CAMERA is not detected

Question

I was on a zoom, and my camera and computer crashed

Answer 1

Hi. I'm David, and I'm happy to help you.

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I understand that this situation is frustrating. Since the computer crashed, before analyzing the camera issue, I think it's important to check what might have caused the crash, as this could be directly related to the issue.

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Please export and share the log for analysis:

1. Press Windows + X and select Event Viewer;
2. Expand Windows Logs and select System;
3. In the Actions panel on the right, select Filter Current Log;
4. In Event level, check the boxes Critical, Warning, and Error and click on Ok;
5. Again, in the Actions panel, select Save Filtered Log File As and save in an easily accessible place.

Then, upload the file to the cloud (OneDrive), choose to share it, and get the link.

Post the link to the file here so I can have a look.

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Looking forward to your reply.

Answer 2

Follow these steps to fix a camera that is no longer detected after a crash:

1. Check that Windows can see the camera
   1. Select Start > Device Manager.
   2. Expand Cameras.
   3. If the camera appears with a down arrow, right‑click it and select Enable device.
   4. If it does not appear at all, and it is an external camera, unplug it and plug it back into a different USB port.
2. Verify camera privacy settings
   1. Select Start, then Settings > Privacy > Camera.
   2. Under Allow access to the camera on this device, select Change and turn Camera access for this device On.
   3. Make sure Allow apps to access your camera is On.
   4. Under Choose which Microsoft Store apps can access your camera, turn on access for apps that need it.
   5. Scroll to Allow desktop apps to access your camera and turn this On so apps like Zoom and Teams can use the camera.
3. Free system resources and restart
   1. Close unnecessary apps, especially any that might use the camera (Teams, browsers with video calls, etc.).
   2. Restart the PC to clear any lock on the camera from the crash.
4. Update or reinstall the camera driver
   1. Select Start > Device Manager.
   2. Expand Cameras and locate the camera.
   3. Right‑click the camera and select Update driver.
   4. Select Search automatically for drivers and let Windows install any available update.
   5. Restart the PC.
   6. If the camera still is not detected or shows an error, right‑click it, choose Uninstall device, check Delete the driver software for this device if available, select Uninstall, then restart so Windows reinstalls the default driver automatically and then run Update driver again.
5. Run the Camera troubleshooter (if detection errors persist)
   1. Select Start > Settings > System (or Update & security on some builds).
   2. Go to Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters (or Find and fix other problems).
   3. Find Camera and select Run.

If the camera still does not appear in Device Manager after these steps and it is built‑in, the crash may have caused a hardware fault; in that case, contact the device manufacturer for hardware diagnostics.

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References:

• Camera doesn't work in Windows
• my camera is not listed under device manager camera is not listed and it's not under imaging devices - Microsoft Q&A
• my camera does not function in windows - Microsoft Q&A