How Do I Turn Off Alarm Photos on the IQ Panel 5 Security System?

To turn off Alarm Photos on the IQ Panel 5, go to Advanced Settings, enter the Installer Code, touch Installation, then touch Camera Settings and turn off the Alarm Photos toggle. The built-in camera then stops taking a photo during an alarm event. Turning it back on uses the same steps.

What Alarm Photos Does

The IQ Panel 5 (available in AT&T LTE and Verizon LTE) has a built-in camera that can take a single photograph during an alarm event. That feature is the Alarm Photos setting in Camera Settings, and it is enabled by default. The photo is one more piece of information about what was happening when the alarm went off, and it is stored on the panel with your other alarm information.

Alarm Photos is part of a group of camera options on the panel. The same menu controls Disarm Photos, Alarm Videos, and the settings that protect your photos, so you can decide which parts of the camera your security system uses.

Before You Start

Alarm Photos is separate from Alarm Videos. According to the manual, Alarm Videos records a video clip for 4 minutes when an alarm is triggered, and it has its own setting. Turning off Alarm Photos does not turn off Alarm Videos, so turn that setting off too if you want neither. Turn off the Panel Camera setting instead if you want every camera function on the panel off at once.

How to Turn Off Alarm Photos

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen. This opens the Settings Tray with quick controls.

IQ Panel 5 Settings Tray opened by swiping down from the top of the screen

2. Touch Settings. This opens the main Settings page.

3. Touch Advanced Settings. This prompts you to enter a code before continuing.

IQ Panel 5 Advanced Settings highlighted on the Settings page

4. Enter the Installer Code. The default Installer Code is 1111. The Dealer Code, 2222, also works. The panel opens the Installer menu as soon as the code is entered.

IQ Panel 5 code prompt

5. Touch Installation. This opens the Installation menu.

IQ Panel 5 Installation highlighted in the Installer menu

6. Touch Camera Settings. It is the camera icon at the bottom of the Installation menu.

IQ Panel 5 Installation menu with Camera Settings

7. Turn off the Alarm Photos toggle. Alarm Photos is enabled by default. Once it is off, the camera no longer takes a photo during an alarm event.

What Changes After You Turn It Off

With Alarm Photos off, the panel does not take a photograph during an alarm event. Other camera features keep their own settings, so Disarm Photos, Alarm Videos, and the Panel Camera stay as you left them. The change takes effect without restarting the panel.

Other Camera Settings You Can Change

Disarm Photos, enabled by default, makes the built-in camera take a single photograph when a user disarms the panel. When it is disabled, the panel does not capture images upon disarm. Alarm Videos, also enabled by default, records a video clip for 4 minutes during an alarm. The Panel Camera setting is the master switch. When it is disabled, every panel camera function is turned off, including Disarm Photos, Alarm Photos, Alarm Videos, and Settings Photos, and the Panel Camera page is removed.

Who Can Delete the Photos

Two more settings in Camera Settings control who can delete your disarm and alarm photos. Secure Delete Images is enabled by default and requires a Master Code to delete them. Secure Delete Images by User Code is disabled by default, and when you enable it, a User Code can also delete the photos.

Why You Would Turn It Off

Some owners prefer not to have the camera capture images during an alarm, such as in a space where privacy matters. Others turn it off to keep the stored photos to a minimum. Turning it off affects only the alarm photo, so the rest of your protection stays the same.

How to Turn It Back On

To turn Alarm Photos back on, repeat the same steps and switch the Alarm Photos toggle on. The panel then takes a photograph during the next alarm event. If you turned off the Panel Camera setting earlier, turn that back on first, since it controls every camera function.

Turning off Alarm Photos on your IQ Panel 5 stops the built-in camera from taking a photo during an alarm event on the IQ Panel 5. For help with Alarm Photos or other Camera Settings or other configurations on your IQ Panel 5, contact the Alarm Grid support team. We are here Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Email us at support@alarmgrid.com, call us at 888-818-7728, or visit our website and chat with a live support agent.