Why Is My Camera Black?

A black camera preview looks the same whatever caused it, which is why the usual advice is a long list of things to try. You can skip most of that list. Open a webcam test and look at one thing first: does it show a resolution and a frame rate, or an error?

How do you tell what's making your camera black?

Run a webcam test and read what it measures. Our Webcam Test is a free browser tool that shows your camera's live picture, resolution and frame rate. Here's what it said for each cause we could make:

So there are two groups. When the test shows a size and a frame rate, the camera works and is sending pictures; they just happen to be black. When it shows a message instead, no picture reached the page, and the message names the reason.

Is my camera covered, or is the room just too dark?

A covered lens gives a flat picture with no detail at all, and a dark room still has some. That's how our Webcam Test tells them apart. It samples the picture and looks at two numbers: how bright it is on average (0 to 255) and how much it varies. Our covered clip averaged 12.3 with almost no variation (0.03), so it was called a black image. The dark-room clip was even darker on average, 4, but it varied (9.1) because a face and a window were still faintly there. The test called that "too dark", not black.

The fixes differ. For "black image", look for the physical cause: a sliding privacy shutter over the lens, a sticker or tape, a laptop lid closed on an external monitor setup, or a camera switch or key on some laptops. For "too dark", the camera is fine; turn on a light in front of you. Our guide to looking good on webcam has the lighting steps.

Why is my camera black with no error at all in a call?

Most call apps don't tell you why the picture is black; they just show a black tile or your initials. Behind that tile is usually one of the three errors below, so run the test in another tab to see which. Close the call first, though: a camera held by the call can come up as busy in the test.

1. 1

   Camera access is blocked

   The browser or the computer said no. In Chrome, click the icon at the left of the address bar, set Camera to Allow and reload. On a Mac, also open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera and turn your browser on. On Windows, open Settings → Privacy & security → Camera, and turn on both Camera access and Let desktop apps access your camera (browsers count as desktop apps).

2. 2

   The camera is busy

   Another app is using it. Often only one app can use a webcam at a time, so close Zoom, Teams, OBS, another browser or the Camera app. On a Mac, the green light next to the camera shows something has it open.

3. 3

   No camera found

   The computer doesn't see a camera at all. Plug a USB webcam straight into the computer rather than a hub, try another port, or open the laptop lid. If the camera is missing from the system's own camera app too, it's a cable, driver or hardware problem.

Why is a virtual camera black?

A virtual camera is software that pretends to be a webcam, so it's only as good as the program feeding it. OBS's, for example, only carries OBS's picture while OBS is open and you've clicked Start Virtual Camera in its Controls dock (that's the step in OBS's own guide). Pick it in a call before that and there's no OBS picture to show. Our explainer on virtual cameras covers how they work.

We checked our own. With the Facecam extension installed, signed out and Face swap picked, we chose Facecam Virtual Camera in the Webcam Test. It wasn't black: it passed the real camera picture straight through, at 1280×720 and about 30 frames a second, and every check passed. That's by design. Until a face swap has actually started, Facecam Virtual Camera shows your normal camera, so a black picture from it means the real camera behind it is black. Fix that one first, using the steps above.

Once a swap is running, the Facecam camera shows the swapped face instead. You can become anyone you want on Google Meet, Zoom on the web or Discord in Chrome.

What didn't we test?

Our camera was Chrome's built-in test camera playing recorded clips, so we couldn't show a real webcam's behaviour in the dark (it slows down and gets grainy before it goes black), a broken driver, or a loose cable. The three error messages came from making the browser report each error rather than from a real blocked or busy webcam; the messages and fixes are the ones a real case gets. We didn't install OBS for this test, and we didn't test phones: on an iPhone or iPad, camera access for a website is under aA → Website Settings → Camera in Safari, or Settings → Safari → Camera.