Is your MacBook camera working?Try these 11 fixes

If your camera isn’t working or available on your MacBook, you won’t be able to use FaceTime or connect with colleagues via video calls. Thankfully, if it’s not a hardware issue, you can probably fix it yourself.

Here are 11 simple fixes to get your MacBook’s built-in camera working again.

1. Kill competing apps
2. Restart your mac
3. Make sure the app has permission to access your Mac’s camera
4. Try using another app that requires a camera
5. Make sure your Mac camera is not limited by screen time
6. Update or reinstall the app
7. Update your mac
8. Check Mac system reports
9. Run Apple Diagnostics
10. Reset the SMC
11. Does the camera light blink? Contact Apple Support

1. Kill conflicting apps

If you have problems with your MacBook camera with apps like FaceTime, Skype, Photo Booth, Zoom, you can kill them.

Note: This will close the app without saving any pending work. Therefore, save your work before killing the app.

1. Push Command + Options + esc Or click Apple logo → forced termination..
2. Press and hold command Press the key to select all open apps that you think are using the camera.
3. click forced termination..

   

After 15 seconds Photo booth Apps via the Launchpad, Spotlight, or Applications folder. Check if the camera works.

2. Restart your Mac

click Apple logo Upper right → select Reboot.. Now try using your Mac camera. It should work.

Tips: If a simple restart doesn’t solve the problem, start your Mac in safe mode and see if the camera works.

You can also open it Terminal Run this command to kill the camera assistant.

1. Copy and paste the following command into your terminal – sudo killall VDCAssistant;sudo killall AppleCameraAssistant
2. Press enter Key.
3. next, Mac password..

3. Make sure the app has permission to access the Mac camera

Starting with macOS Mojave, you can decide which apps will use your Mac’s camera. If your app has previously denied permission to access your webcam, here’s how to check and allow it.

1. click Apple logo Select from the upper left System Preferences..
2. click Security and privacy → Click camera Located in the left sidebar.
   Make sure the app you’re using has permission to the camera. That is, it has a blue checkmark.
3. If not, Padlock icon, Enter your Mac password to allow the app to use the camera.

   

4. Try using another app that requires a camera

There may be a problem with a particular app, not the Mac camera. To check this, open another app that uses the camera. For example, open a photo booth or FaceTime to see if everything works.

5. Make sure your Mac camera is not limited by screen time

Starting with macOS Catalina, you can limit your Mac’s camera via ScreenTime. Follow the steps below to make sure this is not the case.

1. click Apple logo → System Preferences → Screening time..
2. From the left sidebar, click Content and privacy → App..
3. Here, the camera Permit, And apps that require access to the camera have time left.

   

6. Update or reinstall the app

If you’re constantly having problems with your app and your Mac camera, consider updating your app for better compatibility. Open the App Store and update section.

If your app is downloaded from another location, learn how to update it.

In addition, if updating doesn’t resolve the issue, try uninstalling and reinstalling the app. Here you can learn different ways to uninstall Mac apps.

7. Update your Mac

With every update, Apple is trying to improve the performance of your Mac. If you’re having trouble using your camera, consider updating to the latest version of macOS.

To do this System Preferences → Software update..

8. Check your Mac system report

1. click Apple logo → About this Mac → System report..
2. From the left side, click camera..
3. The camera details are displayed on the right side.

   

Note: If you don’t see anything, it means your Mac’s camera is broken or unusable. Follow the remaining solutions below or contact Apple Support to fix the camera issue.

9. Run Apple Diagnostics

Another useful solution to identify the problem is to run Apple Diagnostics. If you do this, you will see an error code (if any).If the error code starts with N, That means you have a problem with your camera.

Please contact Apple Support and provide the error code. You can find a complete list of error codes and their meanings here.

10. Reset the SMC

If you’re using an Intel-based Mac, resetting the SMC can help resolve the internal camera issue. The process is simple. Here you can learn how to reset the SMC.

Is the small green light next to the MacBook camera still flashing after trying the above solution? Contact Apple Support.

This is a way to fix Mac camera issues. We hope you find the above guide helpful. Now there are no problems with video calls and the like. If you have any further questions, we will comment.

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