Camera not working in Big Sur

This worked for me:

Route 1 - verify that "camera is allowed" for your user account:

System Preferences (window)

Screen Time (icon)

Content & Privacy (left panel)

Apps (tab)

Allow (section): Camera

Route 2 - Update to Big Sur 11.1

Tip: update in Safe Mode (hold Shift key while booting). Don't rely on the "15 minutes install time", it will take 1+ hour, if you have an encrypted disk, be patient :-)

Guys, I found solution for my problem.

I tried to reset SMC, and now the built in camera is detected.

https://support.apple.com/en-my/HT201295 (SMC reset)

Now you guys can try and enable camera for web, zoom,google meet etc privacy setting.

OK. Try rebooting holding down the shift key to go into safe mode.

(See https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/mh21245/mac)

You'll see some of flashes but that's fine.

Does that fix it?

If you then reboot normally, does the problem return?

Does this help? From https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252040930?answerId=254102270022#254102270022 it says:

"I had the same issue, what I found was that my Virus Protection software "Kaspersky" had set the privacy setting to block the Webcam, changed it to Allow Webcam and now its ok. I didn't have this issue when using previous versions of Mac OS, for those that's having an issue it might be worth a look"

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I think the solution will be for you all to contact Apple via https://support.apple.com/mac and for you all to direct Apple to this thread (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252138459), while explaining that this issue seems to be affecting a great number of Mac users which means, in most cases, it's not going to be a hardware issue.

Perhaps if Apple see the extent to which this problem exists, they'll escalate the issue.

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Can all of you who have the type 2 problem (no camera listed in the system report) run a hardware diagnostic test?

The procedure is explained here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

For me, it is indicated there as "No issues found", code ADP000.

If it was a hardware problem, I would expect one of the following codes to be displayed there to indicate a camera issue:

NDC001, NDC003, NDC004, NDC005, NDC006

But at least for me, this is not the case!

The list of codes can be found here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203747

Hi, I have been taking so long time to resolve this.

I have tried everything here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211130 , but nothing works.

However, I saw other posts and checked this directory.

/Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/DAL/AppleCamera.plugin/

I found the SnapCamera.plugin there. I had uninstalled SnapCamera.app before, but apparently the plug-in file was still there....

So I removed it, and my iMac recognized the camera again! Thanks for the information.

there're no working solution due to camera firmware yet.

in cases when I need a camera in Google Meet, I'm using NeuralCam Live https://apps.apple.com/ru/app/neuralcam-live-smart-webcam/id1524933155 for my iPhone.

Try resetting NVRAM and SMC:

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

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

If the above doesn't resolve it, for testing please create another admin-level user account, log in on that account. Does the camera work?

Maybe some encouraging news for those experiencing this issue with 2016 13' MBPs. I had noticed backlight issues with my MacBook a while ago but waited until things got untenable to take it in for service under the backlight quality program (https://support.apple.com/13-inch-macbook-pro-display-backlight-service). The fix provided, which I believe replaces the connector between the display and the body of the computer, also fixed my camera. Note that quality program repairs are free of charge--but the program is ending soon.

Sadly, this suggests that in some cases this really is a hardware problem that coincided with the Big Sur release (my camera failed a day or two after updating). But at least there is a fix, free of charge if you are also experiencing backlight issues (look carefully, as backlight problems can be subtle).

On the other hand I cannot account for why other models not affected by this problem are also experiencing issues with the camera.

sorry no solution here. just sharing that I thought I was alone. I have a 13in MBP 2017 TouchBar. Since bigsur upgrade the webcam just stopped working.

I have tried the usual recommendations:

1. Reset SMC
2. Reset NVRAM and PRAM.
3. SafeMode
4. fresh Big Sur install

I use my camera every work day, I remember clearly it stopped working right after updating to bigsur... not nice Apple :-(

1. Hey guys. I just googled for the millionth time, and somebody on Quora said that their Apple Camera plug-n was missing. It is supposed to be in /Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/DAL/AppleCamera.plugin. The poster said they plugged a USB port into somebody else's mac and copied their plugin and put it into the directory and the camera started working. So I checked, and I do not have the plugin either. Is this the solution? Does anyone here HAVE that plugin and still have problems? Edited: Ach, that Quora post was from 2018. What are the chances it pertains to us?

Those are the symptoms I experienced today:

• i left my MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) overnight on my desk. It is always plugged in, it’s set to NOT go to sleep but the display will go off after 10 min. At this point my camera was working.
• This morning I come to use WebEx Teams, my camera won’t work. I look in « System Report » and the Camera shows up. I open the WebEx Teams > Preferences > Video : the camera shows up in the drop-down, but when I select it it’s only a black square that shows in the preview area. Each time I reselect the camera from the drop-down, I see the green light blink on my laptop, but continuously a black square. I kept re-doing the same action while having the Mac’s « Console » application opened, but I don’t seem to be capturing anything useful for debugging. However, the content goes by very fast.

I am confident there are Apple engineers working on this issue behind closed doors, but they will probably never assume responsibility for this bug, just fix it silently in a future update.

Seeing how you resolved your issue makes me think that users in this discussion have multiple root causes to their web cam issues.

My issue is characterized by the MacBook Pro Built-In webcam (not USB) stops working randomly. I leave my computer unattended for a period of time, and the camera is unusable later when I try to use it. I have seen it happen a couple of ways:

1. The Camera's green light lights up, but the video preview is black;
2. The Camera "hardware" completely disappears from the System Report.

When I get that issue, I can resolve it this way only: I have to do a complete shutdown, and start the laptop back up. At the most, I had to do two complete shutdowns in a row to "bring the camera back to life". This started happening only after upgrading to Big Sur.

Hello, another one with the same problem.

• If you boot into safe mode without AC, the keyboard backlighting and camera sometimes will work again after SMC, PRAM and repair permissions
• If it works you will lose your camera and backlight keyboard by plugging the computer to AC

We expect Apple to release a firmware update soon. So, come on!

[Edited by Moderator]