Whether you are a student or you work from home, chances are you use Microsoft Teams regularly for chat and videoconferencing. Like many of its competitors (e.g., Google Meet, Zoom, Slack), Teams saw a massive influx of users as the global pandemic forced everyone to move their meetings to a virtual environment.
While Teams is currently one of the best platforms for communication and collaboration, it isn’t without its fair share of problems. Sometimes, the camera suddenly stops working with Microsoft Teams on Windows 10, negatively affecting important meetings and classroom lectures in the process.
In fact, the most common problem Microsoft Teams users encounter is related to the webcam. The desktop app would suddenly fail to detect the camera, or the video feed won’t appear for the add-ons, making it quite difficult for the users to collaborate on important projects and participate in virtual conferences.
Luckily, if you are on Windows 10, there are several ways to troubleshoot this particular issue, no matter what the reason might be. This guide outlines a handful of fixes you can follow to get the camera working with Microsoft Teams once again.

Fix MS Teams camera from the app settings

If you are using Microsoft Teams for the first time, it should detect the camera without you needing to select it manually. However, if you are unable to start or join a video conference, chances are something is wrong with the app settings. Here’s how to configure it properly:

First, launch the Microsoft Teams app from your desktop or Start menu.
Click your Profile icon on the top-right corner of the window and select Settings from the drop-down menu.
Highlight the Devices tab in the sidebar, then scroll down to the “Camera” section on the right.
Select the correct webcam from the drop-down menu. If it’s working correctly, you should see a preview of your video feed.

And that’s it! You can now proceed to make video calls to your contacts without running into the error message anymore.

Allow apps access to media to fix MS Teams camera

If an add-on in Microsoft Teams can’t access the camera, you may need to check out the app permissions. In order to allow a Teams add-on to access your device’s webcam, follow these steps:

Launch the Microsoft Teams app from your desktop or Start menu.
Next, click the Profile icon on the upper-right corner of the window, then select the Settings option.
Now highlight the App permissions tab in the sidebar of the Settings menu.
Toggle the switch on next to the Media (Camera, microphone, speakers) option.

Once you do that, the add-ons you have added to your Teams should have permission to access your device’s webcam.

Update the MS Teams app to fix the camera

While Microsoft Teams is configured to update automatically, sometimes, it doesn’t work as intended. Running an older version of the app can be the root of various problems, even causing the camera not to work at all. Here’s how you can check for updates manually to resolve the issues in the Teams app:

Open the Microsoft Teams app and click your Profile icon on the top-right corner.
Click the Check for updates option in the drop-down menu. If there’s an update, the Teams app will download and install it automatically.
Finally, relaunch the Teams app for the update to take effect.

Upon completing the steps, go to the app’s Settings > Devices page to see whether you can see the camera preview. Alternatively, click the Make a test call option to verify that everything is working as it usually should.

Reinstall MS Teams to fix the camera issues

If updating the Microsoft Teams app doesn’t resolve the camera issues, reinstalling it might help. You can use these steps to uninstall and reinstall the Teams app on Windows 10:

Go to the Windows Settings app from the Start menu.
Select Apps on the main Settings page, then choose Apps & features in the sidebar.
Next, search for the “Teams” app in the list, select it, and click the Uninstall button.
Click Uninstall once again to confirm the Teams app’s removal from your PC.
After that, open a new browser tab and go to the Microsoft Teams Download page.
Now scroll down a bit and click the Download Teams button.
Once the installer file finishes downloading, double-click to launch it.

Upon reinstalling Microsoft Teams and going through the login process, visit the app settings and make sure the correct camera device is selected. Provided that there aren’t any hardware issues, you should be able to start making video calls from the app again.

Disable additional devices to fix MS Teams camera

If the Microsoft Teams app on Windows 10 still can’t recognize the camera, disconnect and reconnect it to see whether that resolves the issue. If your PC or laptop got multiple webcams, disconnect the external USB one to check if Teams works with the built-in camera. In most cases, the built-in solution works the best.
But in case you would like to use your USB-powered webcam for crisper video quality on Teams, disabling the integrated one with Device Manager may also work. Here’s how to disable a camera on Windows 10:

Open the Start menu and type “Device Manager,” and click the top result.
Expand the Imaging devices or Cameras option, then right-click the webcam you wish to disable.
Finally, select Disable device in the drop-down menu.

Once you perform the above steps, relaunch the Microsoft teams app and choose your preferred webcam from the settings. Note that you won’t be able to use the disabled device with other apps until you go back to Device Manager and manually enable it.

Change privacy settings to fix MS Teams camera

Your privacy settings on Windows 10 can be another reason why Microsoft Teams is unable to find the built-in or external webcam. If you think that’s the issue, you can follow the steps below to allow the app access to the camera.

First, go to the Start menu and open the Settings app.
Visit the Privacy menu, then select Camera under the “App permissions” section of the sidebar.
Click the Change button under the “Allow access to the camera on this device” option, and then turn on the toggle switch.
Additionally, toggle the switch on under the “Allow apps to access your camera” option.

Assuming you have followed the instructions correctly, the Teams app should now have access to the built-in or external webcam connected to your Windows 10 PC or laptop.
If you also happen to have trouble with the microphone, visit the Microphone page in the Windows Privacy Settings menu and make sure that the following options are enabled:

Allow access to the microphone on this device
Allow apps to access your microphone

Update drivers to fix MS Teams camera

If you still can’t get the camera working with Microsoft Teams, the webcam drivers are to blame here. You can update, reinstall, or roll back to the previous driver version to fix the issue.

Update webcam driver

To update webcam drivers on Windows 10, follow the steps below.

Go to Settings from the Start menu, and visit the Update & Security page.
On the “Windows Update” screen, click the View optional updates option.
Next, check the box next to the new camera driver under the “Driver updates” section.
At last, click the Download and install button.

If there aren’t any updates related to the camera driver, check out the next section.

Reinstall webcam driver

If the camera problem on Microsoft Teams happens to be a driver-level issue, reinstalling the webcam driver through Device Manager may work. Here’s what you need to do:

Search for the “Device Manager” app from the Start menu and open it.
Expand the Imaging devices or Camera option, then right-click the webcam connected to your device.
Select the Uninstall device option in the drop-down menu, followed by the Uninstall button.
Now click the Action tab above the Device Manager window and select Scan for hardware changes. If Windows identifies your webcam, it will automatically install the correct drivers for it.
Alternatively, go to the webcam manufacturer’s website, download the official driver for the particular model, and install it on your PC.

After performing the steps, we recommend rebooting your Windows computer. Once you are booted back to the OS, launch Microsoft Teams to check if the camera is working as it should.

Rollback camera driver

If you have recently updated your webcam drivers to the latest version, that’s what might be causing the device not to work with Microsoft Teams. In this case, rolling back to the previous driver version should definitely resolve the issue.

Go to the Device Manager and expand the Imaging devices or Cameras option in the list.
Right-click the webcam connected to your computer and select the Properties option.
Next, go to the Driver tab and click the Roll Back Driver button.
If the button is greyed out, Windows has probably deleted the backup of the previous driver version.
Select a reason for rolling back the drivers, then hit the Yes button.
Finally, click Yes once again and reboot your PC.

After the driver rollback, the Teams desktop app should recognize the webcam again.

Alternative solution: Use the web client

If none of the above fixes resolve the Teams camera issue, and you need to join an important meeting, we recommend using the web version of Microsoft Teams. Here’s how you can start a session via the Teams web client:

Go to teams.microsoft.com from your browser (preferably Chrome or Edge).
Log in with your Microsoft account credentials. You can also sign in instantly using Windows Hello.
Next, click the “Use the web app instead” option on the welcome page.
Choose your organization (if necessary) and click Continue.
Once you are in the main Teams interface, go to the Chat tab.
Now select the contact you wish to make a video call to, and click the Video call icon on the top-right corner.
A browser prompt should appear regarding the Teams web client asking for camera and microphone permissions. Click Allow to continue.

Voila! As long as your web browser can use the webcam and mic, you should be able to participate in video conferences and regular calls through the Teams web client.

Final words

We hope you find the following fixes and solutions in this Windows 10 guide helpful. Whether you have successfully resolved the camera issues on Microsoft Teams or still facing them, please let us know in the comments.
Microsoft Teams is an excellent video conferencing service, especially at these crucial times. However, if you don’t want someone else snooping on your Teams chat and stealing sensitive information, make sure to check out this guide to enable two-step verification on your Microsoft account.

Talha Ali

Talha Ali is your tech generalist, covering a wide spectrum of topics within the ever-evolving world of technology. With a curiosity for the latest innovations, industry trends, and breakthroughs. Whether it’s hardware, software, emerging technologies, or the intersection of tech with daily life, Talha’s articles provide readers with a well-rounded perspective on the dynamic landscape of the tech industry.

How to Fix Camera Not Working with Microsoft Teams on Windows 10