Why can't my laptop open the camera? Steps to turn on the camera on the laptop

This article will bring up the causes as well as how to fix the laptop that cannot open the camera, please follow along!

1. The reason why laptop camera can't open

The laptop camera not opening comes from many different reasons. First, the possibility that the Anti Virus program in the machine is blocking the camera is very possible. Not only that, sometimes the camera is set to adjust privacy or not allow camera access for certain applications, making it not work every time you use it.

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2. How to fix laptop camera not opening error

To fix the laptop camera error, please do some of the following ways!

Check the camera switch or toggle on the device

Some laptop models will have a separate physical button to turn on / off the camera. If your laptop has that button but the camera still won't open, check to see if the button is enabled. Make sure the button is on before using the camera.

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App permissions

If your laptop has updated to the new version of  Windows 10  , you can grant camera access to the application by following these steps:

Step 1 : Select  Camera Privacy settings  in Settings section  .

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Step 2 : Click the On  button  to allow the application to access the camera.

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Check anti-virus software

Because the camera affects user privacy, some anti-virus software blocks it. For help, visit the antivirus software company's website, or you can do the following yourself:

Select  Virus & threat protection  in  Settings  to check if there's anything blocking your camera.

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Use another USB port and scan for hardware changes

If you are using an external camera then try using it using a different USB port on your device. If your camera is already built into your device, do the following:

Step 1 : Select  Control Panel  in the search bar.

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Step 2 : Click on  Large icon  in  Category section .

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Step 3 : Click  Troubleshooting .

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Step 4 : Click on  View all .

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Step 5 : Select  Hardware and Device and  then click  next  to find hardware changes.

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Some cameras are designed to sometimes not be compatible with your Windows device. Here's how you can check if your camera is compatible:

Step 1 : Select  Device Manager  in the search bar.

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Step 2 : Find and click on Cameras item  .

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Step 3 : Right-  click  and select  Properties .

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Step 4 : Locate the  Driver tab  and then select the Driver details button  .

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Find the filename with the characters  stream.sys . If yes, your camera is compatible with  Windows 7 . If not, do the following:

Step 5 : Switch to the  Driver tab  and then click  Roll Back Driver  > Select  OK  to complete.

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Check the camera driver

If you use an external camera via USB, please uninstall all existing drivers and visit the manufacturer's website to update to the latest version and then install it on your computer and connect the camera to the USB port. other.

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Update camera driver

Step 1 : Select  Device Manager in the search bar.

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Step 2 : Find and click on  Display adapter item .

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Step 3 : Locate the  Driver tab  and then select the Update Driver button  .

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Step 4 : Select  Search automatically for updated driver software  to search for compatible drivers.

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Roll back the camera driver

Step 1 : Select  Device Manager  in the search bar.

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Step 2 : Select Display adapter item  .

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Step 3 : Click  Roll back driver  > Click  OK .

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Uninstall the camera driver and scan for hardware changes

Step 1 : Select  Device Manager  in the search bar.

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Step 2 : Select Display adapter item  .

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Step 3 :  Right-click and select  Uninstall device .

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Step 4 : Select  Scan driver  to scan for and change hardware.

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This article has helped you know the cause and how to fix the laptop not opening the camera. See you in the next post!

Marvin Fry

Update 15 June 2021