Lost camera on my HP laptop

[Bezza1971]

I have lost use of my in-built webcam and can no longer find it in my device manager (even if I try to restore legacy hardware). I have not installed any new software or updates recently. I have checked my privacy settings and reinstalled all my drivers from the HP site and the problem still persists. In desperation I have also completely reset my computer by reinstalling windows but there is still no sign of the camera! Does anyone have any other ideas????

[Dilip_18]

Hi@Bezza1971,

Welcome to the HP Support Community! I'd like to help!

I see you are experiencing issues with the webcam on the HP Laptop. 

To use your webcam, simply slide the privacy camera switch on/off on the right side of your HP Notebook PC or press the webcam shutter key.

Open Device Manager. Navigate to Imaging devices. If there is no imaging device, then no camera modem is configured or there may be a camera hardware failure. Then right-click Imaging devices and select Scan for hardware change.

Try the steps recommended below and check if it helps.

1. Open “Settings -> Privacy -> Camera.”
2. At the top, look for “Camera access for this device is on.”
3. If it is off, click the “Change” button and turn it on.
4. Under that, check for “Allow apps to access your camera” and make sure it is On.
5. Next, look at “Choose which apps can access your camera.” Make sure apps you want to use with your camera are enabled.
6. Re-enable the device.

Also, try running the hardware diagnostics test on your PC and check if the webcam on your PC is functioning correctly.

I have a few recommendations 

• Update your Notebook computer to the latest BIOS from HP.COM.
• Make sure the Windows and HP support assistant updates are up to date. 

- Try reinstalling the Webcam driver from Device Manager

 - Select the Start button, type Device Manager, and select it from the list of results.
- Look for Camera or Imaging Device and expand the List
- Look for Camera driver then right-click it, and select Update Driver.
- Select Search automatically for updated driver software.

If these steps don't work, try reinstalling the driver: Open Device Manager, right-click the Camera driver and select Uninstall. Restart your PC and Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver.

If issue still persist then you can try doing Reset PC Keep my files from windows to resolve the issue.

For any hardware issue or repair please click on the link Phone Assist Worldwide 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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Have a great day!