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Allow or reset camera and microphone access in Chrome

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When a video call or a voice recorder cannot see your camera or hear your microphone in Chrome, the cause is usually a permission that was set to Block, often by accident. This article shows where Chrome keeps those settings on a computer and on an Android phone, how to undo a Block, and how to tell when Chrome is not the problem.

Why Chrome asks for permission

A web page cannot switch on your camera or microphone by itself. The first time a page asks, Chrome shows a small prompt in the top-left corner of the window and waits for you to answer. Your answer is remembered for that website, so the next visit either starts the camera straight away or never asks again. That convenience is also why a single mis-click can cause trouble for months: if you choose Never allow once, Chrome keeps refusing silently and the call page just shows a black square or an error.

Chrome calls these choices site permissions. They are stored per website address, which means that allowing a camera for one site does not allow it for another, and that a setting you changed for example.com does not carry over to a different address. Two other layers sit below Chrome: the operating system can block the browser as a whole, and a physical switch or another program can occupy the device. Those are covered in the related articles at the end. Work through Chrome first, because it is the quickest layer to check.

Answer the prompt correctly

When a site asks to use the camera or microphone, Chrome's own help describes three answers: Allow while visiting the site, Allow this time, and Never allow. Choose Allow while visiting the site if you trust the site and want it to work again next time. Choose Allow this time for a one-off meeting on a site you rarely use. The prompt belongs to Chrome, not to the website, so a page cannot fake it. If no prompt ever appears and the camera does not work, the permission has probably been blocked before, which the next section fixes.

Change the setting for one site on a computer

  1. Open the page that cannot use the camera or microphone.
  2. Click the icon at the left end of the address bar. Chrome's help calls it View site information; it looks like a lock or a pair of sliders depending on the version.
  3. Choose Site settings. Chrome opens a page that lists every permission for this one site.
  4. Find Camera and Microphone and change each from Block to Allow (or Ask). Changes are saved as soon as you make them.
  5. Go back to the page and reload it. Many sites read the permission only when they load, so a reload is part of the fix.

If a Reset permissions button appears at the top of that page, pressing it throws away every choice you have made for the site and lets Chrome ask again the next time. This is the cleanest option when you are not sure which setting is wrong.

Change the defaults or review all sites on a computer

  1. Open the Chrome menu (the three dots at the top right) and choose Settings.
  2. Choose Privacy and security, then Site settings.
  3. Under Permissions, choose Camera or Microphone.
  4. Pick the default you want, such as letting sites ask before using the device. In the same screen, a list called Not allowed to use your camera or microphone shows the sites you blocked. Select a site there and change it to Allow, or use the delete icon on the right to remove the exception so the site can ask again.

Review that blocked list if one particular site never works but others do. You will often find the site there from an old Never allow answer. A browser extension or a work policy can also manage these settings; if the options look greyed out, the setting is controlled by an administrator and has to be changed by them.

Chrome on an Android phone or tablet

On Android the steps are similar but the screens are shaped for touch. To fix one site, open the page, tap the View site information icon at the left of the address bar, tap Permissions, tap Camera or Microphone, and choose the setting you want. Tapping Reset permissions removes the site's saved choices.

To review everything, tap More at the top right, choose Settings, then Site settings under the Advanced section, and choose Camera and microphone. There you can pick the default and open All sites to see the sites that have specific permissions.

Android has a second layer: the Chrome app itself must be allowed to use the camera and microphone in the phone's own app permissions. Chrome's help page does not describe that layer, and the screens differ between phone makers, so look for the Chrome entry in the phone's settings under apps and permissions. If Chrome shows a prompt and you answered Allow but the picture is still black, check that layer next.

If it still does not work

Keep your privacy in mind

Permissions exist to protect you, so grant them with care. Allow the camera only for sites you intend to use for video, prefer Allow this time on sites you visit once, and look at the blocked and allowed lists now and then. Chrome shows an indicator in the tab and in the address bar while a site is using the camera or microphone; if you see it on a page where you did not start a call, close the tab. Covering a laptop camera with a slider is a harmless extra habit.

About ChatLite

If you use ChatLite, the same Chrome site setting applies to chatlite.net. After you change it, reload the page and use the free camera and microphone test on this site to confirm that Chrome can read your devices.

References

Official documentation used to check this article. Pages are maintained by their owners and may change.

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