Google Nest cameras and doorbells can detect important sound or motion, stream live video, and save the video to the cloud. These features can help you keep tabs on activity happening in and around your home.
How your Nest camera records and saves video depends on whether it has event video history, 24/7 video history, or both:
- With event video history, your camera saves clips of events, like a person being detected. These clips can then be accessed in the Google Home app, Google Home for web, or Nest app.
- With 24/7 video history, an eligible Nest camera streams video whenever it's on and saves it all in the cloud.
All video history is deleted on a rolling basis. This means that, depending on the Google Home Premium subscription you have, older saved video is deleted from the cloud after a certain number of days.
Depending on the Nest camera model, you can review event and 24/7 video history in the Google Home app, Google Home for web, or Nest app. You can also get events for all your cameras in the Home app's Activity 
This table shows where you can get recorded video based on what Nest camera model you have:
Important: Event settings are only available for cameras and doorbells set up with the Google Home app.
| Device |
Video history in the Google Home app |
Video history in Google Home for web |
Video history in the Nest app |
Event in Activity (Important: For Google Home app only) |
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Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 2nd gen) Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 3rd gen) Nest Cam (battery) Nest Cam (wired) Nest Doorbell (wired, 3rd gen) Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen) Nest Doorbell (battery) |
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Nest Doorbell (wired) Nest Cam IQ Outdoor Nest Cam IQ Indoor Nest Cam Outdoor Nest Cam Indoor Nest Hub Max |
(Camera must be migrated to the Google Home app. Learn more about device migration) |
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Requirements for event video history
- A Google Home Premium subscription.*
- Event video history is not available with a Nest Aware (1st gen) subscription.
- One of the following devices set up in the Google Home app:
- Nest Cam:
- Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 3rd gen), Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 2nd gen)
- Nest Cam (battery), Nest Cam (wired), Nest Cam Indoor, Nest Cam Outdoor, Nest Cam IQ Indoor, or Nest Cam IQ Outdoor
- Nest Doorbell:
- Nest Doorbell (wired, 3rd gen)
- Nest Doorbell (wired), Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen), or Nest Doorbell (battery)
- Nest Hub Max
- Nest Cam:
*The 3 hours of event video previews is available without a Google Home Premium subscription for the Nest Cam (battery) and Nest Doorbell (battery).
If you have a newer camera like Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 3rd gen), Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 2nd gen), or Nest Doorbell (wired, 3rd gen), you can get up to 6 hours of event video previews without a subscription.
To get event video history or 24/7 video history for most older Nest camera and doorbell models, you need a Google Home Premium subscription. This means that without a subscription, you can get photo snapshots of detected activity up to 3 hours in the past.
Regardless of what Nest camera you have and whether you have a subscription, you can access your camera's live video stream anytime in the app.
This table compares how many days of event video history and 24/7 video history you get. These features are based on what Nest camera model and Google Home Premium subscription you have:
| Device |
$0 tier |
Google Home Premium: Standard plan | Google Home Premium: Advanced plan |
Nest Aware (1st gen) |
|
Nest Cam Indoor (wired, 3rd gen) Nest Cam Outdoor (wired, 2nd gen) Nest Doorbell (wired, 3rd gen) |
|
Up to 30 days of Event Video History |
|
Subscription not available |
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Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen) Nest Cam (wired) Nest Cam (battery)* |
Up to 3 hours of event video history |
Up to 30 days of event video history |
|
Subscription not available |
|
Nest Doorbell (battery)* |
Up to 3 hours of event video history |
Up to 30 days of event video history |
|
Subscription not available |
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Nest Cam IQ Indoor Nest Cam IQ Outdoor Nest Cam Indoor Nest Cam Outdoor Nest Doorbell (wired) |
3 hours of photo snapshots of activity |
Up to 30 days of event video history |
|
Up to 5, 10, or 30 days of 24/7 video history |
*The Nest Cam (battery) must be connected to a power source to have 24/7 video history. If your camera is battery-powered, it'll only have event video history, even if you have the Advanced plan of Google Home Premium. The 24/7 video history feature is not available for the Nest Doorbell (battery), even with optional wired installation.
To learn more, refer to What you get with a Google Home Premium subscription.
When you switch between different Google Home Premium plans , you need to understand how your camera’s video history might be affected:
- If you have the Standard plan of Google Home Premium and upgrade to the Advanced plan, your 10 days of 24/7 history and 60 days of event video history starts when you purchase your new subscription.
- If you have the Advanced plan and switch to Standard, you'll lose any event video history older than 30 days. Also, your last 10 days of 24/7 history will be converted to event video history.
Activity your camera can detect
All Nest cameras can detect sound and motion events and notify you when something happens. If your camera has event video history or 24/7 video history, you can review the footage of the activity in the app. Learn how Nest cameras detect sound and motion events.
With a Google Home Premium subscription, your camera uses advanced algorithms to improve its sound and video event detection and send you better notifications.
For a complete list of what different Nest camera models can detect based on your subscription, refer to What you get with a Google Home Premium subscription.
Related Nest camera resources
Live video
Video history and activity snapshots
- Video history in the Google Home app
- Video history in the Nest app
- Google Home for web and Nest web app
- Home app Activity