Windows has a centralized, OS-level privacy permission system that controls which apps are allowed to access your camera and microphone at all — separate from any in-app settings inside Teams, Zoom, Chrome, or anything else. If this permission is off, no amount of fiddling with an individual app's settings will fix it, since the app never even gets the chance to access the hardware in the first place.
Where these settings live
- Go to Settings → Privacy & security
- Under "App permissions," you'll see Camera and Microphone as separate entries
Camera permissions, step by step
- Click Settings → Privacy & security → Camera
- At the top, confirm Camera access is turned On — this is the master switch for the entire system. If this is off, nothing below it matters.
- Below that, confirm Let apps access your camera is also On
- Scroll down to the list of individual apps (Teams, Zoom, your browser, Camera app, etc.) and make sure the specific app you're using is toggled On
- If you're trying to use a camera inside a browser (for a web-based video call), also check Let desktop apps access your camera — browsers sometimes fall under this separate toggle depending on how they're categorized
Microphone permissions, step by step
Same structure, separate page:
- Go to Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone
- Confirm Microphone access is On (master switch)
- Confirm Let apps access your microphone is On
- Scroll to the specific app and confirm it's individually toggled On
Why this gets missed: these settings can get reset or changed by a Windows update, a system reset, or a fresh install — without any obvious notification that it happened. If a camera or mic that used to work suddenly stops, even though nothing about the app itself changed, this is the very first thing worth checking before assuming a driver or hardware problem.
For managed/work computers: this might be locked by IT
If you're on a company-managed device and these toggles appear greyed out or you're unable to change them, your organization's IT department has likely locked these settings via policy (Intune or Group Policy) — in that case, the fix isn't something you can do yourself; you'll need to request the specific app be allowed by your IT admin.
If permissions are correct and it's still not working
Once you've confirmed Windows-level permissions are correctly set and the issue persists, the cause has shifted to something else — most commonly:
- The wrong device is selected inside the app itself (common with multiple cameras/mics) — check the specific app's own device settings.
- Another app is currently using the camera — cameras typically only allow one application access at a time; close other video apps or browser tabs that might be holding it.
- Outdated or corrupted drivers — check Device Manager under Cameras and Audio inputs and outputs, and try updating or reinstalling the relevant driver.