What Is a Virtual Camera?

Open the camera menu in Zoom or Google Meet and you might see names that aren't cameras at all: OBS Virtual Camera, or one from a VTuber app. Those are virtual cameras. They're how streamers and VTubers get anything other than their raw webcam into a call.

What does a virtual camera do?

Your computer keeps a list of cameras. A virtual camera adds an entry to that list, and instead of a lens, the picture comes from software. To the call app it looks like any webcam. That's the whole trick, and it's why a virtual camera works with apps that were never designed for avatars or scenes.

Which apps can see which virtual camera?

The browser-only column comes from how our extension works: the camera is added to web pages inside Chrome, so it can't exist anywhere else. The OBS column assumes the virtual camera is started and the app was reopened afterwards.

How do you use OBS as a virtual camera?

1. 1

   Build your scene in OBS

   Add your webcam, avatar, overlays or game capture to a scene.

2. 2

   Click Start Virtual Camera

   It's in OBS's Controls dock. OBS now sends that scene as a camera.

3. 3

   Choose what it sends, if you need to

   The gear next to the button picks the output: Program (what OBS normally shows), Preview (in Studio Mode), one Scene, or one Source. Source is handy when you want only your avatar in the call, without overlays.

4. 4

   Pick it in your call

   In Zoom, Meet, Discord or Teams, open the video settings and choose OBS Virtual Camera.

To check that it's working without joining a call, open our OBS Virtual Camera Checker. It lists every camera your browser can see and previews what OBS is sending.

Why isn't OBS Virtual Camera showing up?

• You haven't clicked Start Virtual Camera. It isn't on by default.
• The app was already open. Many apps read the camera list once. Quit the call app completely and reopen it after starting the virtual camera.
• Another app has it. Some setups only let one app use a camera at a time. Close other apps using it.
• The browser hasn't been allowed. In a web call, the site needs camera permission, and the browser must see the device. Our checker shows whether it does.
• On a Mac, macOS blocked it. The first time, macOS reports a blocked system extension from OBS: open System Settings, click Allow and confirm with your password. On macOS 13 or later you need OBS 30 or newer.
• On Linux, v4l2loopback isn't installed. OBS's virtual camera runs on that kernel module. Install it from your distribution's packages.
• On Windows, it vanished after an update. OBS's troubleshooting page says to run virtualcam-install.bat as administrator from C:\Program Files\obs-studio\data\obs-plugins\win-dshow.

Why does a browser-only virtual camera exist?

It's the no-install version. Our tools (the VTuber Maker, Webcam Effects, Live Face Swap) run on the page in your browser, even on a phone. To use them in a call, the free Facecam extension adds Facecam Virtual Camera to websites in Chrome on a computer. You pick it in Meet, Zoom on the web or discord.com like any camera, and the call sees your avatar, your effect or the face you chose. Nothing is installed on the system, which is why it needs no admin rights. Our virtual camera for Chrome page lists where it works. Our video call face swap guide shows it in a real call.

The trade-off is reach. Desktop apps, including the Zoom and Discord apps and OBS itself, can't see it, because it only exists inside Chrome. If you need your avatar in a desktop app, Facecam for PC and Mac installs a system virtual camera, or you can capture the Chrome tab in OBS and use OBS Virtual Camera.

What didn't we test here?

We didn't run OBS for this post. Our checker saw Chrome's built-in fake camera, renamed to match OBS's, which shows how the checker reports a working OBS camera but not OBS's own quirks. The OBS steps follow its knowledge base. We also haven't tested other virtual cameras, such as the ones VTuber apps or camera makers install.