Hikvision notifications not working? Here is how to fix it
Hikvision notifications not working? The problem is almost always in one of three places: the recorder’s event settings, the Hik-Connect app, or your phone. Check them in that order. You can usually fix it yourself, without calling the installer.
Hikvision notifications not working: where the chain breaks
An alert travels a long way. The camera sees motion. The recorder (the NVR or DVR box that stores the footage) decides it is an event. It sends that event to Hikvision’s cloud, which passes it to Apple or Google, which finally wakes up your phone.
If any link in that chain is off, nothing arrives. So don’t start by reinstalling the app. Start at the beginning, with the recorder.
Step 1: check the event on the recorder
Do this on the recorder’s own screen, in the web page of the recorder, or in the device settings inside Hik-Connect.
- Open the camera’s event settings and make sure the event you want is enabled: motion detection, line crossing or intrusion detection.
- Check the arming schedule. It must cover the hours you want alerts for. A schedule that ends at 6pm means no alerts at night.
- Open the event’s linkage (the list of actions it triggers) and tick “Notify Surveillance Center”. Without it, the event is recorded but never sent to the app. This is the setting people miss most often.
- Repeat for every camera. Each channel has its own event, schedule and linkage.
Step 2: check Hik-Connect
- Make sure the device shows as online in the app. If it is offline, the recorder can’t reach Hikvision’s cloud, and no alert can travel.
- Turn on alarm notifications for the device in Hik-Connect. Look at each camera too: notifications can be on for the device and off for one camera.
- Update Hik-Connect to the latest version.
- If notifications stopped after working for months, sign out and back in. If that fails, remove the device from the app and add it again.
Step 3: check the phone (iPhone and Android)
- Allow notifications for Hik-Connect in the phone’s settings. On iPhone, also check that Focus or Do Not Disturb isn’t hiding them.
- On Android, turn battery optimization off for Hik-Connect. Samsung and other phones put apps to sleep, and a sleeping app shows no alerts. Check Do Not Disturb as well.
- Make sure every notification category for Hik-Connect is switched on.
Hikvision notifications delayed or stopping after a while
- Set the recorder’s date, time and time zone correctly, ideally with NTP (automatic internet time). A wrong clock causes late alerts and an arming schedule that runs at the wrong hours.
- Update the recorder’s firmware and the app. Old firmware is a common cause of alerts that come and go.
- Check that the recorder has a stable internet connection. If it drops offline in the app now and then, alerts drop with it.
- Test with a second phone. If that one gets alerts, the problem is your phone’s settings, not the recorder.
Working again, and now there are too many
Many owners fix their notifications and then turn them off a week later. Plain motion detection reacts to shadows, headlights, rain and spiders. A busy camera sends dozens of alerts a day, and after a while nobody looks.
AcuSense models help: they tell people and vehicles apart, which cuts many false alarms. But only on supported cameras and recorders, and only for those two classes. They still can’t tell you that the till is unattended or that the back door was left open.
When you want alerts that mean something
Puw is a Windows 10/11 app that connects to the Hikvision recorder or cameras you already have, over RTSP (the standard video stream most recorders offer). No new cameras, no new recorder. The NVR keeps recording as before.
The AI runs on that PC and writes a short caption for every event. You write alert rules in a sentence, camera by camera, and your phone gets a Telegram message with a photo when one comes true. Puw is not affiliated with Hikvision and does not replace Hik-Connect: you can keep both.
- Rules in your own words: “Tell me if someone is in the stockroom after 10pm.”
- Areas: draw the back door for an instant motion alarm, or mark a TV, a curtain or a tree so it never triggers.
- Ask from your phone: “Did anyone come in after closing?” Puw answers with the moments.
- A tamper alert if a camera is turned away, covered or unplugged.
- The PC must stay on. A quiet shop’s ordinary PC is enough; busy cameras, like a till, want an NVIDIA graphics card.
30 days free · full version · no card
Frequently asked questions
Why am I not getting notifications on Hik-Connect?
Usually because the event’s linkage on the recorder doesn’t include “Notify Surveillance Center”, the arming schedule doesn’t cover the hour, alarm notifications are off for the device in the app, or the phone blocks the app. Check those four first.
Why are Hik-Connect notifications not working on my iPhone?
Check that notifications are allowed for Hik-Connect in Settings, and that a Focus mode isn’t silencing them. Then update the app. If a second phone gets alerts and yours doesn’t, the cause is on your phone.
How do I get motion notifications on Hik-Connect?
Enable motion detection for the camera, set an arming schedule, tick “Notify Surveillance Center” in its linkage, then turn on alarm notifications for the device in Hik-Connect and allow notifications on your phone.
Why are my Hikvision notifications delayed?
The most common causes are a wrong time or time zone on the recorder, old firmware, a weak internet connection at the recorder, and battery saving on Android phones.
Does Puw work with my Hikvision NVR?
Puw works with recorders and cameras that offer RTSP or ONVIF, which most Hikvision models do. You can check with the 30-day free trial, the full version, no card needed.
Hikvision, Dahua, Lorex, Reolink and other brands are trademarks of their owners. Puw is not affiliated with them.