Having trouble with your laptop camera?

Try these solutions:

  1. Check your drivers
  2. Check your camera settings
  3. Check the app settings
  4. Check your extensions - NEW
  5. Check it in another browser

Click on each to go to more detailed directions.

Note: Before you start, make sure your shutter is open. If you see a tiny red dot at the top of your screen, slide the even more unobtrusive slider above it to open your shutter.

Drivers

1. Type “device manager” into the Windows 10 search bar at the bottom left of your screen.

Tip: If the search bar is missing, click the Windows icon and type “device manager”.

2. Open Device Manager.

3. Click the arrow beside Cameras.

4. Right click on Integrated Camera and click Update Driver.

5. Click Search Automatically.

6. Wait while the computer searches for and installs drivers.

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Camera Settings

1. Type “camera privacy settings” into the Windows 10 search bar at the bottom left of your screen.

Tip: If the search bar is missing, click the Windows icon and type “camera privacy settings”.

2. Open Camera Privacy Settings.

3. Make sure these 3 things are ON (see pic):

4. If any is off, turn it on. Then check your camera again.

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App Settings

Note: The most common app to give problems, especially with Google Meet, is the Chrome browser. Follow these directions to check your settings in Chrome. If you are not using Chrome, the process will be similar but locations different.

1. In Google Chrome, click the 3 dots in the upper right corner.

2. Click Settings.

3. Type “camera” into the settings search bar (NOT the website address bar).

4. Choose Site Settings (Chrome helpfully highlights).

5. Scroll down to Permissions and click Camera.

6. Make sure Google Meet is under Allowed.

7. If all these settings are correct but you are still having trouble with the camera, click the trash can beside Meet.

8. Then close out of Chrome, wait a moment, and open it again. When you navigate back to Meet, it will ask you for permission to use your camera again.

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Check Your Extensions - NEW (added late 8/25/2020)

Some extensions may cause problems with your camera in Chrome. To check whether this is the case for you, follow these instructions.

1. In Google Chrome, click the 3 dots in the upper right corner.

2. Click on New Incognito Window.

3. In the incognito window, login to your Wake ID, start a Google Meet, and see if your camera works.

If it worked, continue with the following steps. If it did NOT work, skip these steps and try another troubleshooting approach.

4. Click on the puzzle piece in the upper right corner and click Manage Extensions.

5. Note: If your puzzle piece is missing, go to chrome://extensions/ in your browser.

6. Disable each extension one by one to determine which is causing issues with Google Meet.

7. If you find the problematic extension, click Remove to remove it from your browser.

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Check Another Browser

Occasionally, teachers find that their cameras are working but not on certain sites (e.g., Google Meet). If this is happening to you and the other troubleshooting tips are not working, try going to the site in another browser like Firefox.

If the camera works on that site in another browser, you should try removing and reinstalling the original browser.

1. Type “add or remove programs” into the Windows 10 search bar at the bottom left of your screen.

Tip: If the search bar is missing, click the Windows icon and type “add or remove programs”.

2. Open Add or Remove Programs.

3. Scroll down and click on Chrome.

4. Click Uninstall and confirm by clicking Uninstall again.

5. Follow the prompts to uninstall. When finished, restart your computer.

6. Click on the link to the site to install Google Chrome: https://www.google.com/chrome/

7. Click Download Chrome.

8. Follow the instructions on the screen to finish installing Chrome.

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