Webcam test: is your camera working?

If your camera isn’t working

• The browser blocked it. Click the icon at the left of the address bar, allow the camera for this site and press the button again.
• The lens is covered or switched off. Many laptops have a sliding privacy shutter over the camera or a camera key on the keyboard that turns it off. The picture stays black or the camera isn’t found.
• Another app is holding it. A webcam often works in only one app at a time. Close video call apps and other tabs that use the camera, then try again.
• The system blocks it. Windows has camera privacy settings that must allow apps and your browser to use the camera. On macOS, your browser needs camera permission in Privacy & Security in System Settings. Restart the browser after changing these.
• Wrong camera. If you have a built-in and an external camera, use the Camera menu to switch.

Why the frame rate drops in low light

A camera needs a certain amount of light for each frame. When the room is dim, many webcams keep the shutter open longer to collect enough light, and fewer frames fit into each second. The result is a choppy picture with smeared movement. The fix is almost always more light, not new settings. Turn on a lamp and watch the measured frame rate climb back up.

Looking good on video calls

• Light in front of you. Face a window or a lamp. A bright window behind you turns you into a dark shape.
• Camera at eye level. Raise your laptop on a few books so the camera looks straight at you, not up at you.
• Frame head and shoulders. Leave a little space above your head and sit far enough back that your hands show when you talk.
• Clean the lens. A fingerprint on a laptop camera makes everything look soft and hazy.