Guide 16 min read 946 views 4.8 (31 votes)

Setting Up HIKVISION NVR Cloud Storage

Alex Vance Published on June 19, 2025

Setting Up HIKVISION NVR Cloud Storage, As surveillance" class="text-sky-600 dark:text-sky-400 font-medium hover:underline" title="Guides for video surveillance">video surveillance systems become more advanced, the need for flexible, reliable, and secure storage has grown. While traditional NVR systems rely on local hard drives, HIKVISION NVRs now support cloud-based storage of alarm snapshots using the Hikvision Cloud 2.0 protocol. In this practical guide, we’ll walk you through two main scenarios for cloud storage integration with HIKVISION NVRs:

• Setting the NVR as a Cloud Storage Server

• Using the NVR as a Cloud Storage Client

Whether you’re a system integrator or a technical user, this guide will help you effectively manage image-based cloud storage, ensuring greater data accessibility and system flexibility. .

☁️ What Is the NVR Cloud Storage Function?

HIKVISION's NVR Cloud Storage feature allows alarm images (not video footage) to be uploaded and accessed via a designated NVR or cloud storage server, using Hikvision Cloud 2.0 protocol.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0682/3208/5781/files/NVR_storage_server_4.jpg?v=1746696923

⚠️ Note: This feature does not support third-party cloud platforms like Google Cloud, Baidu Cloud, or Aliyun, and it only stores alarm snapshots, not video recordings. .

🔧 Scenario 1: Using the NVR as a Cloud Storage Server

✅ Supported Models

• Super I NVR (V4.40.500 and above)

• I Series NVR (V4.22.005 and above)

🔄 Configuration Steps

1.Access NVR Web Interface Go to Configuration → Storage → External Storage Management.

2.Enable Cloud Storage Service

◦ Toggle the Enable option

◦ Set a Password and Encryption Password (both must be over 32 characters; can be the same)

3.Reboot the NVR After restarting, you’ll see the Storage Pool Management option in the menu.

4.Create Storage Pools

◦ You can configure multiple pools by naming them and setting capacity limits

5.Provide Server Details When Adding as Storage Server (via HCP or Another NVR)

◦ Address: IP of this NVR

◦ Picture Download Port: 6120

◦ Signaling Gateway Port: 6011

◦ Access Key: The password you set earlier

◦ Secret Key: The encryption password

Your NVR is now acting as a cloud storage server, ready to receive and store snapshots from other client devices.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0682/3208/5781/files/NVR_storage_server_1.jpg?v=1746696723

🔗 Scenario 2: Using the NVR as a Cloud Storage Client

✅ Supported Models

• All NVRs running GUI 4.0 or EUI-based interfaces

🔄 Configuration Steps

1.Go to Cloud Storage Settings Navigate to Configuration → Storage → Storage Management → Cloud Storage

2.Input Server Parameters

◦ Protocol Version: Cloud 2.0 (only supported version)

◦ Server IP: IP address of another NVR set as a storage server

◦ Server Port: 6011

◦ Password / Encryption Password: Same as set on the storage server

◦ Picture Storage Pool ID: According to the configured pool on the server NVR

3.Test the Connection Click the Test button to verify successful communication between the client NVR and the storage server.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0682/3208/5781/files/NVR_storage_server_3.jpg?v=1746696776

🚀 Practical Benefits of Cloud Storage for HIKVISION NVRs

• Improved Data Resilience: Offloads important snapshots to cloud storage for added security

• Flexible Deployment: Ideal for systems without large on-site storage

• Centralized Management: One NVR can collect snapshots from multiple clients

• Efficient Storage Use: Since only images are stored, bandwidth and space consumption remain low

🏁 Conclusion

HIKVISION’s Cloud Storage function is a practical solution for organizations seeking off-site backup of critical alarm snapshots without relying on third-party services. By configuring your NVR either as a storage server or client, you can create a robust and scalable storage architecture using the Hikvision Cloud 2.0 protocol. This setup is particularly useful for large campuses, industrial zones, or multi-site security operations where centralized snapshot management is key. 📌 Tip: For detailed model-specific steps and interface visuals, refer to the user manual included with your NVR.

Setting Up HIKVISION NVR Cloud Storage

Video & Cloud Storage

With the Mobile Client, you can remotely view live videos of the added encoding devices (e.g., cameras, NVRs, and DVRs) and play back their video footage. If cloud storage is activated on the video devices, you can browse, search, play back, and download the video footage on cloud.

Start and Stop Live View

Live view shows you the live video getting from cameras. Perform the following task to start and stop live view.

1.Tap a camera or tap Applications > Live View to enter the Live View page.

◦ If the Video and Image Encryption function is disabled, the live video will start playing automatically.

◦ If the Video and Image Encryption function is enabled, you should enter the encryption password before live view.

Note

· For details about Video and Image Encryption function, see Enable Video and Image Encryption.

· The default device verification code is usually on the device label. If no verification code found, enter the device verification code you created when enabling Hik-Connect service.

· The live video from the video intercom device lasts 5 minutes.

· Up to 6 users can view the live video of a same door station simultaneously. If the upper-limit is reached, other users can only use the audio function of the door station.

2.Optional: Perform the following operations.

View Full Screen Live Video	Rotate the phone to view live video in full screen mode.
Switch Camera	Swipe the live view page to the left or right to switch camera and view its live video.
Reselect Device for Live View	a.Tap to reselect device(s) for live view. b.Reselect cameras and then tap OK. Note You can select up to 256 cameras.
Switch to Playback	Tap Playback to switch to playback. Note For details about playback, see Playback.
Toolbar Operations	For details about toolbar operations, see Live View and Playback Icons.
View Events	If there are any events, they will be displayed in the Event Messages section.

1.Stop live view of a camera.

a.Press and hold a window under live view.

b.Drag the window upwards to the appearing

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-8BA3D598-9A1B-483A-AEF9-66242C060CAF-high.png

at the top of the page.

PTZ Control

PTZ is an abbreviation for "Pan, Tilt, and Zoom". With the PTZ Control functionality provided by the Mobile Client, you can make the cameras pan and tilt to the required positions, and zoom in or out the live video images. Start live view of the camera, and tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-5D9CEE08-04DE-4D43-93C4-5480644B5934-high.png

to pop up the PTZ control panel. Note PTZ control should be supported by the camera. For details about starting live view, refer to Start and Stop Live View.

PTZ Control

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-FAA42D24-6A9F-4D2F-BB6F-643992386D1B-high.png

Figure 1 PTZ Control On the PTZ Control panel, the following operations are supported.

• Drag the red circle button to control the camera to the desired direction.

• Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-57F5E471-61E6-457B-8D3D-C365A7566E3F-high.png

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-24827B31-FC79-450A-8E4E-1B6D15EB3AC8-high.png

to zoom out/in the lens.

• Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-077A796B-7134-4C00-9517-D59DA6F17196-high.png

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-1828BE4F-8CBE-4DED-9B89-B1567B9B8825-high.png

to make near objects become clear and distant objects become vague, or make distant objects become clear and near objects become vague.

Preset

On the Preset panel, the following operations are supported.

• Edit Name: Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-C0E6C869-9516-45D1-9D56-5DE938915A51-high.png

> Edit Name to edit the preset name.

• Set as Preset: Tap

> Set as Preset to set the current scene as a new preset.

More Settings

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-D0C446AE-0800-4793-8C9C-25B8401F5E09-high.png

Figure 2 More Settings Drag

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-2FB780EB-9F49-4106-B001-F7F4D61E5E69-high.png

to the right or left to set the PTZ rotating speed.

Set Image Quality for Device Added by IP/Domain

For devices added via IP/Domain, you can set its image quality to Fluent or Clear. You can also customize image quality for the devices. Note

• If you change the image quality, the live view and recording of the device may be affected due to the new settings.

• In multi-window mode, you can only set the image quality to Fluent, or customize the image quality and the stream type can only be Sub Stream.

1.Start live view of a device added via IP/Domain.

Note See Start and Stop Live View for details.

2.Tap . on the live view page to enter the quality switching panel.

Note The icon vary with the actual video quality.

3.Set the image quality as desired.

◦ Tap Clear to set the image quality as Clear.

◦ Tap Fluent to set the image quality as Fluent.

◦ Tap Custom to open the Custom Settings window, and then configure the parameters and tap Confirm to confirm the custom settings.

Live View for Fisheye Camera

In the fisheye view mode, the whole wide-angle view of the fisheye camera is displayed. Fisheye expansion can expand images in five modes: 180° panorama, 360° panorama, 4-PTZ, semisphere, and cylindrical-surface. Note The function is only supported by fisheye camera.

1.Start live view of a fisheye camera.

Note See Start and Stop Live View for details.

2.Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-3442DA51-ED9E-4675-A4E4-8FFDD67033E3-high.png

to show the fisheye expansion panel.

3.Select mounting type.

Icon	Description

Table 1 Mounting Type
Icon	Description
	Wall Mounting
	Ceiling Mounting

5.Select fisheye expansion mode.

Table 2 Fisheye Expansion Mode
Icon	Description
	Fisheye view for ceiling mounting and wall mounting. In the Fisheye view mode, the whole wide-angle view of the camera is displayed. The mode is the vision of a fish's convex eye. The lens produces curvilinear images of a large area, while distorting the perspective and angles of objects in the image. In this mode, you can pinch the fingers together to zoom out the image, and spread them apart to zoom in.
	Dual-180° panorama view for ceiling mounting. The distorted fisheye image is transformed to normal perspective image. In this mode, you can swipe to the left or to the right to adjust the field of view.
	360° panorama view for ceiling mounting and wall mounting. The distorted fisheye image is transformed to normal perspective image. In this mode, you can swipe to the left or to the right to adjust the field of view.
	4 PTZ Views for ceiling mounting and wall mounting. The PTZ view is the close-up view of some defined area in the Fisheye view or Panorama view. In this mode, you can pinch the fingers together to zoom out the image, and spread them apart to zoom in. You can also swipe the screen to perform pan and tilt movement.
	Semisphere-shaped view for wall mounting. In this mode, the whole wide-angle view of the camera is displayed. The lens produces curvilinear images of a large area, while distorting the perspective and angles of objects in the image. In this mode, you can drag the image to adjust the view angle, and pinch the fingers together to zoom out the image, and spread them apart to zoom in.
	Cylindrical-surface-shaped view for wall mounting. In this mode, the whole wide-angle view of the camera is displayed. The lens produces curvilinear images of a large area, while distorting the perspective and angles of objects in the image. In this mode, you can drag the image to adjust the view angle, swipe to the left or to the right to adjust the field of view, as well as pinch the fingers together to zoom out the image and spread them apart to zoom in.

Open Door During Live View

You can open or close the door when viewing the live video of a video intercom device, a face recognition terminal, or a related camera of an access control device. This function allows you to check the visitor or the situation nearby the door before you open it. Note

• The device should support this function.

• For face recognition terminals, you can enabling opening door by fingerprint authentication or facial authentication. For details, see Manage Access Control Devices.

For the access control device's related cameras, select a live view window and tap Open Door, and then enter the device verification code to open the door. For the video intercom device, select a live view window and tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-61FE01F3-D3B9-4FF9-A637-C15FABB4D250-high.png

, and then enter the device verification code to open the door.

Note The default device verification code is usually on the device label. If no verification code found, enter the device verification code you created when enabling Hik-Connect service.

Normal Playback

Normal playback refers to the playback based on timeline. You can search the camera's recorded video files in a selected time period and then start playback.

1.On the device list page, tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-900D6A52-4608-4D57-B228-C48FF1FA4B23-high.png

in the upper-right corner or tap Applications > Playback to enter the Select Item(s) page.

2.Set the date and time for playback.

Playback Date

Select a date. Note The date during which video files were recorded is marked with a yellow dot. Playback Time Set the start time point for the playback in the selected date.

3.Select camera(s).

Note You can select up to 4 cameras.

4.Tap Start Playback to enter the Playback page.

5.Optional: Perform the following operations.

Play Video Footage Stored on Cloud	Tap on the playback page to play back video footage stored on cloud. Note See details in Play Back Video Footage on Cloud.
Play Video Footage Stored on Local	Tap on the playback page to play back video footage stored locally.
Clip Playback	Tap to switch to clip playback.
Adjust Playback Time	Tap to switch timeline playback. Slide the timeline to adjust the playback time. Spread two fingers apart to scale up the timeline or pinch them together to scale down. Note represents continuous recording and represents event-triggered recording. You can determine the recording type (continuous or event-triggered) when setting recording schedule. For details, see Set Recording Schedule.
Toolbar Operations	For details about toolbar operations, see Live View and Playback Icons.

Capturing and Recording

During playback, you can capture pictures and record video footage.

1.Start playback.

Note See Normal Playback for details.

2.Capture a picture or record video footage.

Capture a Picture	Tap to capture a picture.
Record Video Footage	Tap to start recording video footage, tap again to stop.

3.The captured pictures and recorded videos will be saved in Applications > Personal Applications > Personal Album.

Set Playback Quality for Device Added by IP/Domain

For devices added by IP/Domain, you can set the image quality of playback for them. Note For details about adding device by IP/Domain, see Add a Device by IP/Domain.

1.Select a device added by IP/Domain on the device list and then start playback.

Note For details about starting playback, see Normal Playback.

2.Tap . on the playback page to enter the quality switching panel.

Note The icon may vary with the actual video quality.

3.Set the image quality as desired.

◦ Tap Clear to tap the image quality to Clear.

◦ Tap Custom to open the Custom Settings window, and then configure the parameters (Resolution, Frame Rate, and Bitrate) and tap Confirm to confirm the custom settings.

Download Video Segment from Device During playback of the cameras linked to a DVR or NVR, you can download a specific video segment as an evidence if it contains important information about incidents such as violent crimes in case of the need for settling disputes or legal cases. Note The function should be supported by the device.

1.Start playback.

2.Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-49499206-4980-4F80-849F-239533CA987F-high.png

if important information occurs on the image.

By default, the video segment which lasts 130 seconds (from 10 seconds before the tapping, to 120 seconds after that) will be automatically selected for download. For example, if you tap

when the video footage is played to 00:00:30, the segment from 00:00:20 to 00:02:30 will be selected. Note In special occasions when 130-seconds duration is not available to be selected following the above-mentioned rule, the segment will extend afterwards or backwards until the segment duration reaches 130 seconds. For example, if you start downloading from the very beginning of the video footage, the selected segment will be from 00:00:00 to 00:02:10.

3.Optional: Drag the slider(s) to lessen the duration of the segment for download.

Note The duration should not be shorter than 10 seconds.

4.Optional: Tap the Play icon to preview the selected segment.

Note If the segment is encrypted, you should enter the device verification code before you can preview it. For details about video encryption.

5.Tap Start Downloading to start downloading.

Note Downloading at the background is supported. Download task(s) continues if you exit the Download page or the Mobile Client.

6.Optional: Go to Applications > Personal Applications > Personal Album to view the downloaded video segment.

Cloud Storage

With cloud storage, your cameras, DVRs, and NVRs can upload recorded video clips to the cloud automatically. You can easily access, play, and download the video footage of your video devices on cloud. Enable/Disable Cloud Storage Service for a Channel You can enable/disable cloud storage service for a specific channel of a device supporting storing video footage on cloud. You can also view details of the cloud storage service package, including service package type, effective period, and status (activated or expired). Make sure your Service Provider has activated the cloud storage service for your device. Otherwise, you cannot enable cloud storage.

1.Enter the settings page of the device.

2.Tap Cloud Storage to enter the Cloud Storage page.

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-6F415D94-66A0-4ACA-A1A0-FB4726A549FB-high.png

Figure 1 Cloud Storage

3.Switch on/off to enable/disable the cloud storage service of a specific channel.

Play Back Video Footage on Cloud

You can play back video footage stored on cloud. Note Make sure your Service Provider has activate cloud storage service for your devices and you have enabled it. See details in Enable/Disable Cloud Storage Service for a Channel. To play back the video footage on cloud:

1.Start playing back the recorded video footage of a video device.

Note See instructions in Normal Playback.

2.Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-42321CB4-9C36-412D-98BE-E36D6AF76985-high.png

to play back video footage stored on cloud.

Note You can adjust the playback speed to up to 8 times faster.

Download Video Footage from Cloud

The Mobile Client allows you to browse through the video footage stored on cloud of each date to quickly locate the footage you need. And you can download the video footage to your phone. Note Make sure your Service Provider has activate cloud storage service for your devices and you have enable it. See details in Enable/Disable Cloud Storage Service for a Channel.

1.Start playing back video footage stored on cloud.

Note See details in Play Back Video Footage on Cloud.

2.Tap

to play video stored on cloud.

3.Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-FBE6EBD3-8ED7-40FD-A26E-DA4B618C132B-high.png

to enter the Download Video page.

4.Select a date.

Note The date marked with a blue dot is the date during which video footage is recorded.

5.Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-6E62A8FA-F3C4-45A7-886F-374CB4869C4A-high.png

, and then select the video footage you want to download.

6.Tap

https://pinfo.hikvision.com/hkwsen/unzip/20250331143901_46192_doc/GUID-576E573E-C6AF-4284-8D20-929823252AA3-high.png

to download the selected video footage to your phone.

View Pictures and Videos

After capturing pictures and recording videos during live view, you can view these pictures and videos, and perform more operations such as saving them to the local mobile phone, share them with others, etc. Go to Applications > Personal Album to enter the Pictures and Videos page, and you can perform the following operations.

Table 1 Supported Operations
Description	Operation
Batch Share Pictures and/or Videos	Tap Edit, select pictures and/or videos, and tap to share the selected ones with others.
Batch Delete Pictures and/or Videos	Tap Edit, select pictures and/or videos, and tap to delete the selected ones.
Save to Local Mobile Phone	Tap a picture or video, and tap in the lower-right corner to save it to the local mobile phone.
Play Video	Tap a video, and tap in the lower-right corner to play the video.
Share a Picture or Video	Tap a picture or video, and tap in the lower-right corner to share it with others.
Delete a Picture or Video	Tap a picture or video, and tap in the lower-right corner to delete it.

. .