it records continuously and overwrites old footage to make new space for recent footage, it will not delete important footage if you have marked it or the G-sensor has detected it as a collision.