Camera Was Not Recording
Garmin Dash Cam
Severity: ModerateWhat it means
'The camera was not recording' (Garmin shows this on power-up when it detects the last session didn't capture video properly) means there's a gap in your footage — the camera had power but wasn't recording.
The usual culprits: a missing or unreadable memory card, a card so full of saved and locked clips that loop recording can't free space, or the camera losing power partway through a drive.
Affected Models
- Garmin Dash Cam 47 / 57 / 67W
- Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2
- Garmin Dash Cam Tandem
- Garmin Dash Cam Live (parking mode gaps)
Common Causes
- No memory card in the slot, or the card popped loose
- Card threw a 'memory card error' or 'needs formatting' message that got dismissed quickly and missed
- Card crammed with manually-saved and incident-locked clips, leaving loop recording no space to overwrite
- Camera lost power — a loose USB plug at the camera, or a 12V adapter that's a sloppy fit in the socket
- Parking mode expected but the camera isn't on a constant 12V feed (a switched socket dies when the key comes out)
- A firmware crash mid-recording
How to Fix It
-
Check the card is in and readable.
Power off, reseat the memory card, power back on.
Watch the screen as it starts up — if a 'format' or 'card error' message flashes by, that's your answer; deal with that first. -
Clear out locked and saved clips.
Incident-locked and manually-saved videos are protected from being overwritten by loop recording.
If the card's full of them, loop recording stalls and the camera stops recording new footage.
Copy the ones you want to a computer, delete the rest, or just format the card. -
Check the power connection.
A loose USB plug at the camera, or a 12V adapter that wobbles in the cigarette socket, causes intermittent power cuts.
Push everything firmly home.
For a rock-solid feed — especially if you use parking mode — fit a hardwire kit instead of the cigarette adapter. -
Check the parking-mode setup.
If you expected the camera to record while parked and it didn't, either parking mode is switched off, or the camera isn't getting constant power.
A standard cigarette socket usually cuts power when you remove the ignition key — parking mode needs an always-on feed, which means a hardwire kit. -
Update the firmware.
If the camera genuinely crashed during a recording, a firmware update often fixes the underlying bug.
Update via the Garmin Drive app or Garmin Express. -
If it keeps happening, contact Garmin.
If you've got a known-good high-endurance card, a solid power feed, and the firmware's current, and the camera still reports gaps — it has a fault.
Contact Garmin support.