Webcam not working
Meeting without a picture, or a black rectangle where you should be.
What you notice
- The camera shows a black picture.
- It works in one program and not another.
- It says the camera is in use by something else.
- The light does not come on.
- It stopped after an update.
What we do about it
A camera that works in one program is almost never broken. Usually permission is off for that one program, and that is a setting.
Many laptops have a slider or a key that physically covers the camera. That is the first thing we rule out, and it is the answer more often than people expect.
We also look at which programs have access to your camera. That is worth knowing regardless of this fault.
Does it fail everywhere, including in the Windows camera app? Mention that and we know more straight away.
Tell us what you are seeing. We will take it from there.