Webcam not working: a step-by-step checklist

Step 1: Confirm the camera is physically available

Before touching any software setting, rule out the physical causes first, since they're the fastest to check and the easiest to overlook.

• Look for a hardware privacy cover or sliding switch on the camera itself. Some laptops and external webcams have one, and it overrides every software permission.
• If it's an external USB webcam, unplug it and plug it into a different port. A loose or damaged cable is a common, easy-to-miss cause.
• If it's a laptop's built-in camera, restart the laptop. A surprising number of "broken" webcams are actually a driver that got stuck after a sleep/wake cycle.

Step 2: Check the operating system's camera permission

Your operating system decides whether any application, including your browser, is allowed to use the camera at all. If this is switched off, no website or app can override it, no matter what permission you grant there.

• Windows 10 and 11: open Settings, go to Privacy & security, then Camera. Make sure "Camera access" is on, "Let apps access your camera" is on, and your specific browser is allowed in the list further down.
• macOS: open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, then Camera, and check that the toggle next to your browser is switched on. If your browser isn't listed at all, it hasn't asked for camera access yet; try the test again and click Allow when prompted.
• ChromeOS: visit chrome://settings/content/camera to see and reset every site's camera permission in one place.
• iPhone/iPad: Settings, find your browser (Safari or Chrome), then Camera, and set it to Ask or Allow.
• Android: Settings > Apps > [your browser] > Permissions > Camera.

Step 3: Check the browser's own camera permission

Even with the operating system allowing camera access in general, each browser keeps its own, separate permission per website. If you clicked "Block" once, the browser will keep blocking silently, without asking again, until you reset it.

• Chrome and Edge: click the padlock or camera icon at the left of the address bar, find Camera in the dropdown, and set it to Allow. Then reload the page.
• Firefox: click the padlock icon, open Permissions, and clear or change the Camera entry.
• Safari: open Safari's Settings for the current website (Safari menu > Settings for This Website on Mac), and set Camera to Allow.
• If you don't see a permission icon at all, the browser may not have asked yet; reload the page and look for a popup near the top of the window.

Step 4: Close anything else that might be using the camera

Most operating systems only let one application use a camera at a time. If another app already has it open, your browser will either show an error or a black screen with no error at all.

• Close other video calling apps completely, not just minimize them: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Skype, Discord, and screen recording tools are the most common culprits.
• Check for other open browser tabs that might already be using the camera, including a second tab of this same webcam test.
• On Windows, Task Manager's Details tab occasionally shows a leftover camera-using process after a call app crashes; ending that process frees the camera without a full restart.
• If you're on a video call platform's desktop app and its browser version at the same time, close one of them; they'll fight over the same camera.

Step 5: Try a different camera or a different browser

If steps 1 through 4 didn't fix it, narrowing down whether the problem is the camera, the driver, or one specific browser tells you what to fix next. If your device has more than one camera, run the webcam test and pick the other camera from the dropdown once you're past the permission prompt, so you can tell whether the problem follows the camera or stays with the port.

• Multiple cameras: a built-in laptop camera plus an external webcam is the most common case; switching cameras in the test's dropdown takes a few seconds and immediately tells you if the problem is device-specific.
• Try a different browser entirely. If the camera works in one browser but not another, the issue is a permission or setting specific to the broken browser, not the camera or driver.
• On Windows, check Device Manager under Cameras (or Imaging devices) for a yellow warning icon, which points to a driver problem that a reinstall or Windows Update will usually resolve.

Camera works here but looks bad on a real call

If the webcam test shows a smooth, bright, correctly sized picture but a real video call still looks choppy or dark, the camera and driver are fine, and the cause is somewhere else in the chain. For a deeper explanation of what resolution and frame rate mean and how this site measures them, see how the webcam test works.

Curious exactly what this test does, and doesn't do, with your camera while you're checking it? See the privacy policy for the full breakdown.

• Low measured frame rate only during the call, not during the test, usually points to the call app or your internet connection being under load, not the camera.
• A dark picture is most often just room lighting: face a window or lamp rather than having the light source behind you.
• If only one specific app (Zoom, Teams, a browser-based call tool) shows a bad picture while every other app is fine, check that app's own camera settings, since some apps cap resolution or frame rate to save bandwidth by default.