Fix · Safari

Camera not working in Safari: black video in a call

Safari lets each website use the camera only if you say so, under its Websites settings, and only one app on the Mac can hold the camera at a time.

What you are seeing

In a video call in Safari your picture stays black, the call says no camera was found, or Safari never asked to use the camera.

The likely causes, most common first

Work down the list; most people find theirs in the first two.

1. The site is set to Deny

  1. Open Safari → Settings → Websites and choose Camera on the left. Find the site and change Deny to Ask or Allow, then reload the call.

Apple: “Deny: The site can’t use your camera.” — support.apple.com/guide/safari/websites-ibrwe2159f50/mac

2. You said no when it asked

  1. On Ask, Safari asks at every visit. Reload the page and allow the camera when the question appears.

Apple: “Ask: The site must ask if it can use the camera on your Mac.” — support.apple.com/guide/safari/websites-ibrwe2159f50/mac

3. You cannot find the setting

  1. It is in Safari, not in System Settings: the Safari menu, then Settings, then Websites, then Camera. Apple’s own guide points there.

Apple: “In Safari, to allow a website to use the camera, choose Safari > Settings, click Websites, then select Camera.” — support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-to-your-camera-mchlf6d108da/mac

4. Another app is holding the camera

  1. If the green light beside the camera is on before you join, another app has it. Quit FaceTime, Photo Booth, Zoom or any other video app, then reload the call.

Apple: “The camera (and the green light) turn off when you close or quit all apps that can use the camera.” — support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/control-access-to-your-camera-mchlf6d108da/mac

5. You want it allowed for good

  1. For a site you use for calls every day, set it to Allow and Safari stops asking.

Apple: “Allow: The site can always use your camera.” — support.apple.com/guide/safari/websites-ibrwe2159f50/mac

Every quote above is from Apple’s own help pages, read on 10 November 2026. Something changed? Tell us.

Other Safari problems

Microphone not workingSafari keeps a separate microphone setting for every website — Ask, Deny or Allow — and a call cannot hear you until that site is allowed.Transcript missingA Google Meet transcript is saved to the organiser’s Drive, only starts from a computer or an Android phone, and waits for the host to join on the web.Recording missingGoogle Meet saves recordings to the organiser’s Drive, only records from a computer or an Android phone, and stops by itself after eight hours.Notes or summary missingGoogle’s automatic notes need an eligible plan, a meeting of about fifteen minutes or more in one supported language, and somebody from the host’s organisation to start them.Breakout rooms missingBreakout rooms in Google Meet need an eligible Workspace edition and a host on a computer, and Google never records what happens in them.No sound, or people cannot hear youMost Google Meet sound problems are one of four things: the browser was not allowed the microphone, you are muted somewhere, the wrong speaker is chosen, or you joined in Companion mode.

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