Why doesn't Skype see the webcam on a laptop? Delete the old one and install a new Skype
The situation when Skype doesn't see the camera, extremely unpleasant, because video calls become impossible. But limit yourself voice communication not necessary, since this problem can be solved without any problems. Let's look at this problem.
Solving the problem
This malfunction is relevant for computers with mobile devices it shouldn't happen. Let's look at the procedure for fixing it on old Skype for Windows and Mac OS. First, restart the program. Next, call up the menu "Tools" and immediately click on "Settings…". Now go to video options. Here, make sure that the webcam image is displayed correctly. If this is not the case, then restart the program.
And in the case of the new version of Skype, you need to do the following:
It is worth understanding that video calling will not be available if your Internet connection is slow. If you have a weak connection, then only voice calls are available.
Note
If Skype did not detect the webcam, then it is worth checking whether it is detected directly by the computer. Everything is done like this:
When communicating on the Internet, especially with people you know well, correspondence alone is not enough; you also want to hear and see your interlocutor. This live communication can provide a number of messengers, among which is the most popular. This application can capture video from a built-in or external webcam and send it over the network, however, in some cases, Skype does not see the camera, even though the latter is in good working order.
As always, there can be several reasons causing this problem. Often, Skype does not detect a webcam if the corresponding hardware drivers are missing or damaged, the user disables the webcam, or third party programs, using an outdated version of the messenger. Also, the webcam may not work in Skype due to incorrect settings in the application itself. Hardware malfunctions cannot be ruled out - camera breakdowns, damage to cables, ports or cables. Let's start in order.
Outdated version of Skype
If you encounter problems with video communication, the first thing we recommend is to make sure that the version of Skype you are using is up-to-date. To do this, select the “Check for updates” option from the “Help” menu.
If available new version program, download it from the official website and install it.
Temporary failure
The problem may arise as a result of temporary problems with the computer or system. To eliminate this option, simply restart your PC. Perhaps the service responsible for the webcam simply failed in Windows. When you reboot, the service will automatically start and the camera will be detected by Skype.
Webcam is disabled
It may happen that you yourself accidentally or intentionally turned off the webcam and forgot about it. This is one of the reasons why the camera does not turn on in Skype. In some laptop models, the built-in camera is activated and deactivated by pressing the Fn + F (1-12) button combination. Look carefully to see if you have a button with a video camera image in the very top row of your keyboard and press it. Buttons for controlling the webcam can also be located on the side of the laptop.
You can also check whether the webcam is enabled or disabled in Device Manager. Find the “Imaging Devices” item in the list, expand it and check the status of all components in it. Their properties should indicate “The device is working normally.”
If the camera is inactive, turn it on by clicking the corresponding button in the window or selecting context menu“Enable” option.
Note: If the webcam is not displayed in Device Manager, update the hardware configuration through the Action menu.
Driver problems
In case of operational problems hardware Traditionally, the presence of drivers is checked. If your camera does not work in Skype on Windows 7/10, be sure to check whether the camera driver is installed and, if installed, whether there are any conflicts or problems with its operation. You can find out this again in the Device Manager. The properties of image processing devices must contain a message about their normal operation, and the device icons themselves should not be marked with yellow or red icons.
The unknown device in the manager may well be a webcam. For the assumption to be confirmed, you need to find and install for it software. To search for drivers, it is best to use special programs like DriverPack Solution, for laptop cameras necessary drivers can be found on the included disc. The manufacturer often adds a proprietary utility to it for configuring the built-in webcam. If you update or reinstall drivers, the current version must be removed, in otherwise the new one may not install correctly.
The camera is being used by another application
One webcam can only work with one application. Check to see if there are other programs running on your computer that may have access to the camera. If in at the moment the camera transmits the image to some program, it will not work in Skype, and the user will either receive a black window or a notification “Cannot start video broadcast.” Close all applications that are intercepting the video stream, and only then launch Skype.
The camera is not selected in Skype itself
If the webcam in Skype on a laptop does not work after connecting a second camera, TV tuner or other video device to it, you must also check the settings of the messenger itself and make sure that the correct device is selected. Go to the program settings, switch to the “Video Settings” subsection and select the camera you need from the drop-down list at the top. At the same time, you can eliminate the “conflict” between Skype and the camera by checking whether it works with other applications.
To check the camera, you can use the service Webcam Toy. Go to the address in your browser webcamtoy.com/en, click the “Use my camera” button and give permission to the service to use your webcam.
A similar check can be performed using any media player, for example, VLC. To do this, select the “Open capture device” option from the “Media” menu.
Now specify the webcam you are checking in the “Device name” drop-down list.
The player window should display what your camera sees.
If the video stream is broadcast in the player or other applications, but not in Skype, then the problem is in the messenger itself. Check all settings, reinstall the application, try the portable version. If there is no video in other programs, check the camera and the drivers that support its operation.
Webcam failure
The worst thing that can happen is that the built-in or connected external webcam fails. A hardware failure will be indirectly indicated by the lack of interaction of the camera with various programs and directly by the absence of the camera itself in the Device Manager. However, you should not rush to make such a diagnosis without checking the operation of the ports, cables and cable.
Perhaps the webcam in Skype does not work only because the contact in the port through which it is connected to the computer has been broken. Check all contacts and cable integrity. But with laptops everything is a little more difficult, to establish whether everything is in order with the connection between the camera and motherboard cable can only be used at a service center.
Other reasons
What else can cause problems with the webcam in Skype? Maybe you changed BIOS settings and mistakenly turned off the capture device? In this case, you need to go into BIOS, find the camera in Advanced section or Security and turn it on.
The Skype camera often does not work on older computers with Pentium processors III and below. Alternatively, users of such PCs can be recommended to use a previous version of Skype, preferably a portable one, as well as the best solution, of course, there would be a purchase of a new one modern computer. The same applies to outdated versions operating system. For example, in Windows XP SP2 all the latest Skype versions do not support video broadcast mode, so the only correct solution in this case would be Windows installation 7, 8.1 or 10 or upgrade to XP SP3.
This is largely due to the fact that users initially do not have the skills to set up the camera. Sometimes problems supposedly arise on their own, after some event, supposedly everything worked fine before, but today it refuses. In this article we will look at everything possible reasons and the main points that you should pay attention to in order to successfully solve this eternal and unfortunate problem with the camera in Skype.
Installing drivers for the webcam
Connecting the camera for the first time personal computer is always accompanied by the installation of device drivers. In this matter, everything is brought to maximum automation, but sometimes user intervention is required.
1. First of all, you need to check the box in which the webcam was located for the presence of disk media. If it is present, then it probably contains the drivers we need, install them from the disk.
2. Some modern webcams do not come with disks, in the hope that Windows will pick them up from its own database or from the Internet without any problems. Therefore, we can only wait until the operating system copes with this and displays a notification about the successful installation of the driver.
3. It happens that there is no disk included with the camera and Windows is unable to find and install drivers on its own. Now it’s up to us, we should open the official website of the manufacturer of our webcam in the browser and in the drivers section find the one suitable for our camera model, download it, and then install it and then restart the computer.
It is often useful to do this in any case, because from the moment your camera was packaged at the factory, more than one month or year could have passed, which means that the manufacturer could have updated the drivers for the device and additional software more than once. That is, in any case, it will be useful for us to visit the manufacturer’s website and make sure that we are using the latest drivers. On the other hand, if after updating the drivers various glitches begin to appear, then it is recommended to return to the previous drivers that worked stably.
Checking the webcam for functionality
1. Let's not blindly believe the reports from the operating room Windows systems and make sure that these same drivers are working and, in general, available on the computer. For this let's go to device Manager.
The camera should be located in the section called "Image Processing Devices", and it can be called something like usb video device or, if the camera is built into a computer or laptop monitor, then usually the name of the camera model will be indicated in the name.
Moreover, there should not be any exclamation marks or question marks near the name of your webcam. Their presence will indicate problems with the device or driver. If there are no such signs, then we can be sure that the camera drivers are working.
2. It is also worth checking the image that the camera produces. There are several ways to do this. In an old Windows XP this could be done by going to My computer and launching the camera icon. In modern versions of the system, for example Windows 8.1, the camera can be launched in a similar way by finding the appropriate option in one of the pop-up windows of the interface.
IN Windows 7 such standard features are missing, so you can check the camera’s functionality using third party applications. One of these applications can be a standard program Paint. Also, many video players will allow you to display the image from the camera on the monitor screen, such video players include Daum PotPlayer.
If the image from the camera is displayed correctly, then everything is fine with it and you should go to the settings itself Skype programs.
Setting up our camera in Skype
We have already checked the camera in every possible way and were clearly convinced of its performance. However, a popular video calling program tells us that "Skype did not detect a webcam..."
The roots of this problem are very old; this problem arises and disappears at any moment, incomprehensible to both users and developers in the company. On the official forum of the program, where there were about several thousand such questions, the developers did not answer anything intelligible.
Without hesitation, users found their own way out of this situation. They set previous versions Skype, on which the program worked with the camera as it should.
We eradicate the poorly working Skype program from your computer
This must be done, because there are two installed programs even different versions will begin to conflict with themselves. you can use standard Windows uninstaller. To do this, go to Start - Control Panel - Add or Remove Programs. Find Skype and delete it. To be sure to get rid of all files related to the program to one degree or another, you can use a cooler program, for example, .
Download a different version of Skype
It's sad, but the official website allows you to download only latest version program that is supposedly “improved as much as possible.” Therefore, those users who are faced with this problem will have to search through many sites in search of the desired version of the Skype program with the ability to download it without problems. A good option would be to visit torrent trackers.
But if suddenly the camera still doesn’t work... In that case, we just need to come to terms with it. If you really need video communication, then you can simply replace the webcam with another one. Most likely, you won’t have any problems with another camera, and your camera will also work well, but on a different computer or operating system.
There are many reasons why Skype may not display video from a web camera. This may be preceded incorrect program settings, absence correct driver version for the device or many other faults that prevent proper operation video communication
Checking drivers
Incorrect or missing camera drivers can cause a lot of problems not only with Skype, but also with other similar programs and instant messengers.
How check driver performance:
Reinstalling the driver
In some cases, complete reinstallation Equipment software. This is not so easy to do, since most webcams do not come with a driver disk or do not even have them on the official website.
How to reinstall:
What to do if webcam not displayed in the manager:
Checking the camera without Skype
In some cases, the device may simply be broken, causing it to not work in all programs, not just Skype. In this case you will need test operability of the device using the built-in operating system tools. How to do it:
- If the image from the webcam is displayed normally, then the problem is settings Skype programs. Otherwise, there are faults in the device itself.
Checking Skype settings
Incorrect settings in Skype can also become cause no image from your camera. Therefore, it is worth going into the program and going through the points “ Tools», « Settings». 
After this, you need to open the “ Video» and select the desired device for video communication. 
Other reasons
Also for correct operation web cameras several other problems may be affected. The first of them is insufficient throughput USB connector. Such a malfunction can occur mainly at very old computers equipped with outdated motherboards. In this case, serious upgrade PC (replace the motherboard and many other components) or at least purchase a USB expansion card that allows you to add faster ports to the computer.
Some users connect cameras via poor quality USB extenders that cause severe signal loss. In this case, everything is simple - just connect the device directly to the USB port of the computer or change the extension cord to a better one.
Skype is the most popular program for communicating with friends over the Internet. Its most important function is the ability to make video calls. This is very convenient, because you can see any interlocutor without even leaving home.
But what to do if you start communicating, but the interlocutor does not see you. Let's look at what problems there are with the camera and where it turns on in the Skype program.
Why the camera doesn't work on Skype
Skype settings
First of all, let's check whether it works directly in the program itself. Let's go to Skype. Opening “Tools – Settings – Video Settings”. If we see our display on the right side of the window, then everything is working.
Perhaps you have a parameter set under the video “don’t automatically share your screen with anyone”. Then, with every video call, you need to turn on the video during the conversation. Or simply change the value to show the video to users from your contacts.
Equipment check
The most common cause of camera malfunction is desktop computers is the carelessness of the users themselves. Check if your device is plugged into an outlet. (Laptop owners should skip this point.)
Checking drivers and camera functionality
Let's go to "Control Panel - Hardware and Sound - Device Manager". Find your device in the list. If it is marked in yellow exclamation mark, then the problem lies in the drivers or the camera itself.
Download the driver for your camera from the official website of the manufacturer. Click right click to the device in the task manager and click "Update drivers". Or you can first delete them and then install the downloaded ones.
After this, be sure to reboot the computer.
If after these steps the camera still does not function, then most likely the problem is caused by a malfunction of the device itself or you did not install the drivers correctly.
Using the camera with other applications
It is not uncommon for a computer to have several programs that work with the camera. If one of them is active and uses the camera, then Skype will not be able to use it until the program is closed.
Some programs can run in the tray (icons in the lower right corner), so the user does not see it, and it blocks access for Skype.
Low internet speed
And this is perhaps the most common problem, the fact is that if one of the interlocutors low speed Internet connection, you will not be able to establish a video call. Check your internet settings. For normal operation You will need video from 128 Kbps. If your parameters match, contact another person with a normal Internet connection and evaluate the quality of the connection.
In most cases the problem goes away. If you have completed all the steps, but the camera does not work in Skype and other programs, take the camera to service center for further diagnosis.
