Hey there, fellow Tesla owner! Ever wondered how to get a peek at those crucial moments your Tesla's cameras captured, whether it's a parking lot ding or a wild road incident? You're in the right place! Accessing your Tesla's Dashcam and Sentry Mode recordings is a straightforward process, but it involves a few different methods, each with its own advantages. Let's dive in and explore how you can unlock the visual history of your drives and parked security events.
Step 1: Ensure Your Tesla is Equipped and Ready!
Before we even talk about viewing, we need to make sure your Tesla is properly set up to record. This involves a few key prerequisites.
1.1 The All-Important USB Drive
Your Tesla doesn't save recordings to some mysterious cloud by default. Instead, it relies on a USB drive inserted into your car's USB port.
What you need: A USB drive with a minimum storage capacity of 64 GB and a sustained write speed of at least 4 MB/s. While USB 3.0 drives are generally faster, ensure they are also USB 2.0 compatible. Tesla vehicles manufactured after approximately 2020 often come with a pre-formatted USB flash drive in the glove box.
Where to plug it in: For recording and viewing footage, you'll generally use the USB-A port in the glovebox. Some newer models might have USB-C ports in the center console, but these are often just for charging and won't support video recording.
1.2 Formatting Your USB Drive ️
The USB drive needs to be formatted correctly for your Tesla to recognize it and record footage. You have two primary options:
Option A: Format in the Tesla (Easiest!)
Insert the USB drive into a compatible USB port (preferably the glovebox one).
On your Tesla's touchscreen, navigate to Controls > Safety > Format USB Drive.
This will automatically format the drive as exFAT and create the necessary "TeslaCam" folder.
Caution: This process will erase all existing content on the USB drive, so make sure to back up anything important beforehand!
Option B: Format on a Computer
Remove the USB drive from your Tesla and connect it to your computer.
Format the USB drive as exFAT, MS-DOS FAT (for Mac), ext3, or ext4. NTFS is currently not supported.
Once formatted, create a base-level folder named "TeslaCam". This is crucial for your Tesla to find and save recordings.
1.3 Enabling Dashcam and Sentry Mode ️
Once your USB drive is ready, you need to enable the recording features:
Dashcam: On your Tesla's touchscreen, go to Controls > Safety > Dashcam. You can set it to:
Auto: Automatically saves a recording when a safety-critical event (like a collision) is detected.
Manual: You manually tap the Dashcam icon to save the most recent ten minutes of footage.
On Honk: Saves the most recent ten minutes of footage when you honk the horn. (This can be enabled along with Auto or Manual).
Sentry Mode: (Requires Dashcam to be enabled)
Navigate to Controls > Sentry Mode > On.
The Sentry Mode icon in Controls will turn red when enabled.
Sentry Mode constantly monitors your car's surroundings when parked and will record events if a security threat is detected, sending an alert to your mobile app.
Step 2: Accessing Recordings Directly in Your Tesla
The most immediate way to view your Tesla's recordings is right on the car's touchscreen.
2.1 Launching the Dashcam Viewer
Ensure your Tesla is in PARK. You cannot access the viewer while driving.
Touch the Dashcam icon (it often looks like a camera with a red dot) located in the app launcher or your bottom bar (if you've customized it).
Alternatively, you might see an option to "Launch Viewer" if you tap the Dashcam icon in the status bar.
2.2 Navigating the Viewer
Once the viewer opens, you'll see a list of video clips organized by location and timestamp.
There are typically different tabs:
RecentClips: Contains up to 60 minutes of continuously recorded footage that hasn't been manually saved. This footage is continuously overwritten if not saved.
SavedClips: Holds recordings you've manually saved from Dashcam.
SentryClips: Contains footage captured by Sentry Mode when a security event was detected.
You can pause, rewind, fast forward, and even delete clips directly from the touchscreen.
To view different camera angles (front, rear, left, right), look for options within the viewer to switch perspectives.
Step 3: Accessing Recordings via the Tesla Mobile App
Tesla has significantly improved accessibility by integrating a Dashcam Viewer directly into the mobile app (requires Premium Connectivity and mobile app version 4.39.5 or newer, currently available on iOS and Android with app update 4.43.5).
3.1 Requirements for Mobile App Access
Premium Connectivity: This is a paid subscription service from Tesla.
Compatible Vehicle: Your vehicle needs to have an MCU 2 (Intel) processor or higher. Most newer models (Model 3, Model Y, newer Model S/X, Cybertruck) are supported.
Vehicle Connectivity: Your Tesla must be connected to cellular data or Wi-Fi for the app to stream videos from the car. This might be a limitation in areas with poor signal (e.g., underground parking).
3.2 Steps to View on Mobile App
Launch the Tesla app on your smartphone.
Scroll down to the "Security and Drivers" section and tap on it.
Select "Dashcam Viewer."
Allow a few moments for your phone to connect to your vehicle.
You'll then be able to browse through available clips from both Sentry Mode and Dashcam recordings.
A great feature here is the ability to save 30-second clips directly to your phone's photo gallery, which includes 15 seconds before and 15 seconds after your selected moment.
Step 4: Accessing Recordings on a Computer (Full Quality)
For the highest quality and most comprehensive view of your recordings, directly accessing the USB drive on a computer is the way to go. The video quality from the USB stick is significantly higher than what you might stream via the app.
4.1 Retrieving the USB Drive
Before removal, pause Dashcam recording! On your Tesla's touchscreen, touch and hold the Dashcam icon until it changes to "PAUSED." This helps prevent data corruption.
Open your Tesla's glove box (via the touchscreen menu).
Carefully remove the USB drive that stores your Sentry Mode and Dashcam recordings.
4.2 Connecting to Your Computer
Connect the USB drive to your computer using an appropriate USB port.
4.3 Navigating the TeslaCam Folder
Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) and locate the connected Tesla USB drive.
Navigate to the "TeslaCam" folder on the drive.
Inside this main folder, you'll find several subfolders:
RecentClips: Contains up to the most recent 60 minutes of continuously recorded footage. Unless saved, these are eventually overwritten.
SavedClips: Holds all recordings that you manually saved from Dashcam.
SentryClips: Contains recordings from all Sentry Mode security events. Note that older Sentry Clips are deleted when storage space becomes limited.
4.4 Viewing the Footage
The video files are typically in MP4 format.
You can simply double-click on the video files to play them with your computer's default media player.
Note on Video Codecs: Teslas with HW3 and newer may record in HEVC (H.265) format, while older models typically use H.264. H.265 videos may require specific players or codecs on your computer (e.g., Firefox or Safari browsers often support it natively, or you might need to download a Microsoft HEVC Video Extension on Windows).
For a synchronized multi-camera view, some third-party web-based players (like sentrycam.video) allow you to upload the files and view all camera angles simultaneously.
FAQ: How to...
How to ensure my Tesla always records important events?
Enable both Dashcam (Auto) and Sentry Mode, and ensure you have a properly formatted USB drive with sufficient space plugged into the designated USB port (preferably the glovebox one).
How to manually save a Dashcam clip while driving?
Simply tap the Dashcam icon on your touchscreen, or use a voice command like "save dashcam video."
How to delete Tesla recordings?
You can delete clips directly from the in-car Dashcam viewer. To delete all Dashcam and Sentry Mode footage, navigate to Controls > Safety > Delete Dashcam Clips. You can also delete files by connecting the USB drive to a computer.
How to format a new USB drive for my Tesla?
Insert the USB drive into the glovebox USB-A port and go to Controls > Safety > Format USB Drive on your Tesla's touchscreen.
How to know if my USB drive is working for recordings?
Look for the Dashcam icon on your touchscreen. If it's a solid red circle, it's recording. If it's available but not actively recording, it will indicate that status.
How to get better quality recordings from my Tesla?
Access the recordings directly from the USB drive on a computer. The mobile app streaming generally shows lower resolution videos compared to the original files on the USB drive.
How to troubleshoot if my Tesla isn't recording?
Check if a USB drive is inserted and properly formatted. Ensure Dashcam and Sentry Mode are enabled in the safety settings. Sometimes, simply re-formatting the USB drive in the car can resolve issues.
How to save recordings to my phone?
Use the Tesla mobile app's Dashcam Viewer feature to stream clips and save 30-second segments directly to your phone's photo gallery.
How to view multiple camera angles simultaneously?
When viewing recordings on your Tesla's touchscreen or using a third-party web viewer, you'll typically have options to switch between or view multiple camera perspectives.
How to exclude certain locations from Sentry Mode?
In Controls > Safety > Sentry Mode, you can set exclusions for your home, work, or favorite locations to prevent Sentry Mode from automatically enabling there.
