CCTV Security Camera Video Playback Error: Top 5 Quick Solutions to Fix

It would be extremely frustrating if you cannot play back the important recorded videos, especially when there are incidents like thefts, burglaries or other crimes. So here we provide every possible solution to help you fix CCTV security camera video playback error, so that you can review the saved footage on all of your devices.

When you want to find out solutions of security camera video playback error, the guidance is below:

#1. How to Fix Video Playback Error on iPhone & Android Smartphones

Security camera remote playback with my phone not working, what should I do?

If the CCTV video playback on your mobile phones failed, you can try the below top 4 solutions.
Solution 1. Please check whether your iPhone or Android smartphones are connected to the Internet. If you connect your mobile phones to your home WiFi, make sure that your home router is connected to the network.

If you use your mobile phone 3G/4G cellular network to access the recorded footages, please check if your phone is interfered by other devices, or cannot be online due to the carrier.
Solution 2. Please use the customized app of your security cameras instead of the third-party software.

Take Reolink app as an example. You can enjoy all of the advanced functions of the security cameras, including retrieving the recording footages, when using the Reolink app on your mobile phones.

Other third-party viewing software may not be completely compatible with your security cameras, which would not enable you to get access to your saved recordings.
Solution 3. Update your security camera app to the latest version to fix the camera footage video playback issue.
Solution 4. Check whether your security camera SD card or DVR/NVR HDD has recorded the footages.
If the SD card cannot be read by your security camera, your CCTV camera cannot record the motion videos when there are motion events.

Also, check if the HDD of your DVR/NVR is still functioning or not. If the HDD is damaged, the videos cannot be recorded for your playback.

The above solutions can fix your CCTV security camera remote video playback error, or CCTV video playback not working on your iOS & Android smartphones, including:

• iPhone SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, etc.
• iPad
• Samsung Galaxy & Note series
• Google Pixel series
• LG
• One Plus
• Huawei
• Sony
• Google Nexus

#2. How to Solve CCTV Video Playback Error on Your Mac & Windows Computers

There are several quick solutions to fix CCTV camera video playback not working on your computers, laptops or Macs.
Solution 1. Make sure your Mac or Widows computer is connected to the Internet if you access the recorded videos remotely.
Solution 2. You should use the customized client software to review the recorded footage instead of the third-party software.

The customized client software would work seamlessly with your security cameras, so you can play back the recorded videos smoothly without worrying about the compatibility issues between the third-party software & the cameras.
Solution 3. Make sure you've downloaded the latest version of CCTV playback & viewing client software.
Solution 4. If you've downloaded the recorded videos from the SD card of the security camera, or from DVR/NVR, and can't play back with the security camera viewers on your computer, you can try the below tips to solve the video playback error on your PC, Mac.

Here we take VLC media as an example.
Tip 1. Make sure you've downloaded the latest version of VLC media player.
Tip 2. Check whether your security camera video file is compatible with VLC. If not, you'll need to convert the security camera recording format into the specific format, such as ".MP4" supported by VLC.

This tip can help you troubleshoot the issue of "playback failed for no matched record file".
Tip 3. Rename the file extension to .mpg and try playing it in VLC.

Hope the above tips have fixed the issue "Why can't I play my video clips in Windows media player". You can check more resources on how to play back videos in VLC here.
Solution 5. Check whether your security camera SD card or DVR/NVR HDD has recorded the footages.
You can try the above solutions to fix video playback not working on your computers or laptops, including:

• Windows 7, 8, 10
• MacBook, Air, Pro
• iMac, Pro

#3. How to Fix CCTV Security Camera Video Playback Error on Browsers

When you use browsers to access the cameras for video playback, you'll make use your viewing device, the Internet and your security camera all function smoothly.

If one party fails, you cannot get video playback of your security cameras. You can check the below easy ways to fix "CCTV playback not working" issue.
Solution 1. Check if your devices are connected to the Internet. Without Internet connection, you cannot get CCTV remote recording playback.
Solution 2. Double-check whether you've entered the correct IP address of your security camera.
Solution 3. Upgrade your browsers to the latest version.
Solution 4. Check whether your security camera SD card or DVR/NVR HDD has recorded the footages.

You can use the above easy solutions to fix video playback error on most of the browsers, including:

• Google Chrome
• Firefox
• IE
• Microsoft Edge
• Safari

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#4. Video Playback Error on SD Card Is Not Working: Reasons & Fixes

Why can't I see the video history after inserting a micro SD card?

If you cannot play back the recorded videos saved on the SD card of your security camera, the reasons typically lie in software and hardware parts.

For the software part, please check the above solutions to fix the issues.

For the hardware part (your security cameras with SD card), reasons typically include:
Reason 1. Your security cameras with SD card lose connection to the power or network.
Solution 1. Check whether your security cameras are powered.
Solution 2. Restart your router.
Solution 3. Reboot your security camera.
Solution 4. Check if the wires connecting your cameras to the router are in good conditions (if you have PoE or analog security cameras).
Reason 2. The SD card of your security camera is undetected or damaged.
Solution 1. Please pull out the SD card from your security camera, and insert it back to see if the Micro SD card is detected by your camera.
Solution 2. Change another SD card.
Reason 3. The video file gets damaged.

Video files would be damaged for many reasons. In some cases, the video files will be damaged during the importing process. You might try the third-party software that supports surveillance camera video recovery.
Reason 4. The old firmware of your security cameras would have problems for the CCTV video playback.
Solution: Upgrade your security cameras to the latest firmware version.

Security camera video playback enables you to review the important events, especially the crimes. That's the main reason why you should try these useful solutions to fix video loss error.

You can watch the video below to see how the security camera Reolink RLC-410W caught the car theft in the act.

#5. Video Playback Error on HDD of DVR/NVR: Reasons & Fixes

Same as the video playback error on SD card of security cameras, the reasons of CCTV DVR/NVR playback not working also lie in the software and hardware parts.

For the software part, refer to the above solutions to fix the issue.

For hardware part, you can troubleshoot CCTV DVR/NVR system footage playback problems with the below solutions.

Before you dive into the troubleshooting, you should check the reasons why video playback is not working.

Typically, the reasons for DVR/NVR video playback error include:
Reason 1. Your NVR/DVR loses connections to the power or network.
Solution 1. Fix the loose wire connection and change the faulty old power or network cables.
Solution 2. Make sure your NVR/DVR has stable network connection with your route when you get remote video playback.
Solution 3. Restart your router, and check if your NVR/DVR can be connected to the Internet smoothly.
Solution 4. Reboot your NVR/DVR.
Reason 2. The HDD of your DVR/NVR is undetected or damaged.
Solution: If the pre-installed HDD is damaged, you can install an external hard disk drive via e-SATA to store videos, so you can fix the "DVR/NVR no available HDD for recording" issue.
Reason 3. The NVR/DVR loses connection with the cameras.

If the connection between the NVR/DVR and cameras is unstable or cut, the videos captured by the cameras would not be stored on the HDD of the DVR/NVR. Thus you can't play back the recordings.
You can try the following solutions to solve "CCTV playback failed" issues.
Solution 1. Fix the lose wires connection between your cameras and DVR/NVR to fix the "CCTV not recording" problem.
Solution 2. Connect your cameras to different ports on your DVR/NVR to fix "unable to playback recordings from DVR/NVR".

Reason 4.The video file gets damaged.

Video files would be damaged for many reasons. In some cases, the video files will be damaged during the importing process. You might try the third-party software that supports surveillance camera video recovery.
Reason 5. The old firmware of your DVR/NVR would hold you back from reviewing the recorded footage.
Solution: Upgrade the firmware of your DVR/NVR. Regular firmware update can tackle the video playback issues and let your security camera system run smoothly.

No matter what brands and types of CCTV security cameras & DVRs/NVRs you are using, be it — Swann, Floureon, Hikvision, Geovision, Qvis, Vista, ZOSI, Annke, Dahua, etc., you can fix the "CCTV video playback not working" issues with the above solutions.

Got bumped by a lot of forum OPs, who asked about the solutions to video playback error, we've listed the questions below. Questions include:
• Hikvision DVR playback failed. • Swann DVR playback not working. • I can't play my videos just recorded. • Live view and playback filed with Safari browser. • Playing back video files from Hikvision NVR failed. I can't seem to play back the files I download from my Hikvision NVR. • Hikvision remote playback not working. • LaView playback failed. • Hikvision NVR displays "No record file" during playback.

If you have the same questions on CCTV surveillance camera playback as the above listed problems, you can troubleshoot the problems with the above detailed solutions. You can also check more insights about video loss on security cameras here.

If you have other questions, please leave them in the comment below!