A Sync Module 2 with a recognized USB drive inserted stores a copy of new clips in cloud storage. Clip Backup starts on the day the drive is inserted. Any clips recorded prior to the insertion of USB drive will not have Clip Backup.

Once every 24 hours, backup clips are stored on the USB drive in a folder. To access the backup files, the USB storage device must be removed from the Sync Module 2 and inserted into a computer or similar device. Backup clips are not viewable from the Blink app.

Clip Backup files are found in a directory named blink_backups. The name of each backup file includes its creation time in Universal Time, or UTC.

Safely eject the USB drive

1. First, safely eject the USB drive. Go to the Main home screen of the Blink app and tap Sync Module. You may have to scroll down the screen if you have more than three cameras.
2. From the Sync Module screen, tap Local Storage to reach the Local Storage screen.
3. Tap Safe Eject USB.

To view clips from the USB drive

1. First, note the date and time of the Backup completed.to be sure the clip backups you want to view are on the USB storage device. Since the backup occurs once per day, it is possible that the files you want are not yet saved to USB

2.  From the Local Storage screen, tap Safe Eject and wait to receive the "USB Disconnected" message and the USB icon changes to inactive (not green) as shown below.

   
3. You can now remove your USB storage device from the Sync Module 2, and insert it into a computer or similar device to view the files. If you reinsert the USB storage device into the Sync Module 2, backups resume and new, unsaved files are added to the blink_backups directory.
   
4. After you've plugged the USB drive into a PC, use the following to help navigate your drive for viewing your saved clips.

Accessing clips on your USB drive from a PC

Use this article to understand how to view your saved clips by using a PC.

The Sync Module 2 uses your USB drive to store clips, either Local Storage clips or Backup clips. When the drive is full, clips are no longer saved until you remove them from the drive. Plug the USB drive into a computer to view and remove all of your saved clips.

Always follow the Safe Eject process in the Blink app before physically removing your USB drive from your Sync Module 2. Learn more how to safely eject the USB drive from your Sync Module 2.

Plug the USB flash drive into a PC

Insert your USB drive into a computer and access the flash drive as you normally would. Clips are viewed using any media player that supports the common MP4 format, such as VLC, Windows Media Player, or QuickTime Player.

Clip filenames with timestamps (UTC)

Clips are named according to the time that the file was saved on the Blink server. Blink servers use Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC (Formerly known as Greenwich Mean Time). 

When you access the USB drive on a computer, the filenames are in UTC, so apply the time difference to find a certain clip. 

• For example:
  • A clip is made at 5:00 pm from a camera in US Eastern Standard Time.
  • Eastern Standard time is 5 hours earlier than UTC. 5 pm EST = 10 pm UTC.
  • The filename convention for hour is displayed in 24-hour format, so 10 pm UTC will appear as 22.

Note: When these same clips appear in the Blink app, you see the corrected time for your device's time zone.

Folder names on the flash drive

Your clips can be saved in two folders on your USB flash drive named blink and blink_backup. Local Storage clips are viewable through the Blink app, whereas Clip Backups are not.

Local Storage

Local Storage clips are found on the USB drive in the blink folder. The subfolders within this folder correspond to the date when the clips were saved.

blink - This folder contains clips from eligible cameras.

21-05 - This folder indicates a two digit year 21 for 2021, and two-digit month 05 for May.

21-05-02 - This folder indicates a two digit year 21 for 2021, a two-digit month 05 for May, and a two-digit date 02 for the second day of the month.

12-54-30_BlinkMini_001.mp4 - The filename shows: [Hour] - [Minutes] - [Seconds] _ [Camera Name] _ [Clip Number].mp4

Backup Clips

Backup clips are found on the USB drive in the blink_backup folder. The subfolders within this folder correspond to the date when the clips were saved.

blink_backup - This folder contains backup clips from eligible cameras.

20-09 - This folder indicates a two digit year 20 for 2020, and two-digit month 09 for September.

01-20-21-38_Outdoor_1234567.mp4 - The filename shows: [Day of month] - [Hours] - [Minutes] - [Seconds] _ [camera-name] _ [camera UID].mp4

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