You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

MacBook Pro - Catalina - Built in camera no longer working.

I have a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) running on Catalina and my camera stopped working (all apps). I am not sure what triggered this and I haven't dropped my computer either. There is no light at all next to it and when I open Facetime, it said no camera available. So far I tried to reset NVRAM, SMC and I also rebooted in safe mode and no success. Thanks for your help.

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 21, 2020 10:59 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 22, 2020 2:54 PM

Hello valery134 and welcome to Apple Support Communities.


I see you are having an issue with the camera in your MacBook Pro.


Start by setting up a test user account in order to isolate the issue to the system or the user data and ultimately resolve it. 


How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support


While booted into the test user account, try a FaceTime call and see if you get the same result. If you get the same result while booted into the test user account, go to About This Mac under the Apple menu in the upper left of the screen and then click the button called System Report. Then, in the sidebar on the left, choose Camera.


If no camera is reported in that window, then this points to a hardware issue.


If the camera works in the test user account but not in the main user account, it may be an issue of a corruption in the user data. If that is the case, you'll want to reach out to Apple Support directly for additional options.


Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support


Cheers.

13 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 22, 2020 2:54 PM in response to valery134

Hello valery134 and welcome to Apple Support Communities.


I see you are having an issue with the camera in your MacBook Pro.


Start by setting up a test user account in order to isolate the issue to the system or the user data and ultimately resolve it. 


How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac - Apple Support


While booted into the test user account, try a FaceTime call and see if you get the same result. If you get the same result while booted into the test user account, go to About This Mac under the Apple menu in the upper left of the screen and then click the button called System Report. Then, in the sidebar on the left, choose Camera.


If no camera is reported in that window, then this points to a hardware issue.


If the camera works in the test user account but not in the main user account, it may be an issue of a corruption in the user data. If that is the case, you'll want to reach out to Apple Support directly for additional options.


Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support


Cheers.

Apr 13, 2020 3:47 PM in response to valery134

Hi valery134,


Hi, I am getting the same error since yesterday. 2 days ago the camera worked fine, the day after it stopped working showing this error text (after 3/4 seconds of green light on, the one beside the camera):

"FaceTime has not received any video from the connected camera. Restarting your computer may fix this issue."



Could you please let me know in you had the same error message?


Thank you,

Giuseppe

Mar 26, 2020 3:01 AM in response to valery134

I got the same problem. After installing the catalina update yesterday, i got a bunch of problems like lagging and slow reaction. Cleaning out some autostart processes helped me. Atm im working from home so i use factime to call my clients via my iphone (facetime audio). After an nvram reset, my camera isn't working anymore... if i could, i would go back to mojave..


UPDATE:

Another SMC Reset fixed it for me. Camera is working again.

Apr 23, 2020 9:04 AM in response to valery134

To tell whether the camera itself is working, launch "Photo Booth" from the /Applications folder. Since it is always strictly-local, no permissions should be required.


If you DO see picture of yourself, check:


System preferences > Security&Privacy > Privacy ...


and select "Camera" in the list on the left column. Make certain all Apps that need access are enabled, including all those that you generally use.

Apr 23, 2020 12:50 PM in response to lysandroc

lysandroc wrote:
...
Facetime HD Camera (built-in) is not being reorganise on Catalina 10.15.4.


Then your computers is broken, and you should use the "Contact Support" link at the top every web page.


They will go through a few more checks, then arrange to have it sent in for service (they will send you a shipping box) to get it fixed.

May 8, 2020 7:56 PM in response to i_rina

Okay so this is just me and I don't know if it will work for everyone. I tried this tonight I noticed in the system preferences there is a tab for screen time...CLICK that


Click on Content & Privacy- Click Turn on


Then Click Apps

Click Camera and close...test your camera! Poof my camera/facetime and everything came back to life! Suddenly I was upset with apple, all this just to disable my camera to discover it was embedded and hidden??? I spent hours researching on how to get it to come back on.


See if that works for any of you folks with camera issues!

May 8, 2020 7:57 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Okay so this is just me and I don't know if it will work for everyone. I tried this tonight I noticed in the system preferences there is a tab for screen time...CLICK that


Click on Content & Privacy- Click Turn on


Then Click Apps

Click Camera and close...test your camera! Poof my camera/facetime and everything came back to life! Suddenly I was upset with apple, all this just to disable my camera to discover it was embedded and hidden??? I spent hours researching on how to get it to come back on.


See if that works for any of you folks with camera issues!

MacBook Pro - Catalina - Built in camera no longer working.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.