The camera indicator light is on but there is no picture. The problem may be in permissions, software conflicts or hardware. First check the macOS camera permission settings to confirm that the application has been allowed to access the camera; secondly, check whether multiple programs call the camera at the same time, and forcefully exit the occupation process through the activity monitor; then try to restart the Mac, enter safe mode, or use terminal commands to reset the camera service; if you use the browser, you can change the browser, clear the cache and update to the latest version. Most of the above steps can be solved. If they are invalid, it may be a hardware failure. It is recommended to contact Apple's official support for testing.

You sit in front of your computer, open the video conferencing software, and prepare to start work, but you find that the camera indicator light is on, but the picture is black. This situation is really confusing - the light is on, which means the system thinks the camera is running, but there is actually no picture. The problem may be in permissions, software conflicts or hardware. The following directions can help you check.

Permission settings are not turned on

To protect privacy, macOS will not automatically open camera permissions to all applications by default. Even if the light is on, it may be that other programs occupy the camera, causing the current application to be unable to obtain the picture.

• Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera
• Confirm that the app you need to use (such as Zoom, FaceTime, browser) has been checked to allow access to the camera
• If your app is not in the list, try restarting the app or system and checking it again

Sometimes, even if permissions are set, they may become invalid after restarting, especially after updating the system version.

Multiple programs call the camera at the same time

Mac's camera can only be used by one program at a time. If you have opened an app before but haven't exited completely, it may still occupy camera resources in the background.

• Open the Activity Monitor (which can be found in Applications > Utilities), search for "VDC" or "FaceTime" related processes
• Forced exit from suspicious processes
• Try opening your video software again to see if there is any screen

Common applications for "stealing" cameras include: browsers, remote control tools, monitoring apps, etc.

System or driver issues

Sometimes macOS updates are incomplete or kernel extensions fail to load, which can also cause camera exceptions. Although the light is on, the internal driver may not start normally.

You can try the following:

• Restart your Mac
• Enter safe mode and restart again (hold the power button until the startup option appears)
• Use terminal commands to reset the camera service:

   sudo killall VDCAssistant

After executing this command, the camera may be temporarily turned off and then restarted, and sometimes it can return to normal use.

Software compatibility or browser restrictions

If you are using a camera in your browser (such as Google Meet, Tencent Meeting web version), the problem may be related to the browser itself.

• Try changing the browser test, such as changing from Chrome to Safari or Firefox
• Clear the browser's website permission cache
• Update your browser to the latest version

Some sites cache old device configurations, and reauthorizing after clearing the cache may resolve the issue.

Basically these common reasons. Start with permissions and background programs, and most cases can be solved. If you have tried it all but it doesn’t work, it may be a hardware problem. It is recommended to go to Apple’s official support or repair points for further inspection.

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