Barring the Mac Pro and Mac mini, every Mac out there ships with a FaceTime camera. It’s a great way to initiate a video call, while at the same time a security problem for the paranoid ones. Head up to the FaceTime menu and open up the Preferences. There you'll find a magical toggle which will prevent random FaceTime calls from disrupting your day.
Cameras and computers seem not to like each other. Ask any computer store what’s the most common issue customers experience, and they’ll likely tell you that it has something to do with cameras not working as they should. Mac users have it a lot better than Windows and Linux users because most Mac-compatible cameras tend to work right out of the box without any configuration. Of course, the presence of the word most means that even the Mac users who stick to Apple-approved hardware can experience problems with cameras not working as they should.
Note: Want to be safe? Hide your IP right away, otherwise government, hackers, provider knows everything about you. Use any VPN app you like, or just download which is on sale. This troubleshooting guide was created to help you get your Mac camera working correctly. Don’t be afraid to follow our advice even if you’ve never fixed a computer camera problem before; if you don’t deviate from our instructions, you have nothing to mess up.
At the end of this guide is a list of five best external Mac webcams which are guaranteed to work flawlessly with your Mac computer as soon as you plug them in. Why Isn’t My Camera Working on My Mac There are many potential reasons why your Mac camera isn’t working. Among them are mechanical and hardware problems, which are impossible to fix with software tweaks.
If your camera is physically damaged, it needs to be replaced. Although you can order replacement Mac cameras from sites like eBay, we highly discourage you from attempting to perform a DIY repair unless you are certain that you know what you’re doing. If you can’t be without your trusted Mac computer even for a few days and have someone replace the broken camera for you, an external webcam is a good way how to circumvent the problem. How to Connect Camera on Mac When connecting a camera to a Mac computer, you can simply connect the camera’s USB cable to any matching USB port on the Mac.
Keep in mind that USB Type-A ports are not reversible, unlike USB Type-C ports, so the cable will only go in one way. If it doesn’t insert easily, don’t force it in — you could damage it.
Instead, examine both the cable and the port and carefully try again. Once connected, the camera should be immediately detected and ready for use. If it isn’t, you may need to download additional drivers from the website of the camera’s manufacturer. How to Turn on Camera on Mac If you’ve been searching how to enable camera on Mac but haven’t been able to find anything useful, that’s because the built-in iSight camera doesn’t have an on and off switch — neither physical nor software. The camera is activated by apps, such as the Photo Booth app. You can easily test how the automatic activation works by opening Finder, clicking on the Applications folder, and selecting Photo Booth. As soon as Photo Booth starts, the LED next to the built-in iSight camera should turn on, informing you that the camera is activated.
How to Turn on Camera on Mac for Facetime As you now know, Mac cameras activate automatically. However, the automatic activation process sometimes fails, leaving you without any obvious option how to turn on the camera manually. To turn on camera on Mac for Facetime when it doesn’t automatically activate, you need to open Terminal from Applications > Utilities. Click inside the terminal window and type “ sudo killall VDCAssistant” without the quotation marks.
Hit Enter on your keyboard. You may be prompted for your admin password. If everything goes right, you won’t see any confirmation message. If an error occurs, you will see an error message in the terminal window. Finally, open any app that uses the camera, such as Photo Booth, to confirm that the fix worked. Skype: Camera Not Working Mac If your Mac camera isn’t working when making Skype calls, the chances are that Skype is to blame.
Make sure that you have the latest version. If you do and Skype still doesn’t work, reinstall the app. If the problem still persists, apply the fix described in the previous chapter. Restart your Mac computer and test Skype again. Skype reinstall and the fix above should solve most issues with the iSight camera. Third-party cameras are a different story, though.