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My Windows 10 Camera or Microphone is Not Working

Megha Nanjundaiah
Updated
Relevant to: Guests Speakers Event Managers & Assistants Account Owners
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Facing an issue while trying to use your microphone and camera? This article covers some of the common solutions for those on an Android device. If you are using another device, please check out the following articles instead:

Before you begin, please test your microphone and camera here. This will allow you to diagnose if there is a problem and where it is!

Table of Contents:

Solution 1: Try refreshing your browser

  • Soft Refresh: CTRL + R
  • Hard Refresh: CTRL + SHIFT + R

Solution 2: Check to make sure you are using a compatible device and browser. 

Check for the list of compatible devices and browsers here

Solution 3: Switch Tables 

Try moving to another table, and then back to your original table. Remember to move tables just double-click on the table you'd like to move to.

Solution 4: Confirm the Microphone/ Camera settings for your browser

If you can see a red cross next to the Microphone and Camera button on your bottom menu toolbar, this usually suggests browser-related permission issues, so please try out the below steps first.

Solution 5: Confirm Camera and Audio Inputs and Outputs on Remo

If your computer has multiple cameras or you have multiple audio devices, Remo may have selected a different audio input or output by default. Thus, you now need to pick the right one to work with Remo

1. Click the menu icon (3 parallel horizontal lines) in the upper left corner of your screen -or- click the triangle next to the camera and microphone icons in the bottom menu toolbar

2. Select the desired Audio Input and Output from the dropdown menu under Microphone

3. Select the desired Webcam Source from the dropdown menu under Camera

Solution 6: Press F8

It is still not clear why this works but some users found that the Windows camera started to work after pressing the F8 key. The F8 method doesn't always work though, but it is a trick that is very simple to try

Solution 7: Log out and Log back in

Try logging out of the event space and logging back in.

Solution 8: Try a Private Browser

Depending on your browser, try using a Private Browser (may also be called Incognito) or Guest Mode

1. Incognito/ Private Window on Chrome: Click 'File', and then 'New Incognito/Private Window'

2. Guest Mode on Chrome: Click your Profile Picture in the upper right corner of your screen, and then click 'Guest'

Solution 9: Disable your VPN 

If you are currently using a VPN, please disable that, and try logging back into the Remo Event Space. We have seen some issues where a VPN has interfered with the ability to use the device's camera and microphone properly.

If you must use a VPN, then please check out this article for further guidance.

Solution 10: Disable anti-virus software

If none of the methods above work, check if there is antivirus software enabled, if there is, temporarily disable it and then refresh the page to see if the camera or microphone is working when the antivirus software is disabled.

Solution 11: Plug out and plug in your microphone/ camera

If you are using an external webcam or microphone, please try to unplug this from your computer first. And then try plugging it back in, and refreshing your page.

Solution 12: Shut down all other applications that may be using/ used your device's camera and/or microphone

If you have recently been using your camera and/or microphone on other applications such as Google Hangouts, Zoom, Skype e.t.c., please make sure to properly shut down these other applications as they may be retaining control of your device's camera and microphone.

Solution 13: Allow applications access to your computer's Microphone and Camera

In Windows 10, you're able to set a default Mic, but there are also system-level Camera permissions on which applications can access your camera. Here's how to set these:

1. Click on the Microsoft icon and click the Settings icon

2. Select 'Privacy' and then search for 'Camera'

3. Scroll down and look for the section 'Allow access to the camera on this device' and click the 'Change' button under 'Camera Access for this device is on' 

If it is already on, turn it off and then turn it back on

4. And make sure the toggle option for 'Allow apps to access your camera' is also turned on

5. Finally, in the app list, make sure to turn on Camera access for the browser you're using

6. To allow microphone permissions, go back to the Settings page and select 'Privacy' and then click 'Microphone'

7. Under 'Allow access to the microphone on this device' and click the 'Change' button under 'Microphone access for this device is on'

If it is already on, turn it off and then turn it back on

8. Make sure the toggle option for 'Allow apps to access your microphone' is turned on

9. Finally in the app list, make sure to turn on microphone access for the browser you're using

Solution 14: Check for Audio Inputs and Outputs on your Device

1. Open up the Settings panel

2. Select 'System' settings and click on 'Sound'

3. Scroll down to the Input section and use the dropdown menu to select the desired input device

Check by testing your microphone and make sure that it is receiving and works

Solution 15: Reset the camera app on Windows 10

Resetting the camera app can fix some system glitches that may cause the camera to not work on Windows 10 and gives the app a fresh restart. To restart the camera app, follow these steps:

1. Open up the Settings panel and select 'Apps' and then 'Apps & Features'

2. Click 'Camera' and then 'Advanced options'

3. Click the 'Reset' button

Solution 16: Check the Microsoft Webcam Driver

It is likely that there is a problem with the webcam driver that is making the Windows 10 camera not work. So have a look at the webcam driver first by following these steps:

1. Open the Device Manager

2. Find and expand the 'Imaging devices' list

3. Right click your desired webcam driver and select 'Properties'

4. Under the 'Driver' tab, click the 'Driver Details' button and see if there is a stream.sys file. If there is, your webcam is outdated and cannot work with Windows 10, therefore you have to get a new webcam

If there is no stream.sys file in your webcam driver, the webcam is workable but you'll need to update or roll back the webcam driver using the steps below:

  • On the Device Manager, find your webcam driver
  • Right click on it and select 'Properties'
  • Click the 'Driver' tab. If there is 'Roll Back Driver' button, click it to get the driver to an older version

  • If there is no Roll Back option, click 'Uninstall Device' and then Delete the driver software for this device. After deleting, go back to Device Manager and click 'Action' and then 'Scan for hardware changes' and reinstall the webcam driver

  • Restart the computer for the change to take effect

If there is no imaging device or integrated camera in Device Manager, you may want to scan for hardware changes to reinstall the driver

Solution 17: Switch Browsers and Computers

Try switching to another supported browser.

If you are currently on a work laptop, please try switching to a personal device instead, as company firewalls may be interfering with the ability to use your camera and microphone.

If it is necessary to use your work laptop, please take a look through these guidelines first (you may have to consult with your IT team to work through the steps).

Solution 18: Restart your Computer

If all other options thus far have not worked, please try to shut down your computer and restart it once again.

If you are facing any specific errors, please follow the steps below:

Error 0xA00F4246 / 0x887A0004

After installing a new Windows 10, the camera app stops working with the error 0xA00F4246 (0x887A0004). To fix this error, you can try the solutions given above. If none of those methods work, you can also try to fix the integrated or external camera that is not working by adding a new registry value. Here's how you can do that:

1. Open Registry Editor 

2. Press Windows + R to open Run window

3. Type regedit and hit 'Enter'

4. Click 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE', and then 'SOFTWARE', and then 'Microsoft', and 'Windows Media Foundation', finally select 'Platform'

5. Right-click on the empty space under Platform, click 'New' and then 'DWORD (32-bit) Value' and create a new value named 'EnableFrameServerMode'

6. Double click 'EnableFrameServerMode' value and enter 0 into its Value data

7. Click 'OK'

8. Restart your computer and you'll find the camera starts working again after restart

Error Code 0xA00F4243

After Windows 10 update, you can't use the Camera app or apps like Skype with your laptop built-in camera because of the error 0xA00F4243 that says: Close other apps. It looks like another app is using the camera already

If you are dealing with a camera issue like this, try the following solutions:

1. Disable apps that use the camera:

  • Click 'Settings' and then 'Privacy' and 'Camera'
  • Toggle OFF all apps that are allowed to use the camera
  • Now when you open an app that needs to use the camera, it will ask for your permission. In this way, you can start the camera without any other app using it

2. Check Task Manager:

  • Open up Task Manager
  • When Task Manager is open, check 'Processes' and close the apps that may be using your camera
  • Other users suggested that if you find services like Intel(R)RealSense(TM)Depth camera Manager Services is stopped under the Services tab, run the services and the camera will start to work

3. Update camera driver: (An error could also be triggered by outdated or corrupted camera driver, therefore by updating the camera driver, it could restart the Windows 10 camera)

  • Open Device Manager and then select 'Imaging Devices'
  • Right click the driver of your webcam and select 'Update Driver Software'
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to update the webcam driver

Still facing an issue?
Contact our support team at support@virtual.events.com for help

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