Webcam Test

How to test your webcam

The test uses your browser's built-in camera API, the same one video calling apps use. It works the same way in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari, on both desktop and mobile.

1. Click "Start webcam test" above.
2. When your browser asks for camera permission, click Allow. If you don't see a prompt, look for a blocked-camera icon in the address bar.
3. Watch the live preview. If you can see yourself moving in real time, your camera is working.
4. Check the numbers under the preview: camera name, resolution, and measured frame rate.
5. Optional: mirror the view, take a photo, switch cameras if you have more than one, or copy a short text report to paste into a support chat.

What this test actually checks

A camera can "work" in several different ways, and a quick glance at a video call is not always enough to tell them apart. This test gives you concrete numbers instead of a guess.

• Live video: proves the camera captures a moving image, not just a frozen photo or a black screen.
• Resolution: the actual pixel dimensions your camera is currently streaming, for example 1280 x 720 or 1920 x 1080. This depends on the camera, the driver, and sometimes the app requesting it, so the same webcam can report different resolutions in different tools.
• Measured frame rate: how many frames per second your browser is actually decoding right now, counted live, not just the number your camera driver advertises.
• Reported frame rate: the frame rate your camera's driver claims to support, shown next to the measured value so you can compare the two.
• Device name: the exact camera your browser sees, useful when a laptop has more than one camera or you're troubleshooting which one an app is picking.

Why measured FPS and reported FPS aren't always the same

Most webcam pages only show the frame rate a camera claims to support, taken from the device driver. That number is a ceiling, not a guarantee. Low light, USB bandwidth, an older laptop, or a background app competing for the same camera can all pull the real frame rate below what the driver reports.

This test measures frames as they actually arrive, using the browser's own video frame timing where available, and falls back to a frame-change check in browsers that don't expose it. If your measured FPS is noticeably lower than the reported FPS, that's a real, visible difference: your video call will look choppier than the spec sheet promised, and it's worth checking your lighting or closing other apps that use the camera.

Why nothing is uploaded

This entire test runs with client-side JavaScript. The camera stream is attached directly to a video element on this page and read frame by frame in your browser; it is never sent over the network. There is no server component involved in the test itself, no video is stored anywhere, and closing the tab or clicking "Stop webcam" immediately releases the camera.

The one exception is entirely your choice: if you click "Take photo", the image is drawn to a canvas and downloaded straight to your device as a PNG file. It is never transmitted anywhere either. See the privacy policy for the full breakdown of what does and doesn't happen on this page.

Common reasons a webcam test fails

If the preview stays black, shows an error, or your browser never asks for permission, the cause is almost always one of a short list of things, most of which you can fix in under a minute.

• Permission was denied or dismissed. Your browser remembers that choice per site, so it won't ask again until you reset it in the address bar's site settings.
• Another app already has the camera open. Video calling apps, screen recorders, and even some browser tabs can lock a webcam so nothing else can use it at the same time.
• A privacy switch or shutter is closed. Many laptops have a hardware or OS-level camera toggle that overrides anything a website asks for.
• The wrong camera is selected. Laptops with a docking station or an external webcam sometimes default to the built-in camera instead of the one you actually want.
• The page was opened over plain HTTP. Browsers only expose the camera API on secure (HTTPS) pages, so an insecure copy of a page will silently refuse to request access.

Common webcam resolutions, explained

Camera resolution is usually written as a pixel width and height, and often has a shorthand name based on the vertical pixel count. Here's what the common ones actually mean for a video call.

• 640 x 480 (480p): the oldest common webcam resolution. Usable for a basic call, but visibly soft, especially on a large screen.
• 1280 x 720 (720p, "HD"): the baseline most laptops ship with today and the minimum most video calling apps recommend for a clear picture.
• 1920 x 1080 (1080p, "Full HD"): sharp enough to read fine detail and text held up to the camera, common on dedicated webcams and newer laptops.
• 3840 x 2160 (4K, "UHD"): mostly used for streaming or recording rather than live calls, since most video platforms downscale a call to 1080p or lower anyway.

Finding your camera settings by operating system

Camera permission is controlled at two levels: the operating system decides whether any app or browser can use the camera at all, and the browser then decides whether this specific site can. If the test can't reach your camera, checking the OS-level switch first saves time, since a browser can't override it.

• Windows 10 and 11: Settings > Privacy & security > Camera, then confirm "Camera access" and "Let apps access your camera" are both on, and that your browser is allowed in the per-app list underneath.
• macOS: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera, then make sure the toggle next to your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) is switched on. macOS asks the first time a browser requests the camera; if you clicked Don't Allow back then, you'll need to flip the toggle manually here.
• ChromeOS: chrome://settings/content/camera lists every site that has asked for camera access and whether it was allowed or blocked, with a switch to reset any of them.
• iOS and iPadOS: Settings, scroll to Safari (or Chrome), then Camera, and set it to Ask or Allow.
• Android: Settings > Apps > [your browser] > Permissions > Camera, then make sure it's allowed.

Webcam test vs. testing inside a call app

Zoom, Teams, and Meet all have their own camera preview buried in a settings menu, so it's fair to ask why a separate page is useful at all. A few practical reasons come up often.

• No account or meeting required: you can check a camera before you've even installed a calling app, or in the middle of setting up a new laptop.
• One camera at a time, clearly labeled: switching between multiple cameras and seeing an exact device name is often buried two or three menus deep inside a call app, and sometimes missing entirely.
• Numbers instead of a small preview thumbnail: resolution and a live, measured frame rate are more useful for diagnosing a problem than a tiny video tile in a settings panel.
• Works the same everywhere: this page behaves identically regardless of which calling app you actually plan to use afterward, so it's a neutral first check when you're not sure if the problem is your camera or the app.

Using this test before a video call

Running this check before joining Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, or any other call takes the guesswork out of "can people see me". If the live preview here looks sharp and smooth, the call app should get the same feed. If it looks dark, pixelated, or choppy here too, the problem is your camera or lighting, not the calling app, and no amount of restarting Zoom will fix it.

A quick habit that helps: test a couple of minutes before the call starts, not the moment it begins. That gives you time to fix simple issues, like switching to a different camera or turning on a light, from our webcam troubleshooting guide, without holding up the meeting. If you're not sure what any of the buttons above do, the how the test works page walks through each one.

Browser and device support

The test works in any modern browser that supports getUserMedia(), which covers current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and their mobile equivalents on Android and iOS. Measured frame rate uses a slightly more precise API in Chrome, Edge, and Safari; Firefox still gets an accurate measurement, just from a slightly different method under the hood, described in the how-it-works guide.

On iPhone and iPad, Safari requires the page to be the active tab and, on some iOS versions, a user gesture (the Start button counts) before it will hand over the camera. On Android, Chrome behaves the same way it does on desktop. Tablets and Chromebooks work the same way as any other laptop or phone; the same permission prompt and the same live preview apply regardless of screen size or keyboard type.