Apps not showing up in Microphone/camera access list in system preferences

My understanding is that Apps appear on the lists when they request access to the cam or microphone. I'm trying to give VLC access to the microphone, but it does not appear on the list. It does have camera access. When I try to record a video on VLC, I get an error message that no microphone is available. So, it is apparently requesting access, but it is not on the list. There is no plus sign or any other visible way to add an app to the list. Is this a bug?

Has this ever been answered? It is an annoying problem. I want to record with phone booth. It does not recognize my exteral microphone, and when I do the security/privacy thing there is no way to add it to the list of apps to allow to use microphone.

I think the answer here varies but I was having the same issue on my iPhone 10X and finally realized it was because of settings I had in my Downtime. (Ex. Apps I downloaded wouldn’t show up in the microphone permissions, people couldn’t hear me on speaker phone etc.)

settings —> downtime —> content and privacy restrictions —> if you have this enabled, scroll down and ensure you have “allow” as the status selected for “microphone”

I am having the same issue with zoom, skype, and microsoft meetings apps. I go to security and privacy in the mac settings and after I unlock there is no way to add or take away any apps because none show up in the camera or microphone. It just says app that will request will show up here... which they aren't!!! Its not an operating system issue because mac support helped me and the new Catalina does not fix my issue.

I had the same problem on my ipad, and I realized that I had restricted camera access for my kids using the "Screen Time" settings long ago. So here's how I fixed it: Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps > then toggle Camera to "On". That fixed it!

OMG I have been having this issue for WEEKS and I completely erased everything and started over and it STILL DID NOT WORK.

*****HOWEVER I found on another thread that resetting the PRAM works AND IT WORKED!!! Here's how: Restart your Mac and hold down CMD+OPT+P+R as it boots. That's it! IT WORKS!!!

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

I had this happen to me, but for screen sharing. The zoom.us app wasn't showing up as an option in System Preferences > Security & Privacy. I performed an NVRAM reset and now it's there.

If it doesn't work the first time for you, try it again. I had to reset twice before it finally showed up. Hope this helps!

Please refer to this Support article for steps on how to do an NVRAM reset - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

yes, but how do I add the camera icon to the list of editable functions? OS X Yosemite version 10.10.5 only allows for the following function to be editted: Diagnostics&Usage, Accessibility, Facebook, Reminders, Calendars, Contacts, and Location Services (see picture below). Ultimately, I want to configure particular apps to have/not have access to my audio and camera and there is not a way to easily modify this in the System Preference > Security tab. I have seen youtube videos describing making changes within "terminal" ... but I am not a coder and it seems like this is an elementary function that should already be built into OS X Yosemite, like it is in the Cantalina/newer macbooks... Am I missing something?

@shafferw - I know you resolved this issue with a reset of your hard drive. I ran into the issue today, whereby the Security and Privacy settings for Zoom and Skype were there yesterday, but gone today.

After rebooting and full shutdown and restart, the Security and Privacy settings would not return! I figured that if the settings were correct before, then there maybe some corruption in the settings file or elsewhere on the hard drive. After running, Disk Utility > First Aid, then Rebooted, the Security and Privacy settings returned.

Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, etc settings re-appeared and worked just like the previous day.

I hope this easy solution helps someone. Also, I recommend running Disk Utility > First Aid at least once a month, to keep Mac OS running happy.

Incredibly annoying but I fixed it by uninstalling and reinstalling the app that I wanted to grant access to. It appears that if you don't give it permission the first time around then you can't add it back for some reason. Anyway, it's a quick fix and it worked for me!

Well I had the same problem with Catalina. I tried everything even reinstall CatalinaOS. The unique think that work for me was uninstall zoom completely, clean (I used cleaner), open macOS Catalina in safe mode, and reinstall the app again. I hope it work for you as well.

yes, but how do I add the camera icon to the list of editable functions? OS X Yosemite version 10.10.5 only allows for the following function to be edited: Diagnostics&Usage, Accessibility, Facebook, Reminders, Calendars, Contacts, and Location Services (see picture below). Ultimately, I want to configure particular apps to have/not have access to my audio and camera and there is not a way to easily modify this in the System Preference > Security tab. I have seen youtube videos describing making changes within "terminal" ... but I am not a coder and it seems like this is an elementary function that should already be built into OS X Yosemite, like it is in the Cantalina/newer macbooks... Am I missing something?

I am having the same problem. MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) No apps appear in the Privacy camera, microphone or speech windows. I have run through the routines on this topic and even reinstalled Catalina. It appears that the preference pane does not recognize any third party apps like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc. What's the magic key? These all work fine on my MacPro and and an older MacBookPro.

Hello. I have just ironed out the same bug - Zoom was not appearing in the list of apps asking for a microphone access. Search for Restrictions in Settings and make sure, that the apps can "Allow change" in the Microphone (and Camera) subitem. Then the Zoom can add itself to the Privacy/Microphone list.

Try opening Finder and Go to ~/Library/Preferences, locate and delete the com.apple.systempreferences.plist file, restart your computer, and then try opening the App you need to add and hopefully it will send you to the Privacy Settings to enable it. (Detailed Steps for Deleting .plist files: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4301)

I work as a Help Desk Technician and one person just reported a similar issue and the steps above worked.

They had no option to enable the application they needed to use in the Privacy settings.

I noticed the "+" button was missing on my machine as well (Catalina 10.15.4).

From my experience if System preferences is acting wonky, deleting the .plist file may fix the issue. Trying to create a new user account is another good troubleshooting step to test if it's a profile issue. If no resolve then I might try wiping and reinstalling MacOS and start from scratch.