Camera or microphone not working in video chat?

Try these first

1. Close other apps that use the camera: Zoom, Teams, Discord, OBS, FaceTime, and other browser tabs with a video call. Most cameras work in one app at a time.
2. Check the address starts with https://. Browsers only let a secure page use a camera or microphone.
3. Allow the site when your browser asks. If you pressed Block once, the browser remembers it: the steps below undo that.
4. Open the page in a real browser. Links opened inside Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or Snapchat use the app’s built-in browser, which usually can’t use the camera.
5. Reload the page after changing a setting, or restart the browser after changing your computer’s privacy settings.

What the error means

Browsers report a camera problem with one of a few error names. Sites word them differently, so here is what each one really says.

Allow the camera and microphone, by browser

Chrome, Edge and Opera on a computer

1. Click the camera icon at the right end of the address bar.
2. Choose Always allow, then click Done.
3. Reload the page.

No camera icon? Click the icon at the left end of the address bar, open Site settings, and set Camera and Microphone to Allow.

Firefox on a computer

1. Click the crossed-out camera or microphone icon at the left of the address bar.
2. Clear the Blocked entries for Camera and Microphone.
3. Reload the page and choose Allow when asked.

Safari on a Mac

1. In the menu bar, choose Safari, then Settings for This Website.
2. Set Camera and Microphone to Allow.
3. Reload the page.

iPhone and iPad

In Safari:

1. Press the page menu at the side of the address bar (aA on many versions of iOS).
2. Choose Website Settings.
3. Set Camera and Microphone to Allow, then reload the page.

In Chrome, Firefox or another browser on an iPhone: reload the page and press Allow when asked. If you aren’t asked, open the Settings app, find that browser, and turn on Camera and Microphone.

Android

In Chrome, Samsung Internet or Edge:

1. Press the icon at the left of the address bar.
2. Open Permissions and allow Camera and Microphone.
3. Reload the page.

If they already show as allowed, open Android Settings, then Apps, then your browser, then Permissions, and allow both there. In Firefox for Android, press the lock icon at the left of the address bar and turn on Camera and Microphone.

Inside Instagram, TikTok, Facebook or Snapchat

These apps open links in their own built-in browser, which usually can’t use the camera at all. Press the ⋯ or ⋮ menu and choose Open in browser (or Open in Safari, or Open in Chrome).

When your computer is the one blocking it

Windows 11 and Windows 10

1. Open Settings, then Privacy & security (on Windows 10: Privacy).
2. Open Camera and turn on Camera access, and “Let desktop apps access your camera”.
3. Do the same under Microphone.
4. Restart the browser.

macOS

1. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security.
2. Open Camera and turn on your browser.
3. Do the same under Microphone.
4. Quit and reopen the browser.

Your camera works, but something else doesn’t

• You can’t hear the other person. Browsers start sound only after you press something on the page. On ChatDrift.Fun, press Turn on sound, or move the volume slider on their video.
• Their video stays black. The connection between you didn’t come up, often because of a strict network (a school, office or public Wi-Fi). ChatDrift.Fun moves on to someone new after 3 seconds without a connection, and says so if it keeps failing from your side.
• Testing with two windows on one computer. Most cameras work in one window at a time, so the second window gets no camera. That is the camera, not the site.
• The camera light is on after you leave. Close the tab. A browser releases the camera when the page that uses it closes.

On ChatDrift.Fun

ChatDrift.Fun needs both your camera and your microphone: nobody can watch without being seen, so there is no camera-off and no mute. If either one stops, the page goes back to a card that names what is missing and shows the steps for the browser you are using. You see your own camera in the waiting room before anyone else does, so you can check it first.

Questions people ask