Dahua notifications not working? Fix DMSS alerts step by step
Dahua notifications not working? Check three things in order: the event and its schedule on the recorder, the alarm push subscription in DMSS, and your phone’s settings. One of them is almost always switched off.
Dahua notifications not working: where the chain breaks
The camera sees something. The recorder (the NVR or DVR box that stores the footage) turns it into an event. The event goes to Dahua’s servers, then to Apple or Google, and only then to your phone.
DMSS can show live video perfectly and still send no alerts, because live view and push take different paths. So a working picture doesn’t mean the alerts are set up.
Step 1: check the event and schedule on the recorder
- Open the camera’s event settings on the recorder, its web page, or the device settings in DMSS.
- Enable the event you want alerts for: motion detection, Smart Motion Detection (SMD) or an IVS rule such as a tripwire or intrusion area.
- Set the schedule so it covers the hours you care about. Many people set it for the night and then wonder why daytime alerts never come, or the other way round.
- Do it for each camera. Every channel has its own settings.
Step 2: turn on alarm push in DMSS
- Make sure the recorder shows as online in DMSS. If it is offline, no alert can reach you.
- Open the device’s alarm push (alarm subscription) settings and switch it on.
- Choose the channels: each camera you want alerts from must be ticked.
- Choose the event types: motion detection, SMD, IVS. An SMD alert won’t arrive if only motion detection is subscribed.
- Update DMSS. If alerts stopped after an update, switch the subscription off, then on again. If that fails, remove the recorder from DMSS and add it again.
Step 3: check the phone
- Allow notifications for DMSS in the phone’s settings.
- On Android, turn battery optimization off for DMSS. Samsung and other Android phones often put apps to sleep to save battery.
- Check Do Not Disturb on Android and Focus on iPhone. Both can hide alerts without telling you.
- Try a second phone. If it gets alerts and yours doesn’t, the cause is on your phone.
DMSS notifications delayed or stopping
- Set the recorder’s time and time zone correctly, ideally with NTP (automatic internet time). A wrong clock shifts the schedule and delays alerts.
- Update the recorder’s firmware. Several owners report alerts that broke after a firmware or app update and came back with the next one, so keep both current.
- Check the recorder’s internet connection. If it drops offline in the app now and then, the alerts drop too.
- If you added the recorder only by its local IP address, try adding it by its serial number instead. Users widely report that push only works through Dahua’s cloud (P2P) connection.
When the alerts work but don’t help
Plain motion detection fires at headlights, shadows, rain and insects at night. After a week of that, many owners mute the app. WizSense and SMD help: on supported models they separate people and vehicles from everything else.
That still leaves the questions an owner really has. Is the till unattended? Did the back door stay open? Was someone in the stockroom after closing? A person filter can’t answer those.
Alerts in a sentence, from the Dahua system you have
Puw is a Windows 10/11 app that connects to your existing Dahua recorder or cameras over RTSP or ONVIF (the standard ways recorders share video). You keep the NVR, the cameras and DMSS. Puw is not affiliated with Dahua.
The AI runs on that PC, not in a cloud. You write a rule in your own words for each camera, and when it comes true your phone gets a Telegram message with a photo.
- “Tell me if a customer is waiting at the till and nobody is serving.”
- Draw an area around a door: motion inside it alerts you within a second, no AI involved.
- Mark a TV, a curtain or a tree as ignored, and it never triggers again.
- Scheduled checks: “09:05, shutter open”. If it isn’t, you get the photo.
- The PC has to stay on. Busy cameras, like a till or a reception, want an NVIDIA graphics card.
30 days free · full version · no card
Frequently asked questions
Why is DMSS not sending notifications?
Most often the event is enabled on the recorder but not subscribed in DMSS, or the right channels and event types aren’t ticked, or the phone blocks the app. Check the schedule on the recorder too.
Why are DMSS notifications not working on my iPhone?
Allow notifications for DMSS in Settings, check that a Focus mode isn’t on, and update the app. Then switch the device’s alarm subscription off and on again in DMSS.
How do I get alerts on DMSS?
Enable motion detection, SMD or an IVS rule with a schedule on the recorder. Then turn on alarm push for the device in DMSS, tick the channels and event types, and allow notifications on your phone.
What is the difference between SMD and IVS?
SMD (Smart Motion Detection) filters motion so that people and vehicles trigger it and most other movement doesn’t. IVS rules are lines and areas you draw, like a tripwire or an intrusion zone. Both depend on the camera model.
Does Puw work with Dahua recorders?
Puw connects over RTSP or ONVIF, which most Dahua recorders and cameras offer. Try it with the 30-day free trial: the full version, no card.
Hikvision, Dahua, Lorex, Reolink and other brands are trademarks of their owners. Puw is not affiliated with them.