Webcam test: check your camera and mic online

Check the picture before the numbers

Sit where you stream and move as you normally would. Check that your face stays in frame, text reads the right way round in the unmirrored view, and the picture keeps moving. If your face is dark or your glasses catch the light, use the streaming lighting layout before changing cameras.

What the readings mean

Resolution is the size of the picture this browser receives. The browser picks the camera’s mode, so it is often not the largest the camera can do; Largest the camera offers shows what the camera reports, and the buttons under it ask the camera for that size or frame rate so you can see what it actually sends.

Frame rate counts the frames that reach this tab each second, with the lowest, average and highest since the camera started. A steady camera holds one number; a band that keeps moving points at light, USB or a busy computer. If the browser cannot count frames, the label changes to Browser-reported frame rate, which is a setting, not a measurement.

Brightness is the average lightness of the picture from 0 (black) to 100 (white), using the luma formula of the ITU’s BT.709 standard for HD video. It is not a quality score. The notes above flag a picture darker than 25 or brighter than 75 on this scale, or one whose brightness keeps changing; those limits are this site’s guide. How the webcam readings work has the detail.

Camera not working? Pick your computer or app

The steps for the system you are on open first. Each app section says where the camera is chosen and what that app changes in the picture before anyone sees it.

On Windows 11 or 10

Windows 11: open Start, Settings, Privacy & security, Camera. Windows 10: Start, Settings, Privacy, Camera.
Turn on camera access for the device, for apps and for desktop apps (Windows 11 calls them Camera access, Let apps access your camera and Let desktop apps access your camera). Microsoft counts web browsers, OBS and Discord as desktop apps.
Some laptops have a camera switch, a sliding cover or a key with a camera symbol that turns the camera off.
Open the Windows Camera app. If the picture works there, the camera is fine and the problem is the browser or the app.

On a Mac

Choose the Apple menu, then System Settings, Privacy & Security, Camera, and turn access on for your browser, OBS and any call app.
In Safari, also choose Safari, Settings, Websites, Camera and allow this site.
Photo Booth and FaceTime use the camera without asking, so they are a quick check of the camera itself.

On a Chromebook

Select the time at the bottom right, then Settings, Privacy and security, Privacy controls, and turn on Camera access. Off here blocks the camera for every app and site.
Some Chromebooks have a physical camera switch or cover beside the lens: slide it open.
On a school or work Chromebook the administrator may have turned the camera off, and only they can change it.

On Linux

Open a camera app such as GNOME’s Camera (Snapshot) or Cheese. If the picture works there, the camera and its driver are fine.
In a terminal, v4l2-ctl --list-devices (from the v4l-utils package) lists every camera the system sees.
A browser installed as a Snap or Flatpak can be blocked by that packaging system’s own permissions; a browser from your distribution’s own packages avoids that layer.

On a phone or tablet

Testing your phone’s camera works here too: open this page in Safari on an iPhone or iPad, or in Chrome on Android, and press Start camera. The camera list lets you switch between the front and back cameras.
iPhone and iPad: Settings, Apps, Safari, Camera, then Ask or Allow (on older iOS versions, Settings, Safari, Camera).
Android: in Chrome, tap the icon left of the address, then Permissions, Camera, or open Chrome’s menu, Settings, Site settings, Camera.
Using the phone as your stream camera is a separate path; this test checks only that the phone’s browser sees the camera.

In the browser

Open this site’s permissions beside the address bar and allow Camera, then press Start camera again. Close other tabs and apps that use the camera, including OBS, and try again. The page needs a secure HTTPS connection, so open it in your usual browser rather than inside another app.

No picture, a black picture or a frozen frame

Check the shutter and the USB connection, and choose the right camera in the list. If adding another USB device makes the picture freeze, follow the USB camera connection checks. If the test says the browser could not open the camera, another app is probably holding it: see camera in use by another app. If the camera works here but not in OBS or a call, see webcam not detected or black.

My separate camera does not appear

Charging over USB does not mean a camera sends live video. Use the camera capture checker to check its USB or HDMI path, clean output and power.

In OBS Studio

In Sources, press +, add a Video Capture Device and choose your camera under Device.
OBS changes nothing in the picture by itself: set Resolution/FPS Type to Custom to choose the size and frame rate this page measured, then add filters only if you want them.
A black source usually means another app is holding the camera: close calls, the maker’s camera app and this page, then deactivate and reactivate the source.

In Discord

Open User Settings (the gear at the bottom left), Voice & Video, then the Camera list, and press Test Video.
Discord can add a video background or blur behind you; the others in the call see it too.
If the preview stays black, Discord suggests turning off Hardware Acceleration in the Advanced section of the same page.

In Zoom

In the desktop app, select your profile picture, Settings, then Video & effects: the preview shows the chosen camera, with a Camera list to switch.
Zoom can change the picture before it is sent: Touch up my appearance softens the skin, Adjust for low light brightens a dim picture, and HD sends a sharper picture when it is ticked. Mirror my video preview flips only your own view.
If Zoom shows the camera sideways, hover over the preview and press the rotate button until it is upright.

In Microsoft Teams

Select Settings and more (…), Settings, Devices, then choose the camera under Camera and check its preview.
Teams can blur or replace the background, and its video effects can brighten or soften the picture: open them from the camera button’s menu in a meeting.
Make a test call, on the same Devices page in the Windows and Mac apps, records a short message and plays it back with your video.

In Google Meet

Open meet.google.com, choose Settings, then Video. Pick the camera; its picture appears beside the list.
Send resolution sets what others receive: Full High Definition (1080p) only on computers with a 1080p camera and enough processing power, and only on some paid Google Workspace editions or Google One with 2 TB or more of storage; otherwise High Definition (720p) or Standard definition (360p). Google says 1080p is not offered in Firefox or Safari.
If Meet shows no camera, check the browser’s camera permission beside the address bar first: Meet runs in the browser, so the browser steps above apply.

Menu paths checked October 9, 2026 to October 14, 2026 on each maker’s help pages.

Finish the check in OBS

Stop the camera here. In OBS, open your video capture source and select the same camera. Check its resolution and frame rate settings, then record a short clip with your normal scene and lights. The pre-stream checklist covers the rest of that rehearsal.

If the picture works here but your broadcast stutters, check the OBS network, rendering and encoding counters. This preview cannot test the stream your viewers receive.

If the webcam cannot give you the shot you need, the webcam guide compares the choices by framing, focus, mounting and the connection to your computer.

Questions

How do I test my webcam and microphone together?

Use the webcam and mic test: one press starts both, the answer covers picture and voice, and the clip records them together. On this page you can also press Start microphone under More test controls, or tick Include my microphone before recording a clip.

Why is my webcam frame rate low?

The usual order to check: light first, because some webcams lower their frame rate to expose a dim picture (Logitech’s software, for example, has a frame rate versus exposure setting); then other apps using the camera; then the USB port. The frame rate band above shows whether a change helped.

Why does the resolution say less than my camera’s box?

The browser chooses a mode, often a smaller one. Press Try the largest size to ask the camera for its biggest picture. OBS has its own resolution setting in the video capture source.

Is this webcam test private?

Yes. The picture, readings, snapshot and clip are made in your browser and are never uploaded. This site counts only that a test ran, not what it showed.

Webcam test

Record a test clip

Check your microphone too

Your test clip

Your snapshot