There are definitely pros and cons to hiding a security camera in a window. I’ve experienced them all with my own security cameras. I enjoy placing them in my windows so that I can easily access them whenever I need to.
The window between the camera and the outdoors is a nice layer of protection and even if someone breaks the glass to get it, they will cause noise and be recorded in the process.
There aren’t many ways to hide a camera in a window but you can make it less obvious by placing it in the corner of the window. You can also use a one-way film on the glass that will hide the camera. Or hide it inside objects if you have space to put it onto the window frame.
How To Hide A Security Camera In A Window
Besides clearly explaining how to implement these ideas, we’ll also go through some extra advice on how to place them and what settings to adjust to assist it while placed in front of the glass.
Place Your Window Camera In A Corner
Objects in the corners of your window frame stand out less than if they were placed anywhere else.
If you can position the camera in the top corners of the window it will be even better than the bottom because you should be able to view more from the top and it has less of a chance of being tampered with if it’s out of reach from outside.
The top of the window also receives less sun than the bottom so the quality of the footage comes out better and the camera doesn’t overheat.
Hide It In Objects Like A Tissue Box
You can easily fit a camera into a tissue box and cut out a hole big enough for the camera to see out.
Place the camera inside the tissue box with its lens pointing out the hole you cut. Find the camera angle you desire and then place some tissues back in the top of the box to completely cover the camera.
This is if you have a window frame with space to place objects onto the bottom.
If you have space, you can also place a couple of pot plants in there and hide the camera in between them. This works really well with fake plants considering that you don’t have to water fake plants, your camera will be grateful.
Use A Spy Camera In The Window
When it comes to hiding a camera inside a window, the smaller the better. That’s why you should use a small spy cam like this one on Amazon.
It’s powered by USB which means you can connect it up to a permanent power supply or even a power bank that you can recharge now and then.
These cameras are small enough to hide amongst objects that are placed on your window frame.
Hide Your Camera In Wooden Window Frame
If your house has wooden window frames, they could be perfect for hiding a small camera inside. Ideally, in the top corners of the frame, a small hole can be drilled into the frame and a camera placed carefully inside the frame.
Make sure to drill the hole at the angle you wish to position the camera in.
Also, try to camouflage the camera by matching the wood grain as best as you can when doing this.
Don’t overthink it though as the thief wouldn’t pay much attention to the finer details of your window frames.
Privacy Film
Using a one-way film on your windows will prevent people from seeing your camera inside your window during the day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work so well at night if the inside of your window it well lit up.
It will also slightly dull your camera’s view because of the tint in the film but you’ll still be able to view everything without a problem in the day and at night if you have bright lights in that area.
Read our article on the Top 4 Window Security Films – How much do they protect? for more information.
Place A Bright Light On The Wall Outside Of The Camera
If you place a bright light on the wall outside the window of the camera it will blind people at night from looking near the light area. It will also help your camera to see during the night.
It helps if there are no bright lights on the inside of the room where the camera is placed as they can interfere with the camera vision so make sure to switch the inside lights off at night when you go to bed and leave the outside lights on for the camera.
Don’t Save Footage To Local Storage
Make sure to use cameras that save recordings to an online cloud service, because the camera is placed in the window, they are more susceptible to being stolen than an indoor camera that isn’t near a window.
So it’s best you have the footage saved online just in case the thief is brave enough to break a window for it. It wouldn’t help to save the footage to the camera memory.
Make Sure Your Camera Is Close To The Glass
In order to avoid reflections on the window glass interfering with your camera lens, place the camera as close to the glass as possible. You will get the clearest view of what’s outside with minimal reflection if you do it this way.
Turn Off IR Lights And Status Lights
You should turn off the IR and status lights as they will reflect back off the window glass and ruin the camera’s vision which can compromise your recorded footage.
If there is any status light that you can’t switch off, you can put a small piece of black tape over it to make sure you don’t see a reflection in the glass.
Light Up The Exterior
Lighting up an area for your camera to work well applies to all cameras, but this is especially true for cameras that are placed in front of the glass.
If the outside area is not lit up well, your window camera will have problems clearly seeing through the glass.
A low lit environment will cause a lot of static for the camera at night and your motion detection will go off when it shouldn’t because of all the visual noise caused by the low lighting.
Conclusion: Hide Security Camera In A Window
With your window being your view to the outside world, it’s obvious that people can easily see into it from the area you are recording.
It does make it less obvious if you place the camera into the top corners of your window or if you have space to hide it amongst other objects but further than that options are limited.
The good news is that burglars usually won’t want to break the window to steal the camera because it’s too noisy. Even if they have a glass cutter, the whole operation will be recorded on the camera.
However, by properly implementing some of the techniques in this article, you can avoid having the camera or recording stolen or compromised altogether.
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