Ring Privacy Zones: How to Block Areas From Recording

A doorbell camera can record more than your doorstep. Privacy Zones let you block parts of the view, with a few important limits.

By Siddharth ShankarUpdated October 21, 2026

A video doorbell or outdoor camera sees what is in front of it, including a neighbour’s window, a public path or part of the street. Privacy Zones help you respect other people’s privacy and limit what your own footage captures.

What a Privacy Zone does

Ring’s support page on privacy zones says they are areas your camera will not show or record. They are blocked out when you watch live or recorded video.

How to create a zone

How to delete a zone

Follow the first three steps above, tap Edit, then Edit Privacy Zones, select the zone, tap the trash can icon and confirm with Delete Zone.

Limits to know

• You can create up to two Privacy Zones per Ring device.
• They are not available on the Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam, Stick Up Cam with Pan-Tilt Mount, Stick Up Cam (1st Gen) and Video Doorbell (1st Gen).
• If the camera moves, the zone moves with it and may no longer cover the area you meant.
• Motion can still be detected behind a zone and can trigger recordings. Adjust Motion Zones to limit detection.
• Blocked areas become a permanent part of any recording made while the zone was active, so past recordings cannot be changed.

Other Ring privacy options

Ring’s privacy features page also covers audio streaming and recording. You can switch audio off in the same Privacy Settings area, so events are recorded without sound. The page says this needs a compatible Ring subscription. Check the Ring app for other settings, such as shared users and account security.

Before you point a camera

Walk the area and check what the camera will see: a neighbour’s window, a shared path, a street or a garden. Set the angle first and add the zone afterwards, because moving the camera later shifts the zone. If a neighbour raises a concern, adjusting the camera and the zones is a courteous and often effective answer.

About the Neighbors app

Ring also runs a neighbourhood app for sharing local posts and clips. We have not covered its settings here, because the support pages we checked deal with devices and privacy zones. Review the app’s own privacy and sharing options before you post footage that shows people or your address.

Check the settings after updates

Camera apps change over time, and a new firmware or app update can alter how settings behave. After an update, open Privacy Settings again and confirm your zones are still in place, and test by viewing a live feed.

Good practice for any home camera

• Point cameras at your own property and keep neighbours’ windows and gardens out of view.
• Tell visitors and neighbours that cameras are present where the law or courtesy calls for it.
• Use a strong, unique password and two-step verification for the account.
• Share footage only when needed, because clips can reveal when you are home or away.

For other ways a home can be exposed, read how to blur your house on Google Maps and how to remove your address from the internet.

App menus change, so follow the labels you see in your Ring app.