The camera cannot be turned on mostly because of settings, drivers or permissions. 1. Check the privacy settings: Go to "Settings" → "Privacy and Security" → "Camera", make sure "Allow apps to access the camera" is turned on, and confirm that the specific application has permissions; 2. Check whether the physical switch or shortcut keys enable the camera; 3. Check the camera driver status through the device manager, update or reinstall the abnormal driver; 4. Close the program that occupies the camera and troubleshoot application conflicts; 5. Temporarily disable antivirus software and other tools that may intercept access; 6. The system version is too old or the hardware failure may also be the cause, so you can try to connect the external camera to make further judgments.

The camera cannot be turned on, the screen is black, the driver is abnormal... The camera problem on Windows computers is indeed quite annoying, especially when holding video conferences or taking online classes. This type of problem is usually not that the hardware is broken, but that there is something wrong with the setup, driver or permissions.

Check if the camera is disabled

First confirm whether the camera is disabled by the system or application. Many people don’t notice that the system’s own privacy settings will prevent certain software from accessing the camera.

• Open Settings → Privacy and Security → Camera
• Make sure "Allow apps to access the camera" is on
• In the apps listed below, make sure that the one you are using (such as Zoom, Teams) also has permissions.

Sometimes the camera is turned off by physical switches or shortcut keys, especially some laptops have special camera switches or function key combinations (such as Fn F keys). You can check whether your device has this design.

Update or reinstall the camera driver

If there is a problem with the driver, the camera will not work properly. You can check the current status through the Device Manager:

• Right-click Start Menu → Device Manager
• Expand the Camera or Image Devices option
• If you see a yellow exclamation mark, it means there is a problem with the driver

Right-click on the camera device → Update driver and select "Auto Search Update". If it doesn't work, you can try uninstalling and restarting the computer and letting it reinstall. Some branded machines (such as Lenovo and Dell) recommend downloading dedicated drivers on the official website.

Problems or conflicts in the application itself

Sometimes the camera can be occupied by one application, but other software cannot be opened. For example, if WeChat turns on the camera but does not turn it off, other applications will prompt "the device is occupied."

• Close all programs that may use the camera
• Check whether there are any video-type processes running in the background in the task manager
• Try changing a software to test whether the camera can start normally

In addition, some third-party antivirus software or system optimization tools will also intercept camera access and temporarily close them to see if there is any improvement.

Sometimes, small details are easily overlooked, such as the system version is too old and leads to compatibility issues, or the camera interface is loose. If you have checked the above situations and still not possible, it may be a hardware failure. At this time, you can try using a USB external camera to determine whether it is a problem with the motherboard or camera module.

Basically, these common reasons are checked step by step in order and can be solved in most cases.

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