front facing camera constantly deactivating

Question

I am constantly having issues with my new Surface Pro 7 front facing camera not working. If i install the driver it might work for a few days but then stops again and then needs to be done again. Has anyone else had that issue and if so, have they been able to overcome it? and how?

Answer 1

Hi MikeG3377,

Thank you for reaching out Microsoft Community. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Since you mentioned that you have re-installed the driver but it only works for a while, this simply means the front facing camera driver is already corrupted and what I can highly recommend is to reset this device back to its default settings by using a USB recovery drive. This is for us to determine whether or not the front camera is already having a hardware issue considering that the issue keeps existing after reinstalling the drivers . Before resetting the device, kindly save all your files first before following the instructions below.

- HOW TO DOWNLOAD, CREATE AND USE A USB RECOVERY DRIVE -

To download the Recovery Image:

You'll need a PC running Windows 7 or later or a Surface Device and a USB flashdrive (16GB or 32 GB).

1. Visit the page to Download the recovery image for your Surface
2. Sign in with your Microsoft Account
3. From the list of Surface devices available, select the device that you need a recovery image for

Please note that while you will only be presented with devices that are currently registered on your account, you will also be presented with the option to get an image for a different type of device. If you try to use this option, you will be prompted to enter the serial number for your Surface device. 4. Download the recovery image using the button on the page 5. When the download bar pops up at the bottom of your screen, save the file in a location you will be able to find it.

Format USB Drive:

• Note: Formatting a recovery drive will erase anything that is already stored on your USB drive. Make sure to transfer any important data from your USB drive to another storage device before using it to create a Surface

USB recovery drive.

1. Insert your USB drive into the USB port of your PC.
2. From the desktop, open File Explorer
3. Tap and hold or right-click on the USB drive and choose Format
4. Select FAT32 as the file system and enter a Volume label to name the USB drive, such as RECOVERY, and then tap or click Start
5. Tap or click OK to erase the contents of the USB drive
6. Tap or click OK when the format is complete

Create a recovery drive:

1. On your Surface or PC, open recovery image that you downloaded by double-clicking it or right click then select Extract and then Extract all.
2. Select the USB drive you formatted earlier for the location and click Extract.

Use a USB recovery drive to reset your Surface:

1. Shutdown the Surface
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker
4. Press and release the power button
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker
6. Surface will start the recovery software on the USB recovery drive
7. When prompted, choose your language options and keyboard layout
8. Select Troubleshoot
9. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC.
10. If prompted, select Repartition the drives
11. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive and continue with the reimaging process.

If you succeeded in reimaging the device and the front camera issue still exists, then the best resolution I can recommend is to get a replacement for this unit or you may try to install another Camera App and check if this works for us to distinguish whether this is an app issue or whatnot.

If this helps, feel free to mark this post as an answer. Otherwise, don't hesitate to contact support for replacement options.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z

Answer 2

Thanks for that. I will give that a go later today. Is this a common issue? The device is only a month old and this has happened since i got it

Answer 3

Thank you for your response, MikeG3377.

I have responded few concerns similar to the kind of issue you're experiencing with the front camera and some of the members here in MS Community have shared that the issue happened right after installing security updates but I am not certain if this is what happened to yours.

Kind Regards,

Crest_Z

Answer 4

Same here I purchased this laptop a month ago and scrolling through the comments the front camera not working is a common issue...this sucks because a lot of people are using Zoom for meetings