Webcam Test

A call starts in two minutes and you are not sure the camera is alive. Webcam Test shows the live picture in this tab.

Front camera, no recording

Click Start webcam. The browser asks for camera permission and requests the user-facing camera, with audio off. If it connects, you see the video and a line with the width, height, and frame rate when the browser reports them. Stop camera, or leaving the tab, stops every track. Nothing is written to a file. There is no snapshot button and no camera menu if you have two devices. A denied permission tells you to allow the camera in the browser settings. /blog/how-to-check-if-webcam-is-working covers the desktop checks too. The preview is muted on purpose so the test does not play your own voice back.

What a black box usually means

A black preview with no error often means another app already holds the camera, or the laptop lid switch thinks the camera is covered. Close the other meeting app and start again. A permission error is different from a missing device. This test does not install a driver and does not list every camera by name unless the browser puts that name in the track label. Microphone Test watches input level. Speaker Test plays sound. Keyboard Test lights keys. None of those open a camera.

When the preview is not the whole check

A working preview here does not prove the meeting app has the same device selected. If this tab shows a picture and the call does not, switch the camera inside that app. Typing Speed Test is a typing timer, not a camera check. Screen Resolution reports the display, not the sensor. The stream stays on this device. A green size line only means the browser reported one. If the picture is mirrored, that is the usual front-camera preview, not a recording you can flip here.