When the camera/mic is needed for an app (Skype, ZOOM, Facebook, Google Group, etc), I'm sent to Privacy. The "window" says "Apps that have requested access to your camera will appear here" but the window is empty.
How do I allow access to the camera/mic for important apps needed for business?
Mac mini, macOS 11.1
Hello Blind Guy,
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. We understand that you're running into an issue granting access to your camera and microphone for several different apps. Would you let us know which model Mac you have and the exact version of Big Sur you have installed? This is located by clicking the Apple Logo () in the upper left corner and choosing About this Mac.
There are a couple different actions you can try using to correct this issue.
First, restart the Mac. Choose the Apple Logo () in the upper left corner and select Shutdown or Restart. Once you've booted back up, go ahead and test again to see if you can provide the needed permissions.
Second, if restarting your Mac didn't correct the issue, check to make sure your apps are up-to-date, if any updates are available, go ahead and install them and test again.
You can also try booting into Safe Mode to test this issue as well. Safe Mode will do a basic check of your startup disk, similar to First Aid and may help correct this issue. How to use safe mode on your Mac Test the issue while booted into safe mode, and again after rebooting normally.
Best regards.
Hi Blind Guy,
Thanks for the follow up. You mentioned that you're tried all the suggestions; did you also test safe mode? If so, and you still experienced the issue, were you able to try the suggestion in the article for when an issue continues to persist while in safe mode?
"If the issue continues in safe mode
If the issue continues while in safe mode, or your Mac restarts several times and then shuts down while starting up in safe mode, you should reinstall macOS and make sure that your Apple software and third-party apps are up to date."
If you haven't given this a try, it may be the best solution and save you the trouble of creating a new user account and trying to transfer your data to the new profile.
Best wishes.
Thanks, but I've tried the safe mode option with no success. And... all apps are the most current versions.
No success with this approach. I'm looking for a fix taking into account the differences between the new user success and my current user profile. I've erased several cache files in the library based on Apple tech suggestions, but no success in that line of thought.
Please keep in mind... my current Mac Mini is a reconstruction from my iMac backup. Everything works well under Catalina, but Big Sur has hit a brick wall in Security & Privacy.
Blind Guy
Thank you for the suggestions.
All of these have been tried unsuccessfully.
I would like to add that when I tried to use the latest version of ZOOM after creating a New User, the app worked perfectly. Permission was attainable for both camera/mic. The problem appears to only exist when I attempt to use ZOOM (... or any third party app requiring camera/mic) under my personal user profile. It has been suggested, that being the case, to start using a new profile permanently. Because of the number of apps I use regularly and the accumulation of data/documents, that suggestion would be monumentally! I need the solution to work via my original user profile.
Thanks again.
Blind Guy
Camera/mic apps being accepted in Privacy?
