Laptop cameras are essential devices in this day and age when online communication holds up our professional, educational, and even personal affairs.

  • The Windows Camera app is a small software that lets you quickly take pictures or record videos using your external webcam or the integrated camera in your device.

  • If the Camera app won’t open even after a system restart, make sure you have full control over the Camera roll folder and that you update your device drivers.

  • See below how to change up your settings and regain access to your camera in just a few quick and easy steps.

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But some users reported that they were not able to use the camera after the upgrade to Windows 10, reportedly, it just shows an error and stops working.

So, we’ll try to help everyone who faces this issue, with a couple of solutions that might work.

Why is my laptop camera not working?

Several root issues may cause your laptop camera to malfunction or not work at all on your Windows 10 laptop.

If your camera closes immediately, it may be a sign that your device drivers are corrupt or outdated. Or, you may have mistakenly changed permissions for your Camera Roll folder or Camera app.

If you do not have full access to Camera Roll you may experience issues such as the camera app crashing or freezing. Thankfully, these issues are fairly easy to fix, as you will see in the guide below.

Please note that, along with these software-related issues, your camera may also not be working due to hardware problems. To overcome these, you will need to contact your manufacturer and get a professional fix.

How do I solve my Camera app not working?

Case 1 – Re-gain full access to the Camera roll folder

  • Open File Explorer and go to Pictures
  • In Pictures folder, right click on the Camera roll folder and choose Properties
  • Go to Security tab
  • Choose your username, which is listed under Group or user names:
  • Click on Edit permissions and check Full control
  • Click OK

Even in the Technical Preview, and reportedly still after the full version has been released, some people complained that for some reason, they lost full access to the Camera roll folder in Pictures.

As Camera roll folder and Microsoft’s camera app are connected, you won’t be able to use the camera (because it won’t be able to save your pictures and recordings in Camera roll folder), if you don’t have full access to this folder.

So, to be able to use your camera again, do the following to regain access to your Camera roll folder.

In most cases, this will solve the problem, but if it doesn’t, try the following solutions.

Case 2 – Change privacy settings for the camera app

  • Go to Start Menu and open Settings
  • Go to Privacy
  • Go to Camera and enable Let apps use my camera if it isn’t enabled

This issue may also appear if your camera is disabled from the privacy settings. You have to make sure that your camera is enabled and can connect to the applications on your PC.

So, if the camera somehow isn’t enabled in the Privacy section of the Settings app, an error might appear every time you try to take a picture or record a video.

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After you enable it, it should work with no issues and start right away as you try to record or take a picture. It should also open from third-party apps as well.

Case 3 – Update your device drivers

  • Go to Start. Search and click on Device Manager.
  • Expand the Cameras category.
  • Right click on the device and select Update.
  • Reconnect your device if necessary or perform a restart.

For your system to function properly, your drivers need to be up to date. If none of the above-mentioned solutions worked, you should check and update your camera driver.

  • Laptop camera not working? 9 ways to fix it now
  • Fix: 0xa00f4244 nocamerasareattached error on Windows 10/11

Without a driver, a computer cannot manage video cards, camera software, sound cards, or other devices. You can update your camera driver with the help of the built-in Device Manager:

Alternatively, you can use a dedicated driver updater tool, like Driverfix. It will save you some time and automatically update your drivers on a regular basis.

By updating your system’s drivers, this program ensures that it runs smoothly. It also examines your system for outdated or corrupt drivers that cause your system to be sluggish.

This tool will keep your system safe as you can manually download and install the wrong driver version. This tool will find just the right firmware to install.

⇒ Get DriverFix

If you have any other Windows 10-related issues you can check for the solution in our Windows 10 Fix section.

Check out Windows 10 Errors Hub for articles on other issues that you might encounter when using the computer.

We have a lot of great content with software recommendations, guides, and fixes in our webcam section.

If you already use the latest version of the operating system and need help with this issue, check our guide on how to fix a Webcam not working in Windows 11.

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