It can be frustrating when the MacBook camera not working while you attempt an important video call. Your Mac might say there is no connected camera which can be even more annoying to see. If you are experiencing this problem right now, we will be bringing you six troubleshooting options that you can try before you take the Mac to a professional to check.
Why is MacBook Camera not working? – 6 methods to fix
Check the privacy preference
In order to provide you better privacy protection, Mac computers don’t grant access to third-party programs to the camera unless you manually allow it. Normally, you will get a pop-up message when you open the program for the first time requesting you to allow access to the camera.
If that isn’t the case with you, you will have to give your green light by visiting system preferences. This is how you do it.
Go to Apple menu > system preferences > security and privacy > privacy > camera > and from there, you can select which program you want to allow the camera access; if prompted, you will have to enter the Administrator password to confirm the action.
Quit & Restart the program that you want to use and restart the Mac
Perhaps your MacBook camera not working because, you are simultaneously trying to work with two programs that need access to the camera. Mac doesn’t permit the camera for two apps to work at the same time, so you will have to quit one to work with the other. If you have opened only one app, still it will be worth a try to quit and restart the program.
You can easily quit programs by using the Activity Monitor, and before you execute the action, make sure you save your work first if you are currently using any of the apps that you are going to close.
Launch the Activity Monitor and stop all the applications that you think using the camera. If you are not 100% sure which app is utilizing the camera, you will have to quit them all, but as said, make sure you save the stuff before you quit them.
Do you want to know more about Activity Monitor on Mac? Click here to read our article about it. https://www.applepromac.com/what-is-the-task-manager-on-mac/
Now reopen the intended app and see whether the problem is fixed. If the Mac camera is still not working, restart the computer; as in certain instances, the background processes can cause issues to start new programs. In most situations, a simple restart can solve the hardest of the problems within seconds.
Update your MacOS
The bugs in the MacOS can make your computer think there is no camera available on it or cause various issues when opening it. In fact, there can be bugs in the installed apps preventing the camera from working as well. So, the best option to mitigate these bugs is to download and install the latest versions of both MacOS and apps that you are trying to work with the camera.
You can go to system preference > software update to get the latest MacOS updates and you can visit App Store to update the relevant app individually. If you happen to download programs from outside App Store, you shall visit the developer website for the latest updates for the needed program.
Try another user account
Yes, we have seen this happened with previous users. You can try login into your Mac with a different user account and see whether the camera is working or not. Sometimes a faulty user account can cause the built-in camera to not function as it should be. If the camera works faultlessly with the other account, you have to transfer the existing data to it in order to fix the problem.
If you are using only one account on your Mac, this is how you add a new account.
Go to system preferences > users and groups > add (+); from there, you can add a new account on your Mac computer.
Check in Safe Mode https://support.apple.com/en-lk/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac
Like Windows, Mac’s Safe Mode can also provide easy fixes for most common issues. To enter the Safe Mode, first shut down your Mac. Then press the power on button and hold the Shift button when it gets started. Now you should see a Safe Boot option at the top right on the login screen.
Now try using the camera in Safe Mode to see whether it is working. If your camera is working normally, restart the computer again and test it in normal mode.
Try reinstalling the MacOS
This might raise your eyebrows, but you can execute this task without losing your valuable data on the Mac. Reinstalling MacOS is one of the best ways to fix all sorts of software-related issues, including camera errors.
If you feel hesitant about this, you can always back up the Mac before committing to the work, as it will make you confident about reinstalling MacOS. You have to shut down the Mac in the first place to reinstall MacOS. Press the Cmd + R immediately after pressing the power button again; now, your computer will boot in recovery mode.
Read more about MacOS Sierra https://www.applepromac.com/08-macos-sierra-how-tos/
Now from the MacOS utilities, select Reinstall MacOS and follow the simple instructions. Keep your computer connected to an internet connection; it will finish reinstalling MacOS depending on the speed of your connection. This process might take a couple of hours; however, sometimes, it won’t take more than 25 minutes.
Conclusion on why MacBook camera not working
Nowadays, the internet has solutions for literally every problem. As we said at the beginning, if your MacBook camera not working, you can try one or a few options that we provided before you take your Mac to a professional. You don’t have to have the expert technical knowledge to try these. Have a great day!
Our website is all about Apple; and if you are an Apple enthusiast, we have loads of exciting content on our blog waiting for you.
