CamHold
Mac camera permissions: how to allow, revoke and reset access
Where camera permissions live on a Mac, how to allow or remove an app's access, how browsers add a second layer, and how to reset it all from Terminal.
On a Mac, no third-party app gets the camera without your say-so. Mac camera permissions live in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Camera: a list of apps, each with its own switch. That list is where a lot of "Zoom can't find my camera" problems get fixed, and where you take access away from an app that shouldn't have it.
Where Mac camera permissions live
- Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
- Click Privacy & Security in the sidebar. You may need to scroll to find it.
- Click Camera.
The list only shows installed apps that have asked to use the camera, and the switch next to each one turns its access on or off. FaceTime, Photo Booth and the other apps that come with the Mac have access automatically and don't show up there, per Apple's camera access page.
If your Mac still has System Preferences (macOS 12 or earlier), the path is System Preferences › Security & Privacy › Privacy › Camera.
Allowing and revoking an app
The first time an app tries to open the camera, macOS asks whether to allow it, and it remembers your answer. If you clicked Don't Allow by accident, the app won't ask again; its switch just sits off in the list. Turn it on and you're done.
Revoking works the same way in reverse: switch the app off and it loses access. If it was already running, quit and reopen it so you're not left guessing whether the change took.
On a company Mac, IT can block the camera for specific apps with a management profile, and you can't undo that from the list. If a work app can't get the camera no matter what and your Mac is managed, that's a conversation with IT.
Browsers add a second layer
When you join Google Meet or any other meeting in a browser, two separate permissions are involved:
- macOS's permission for the browser. It's in the same Camera list. If Chrome, Safari or Edge is switched off there, no website in that browser can use the camera.
- Each website's permission inside the browser. The site asks, you answer, and the browser remembers it for that address.
Chrome: three-dot menu › Settings › Privacy and security › Site settings › Camera. Blocked sites are listed under "Not allowed to use your camera or microphone"; click one and change its camera permission to Allow. The same page has a dropdown for which camera Chrome uses by default. On a work or school computer, an administrator may have locked these settings, as Chrome's help page points out.
Safari: Safari › Settings › Websites, then Camera in the sidebar. Each site can be set to Ask, Deny or Allow, and the "When visiting other websites" menu sets the default for everything else, as Apple's Safari guide describes.
If Meet still shows no camera after that, camera not working in Google Meet on a Mac goes through the remaining causes.
What camera permission actually allows
The permission belongs to the app and covers any camera that app can see. Allow Zoom, and it can use the MacBook's camera, a USB webcam or whatever else is connected. That's why the Camera list shows apps; you'll never find a camera in it.
Other things a call needs have lists of their own:
| What the app wants to do | Where to allow it in Privacy & Security |
|---|---|
| Show your video | Camera |
| Hear you | Microphone |
| Share your screen | Screen & System Audio Recording |
An app with camera access and the microphone blocked shows your face while nobody hears you. And screen sharing in Zoom or Teams depends on the third row, which is independent of the camera.
Permission also doesn't let an app film you quietly. Whenever the camera is on, the green light next to it turns on and macOS shows a dot in the menu bar near Control Center. Both are covered in the green light next to the Mac camera.
Virtual cameras need one more approval
A virtual camera installs as a camera extension, and approving the extension is a separate step in a separate place. On macOS 15 or later it's under System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions › Camera Extensions. On macOS 14 you get a blocked-extension notice and allow it in Privacy & Security.
With CamHold, the virtual camera I make, there are three approvals that are easy to mix up:
- The camera extension, approved once, in the place above.
- Camera access for CamHold, under Privacy & Security › Camera, because it reads your real webcam.
- Camera access for the call app, because Zoom, Teams or your browser needs its own permission to see any camera, virtual ones included.
The app's setup guide explains each prompt before it appears. For what a virtual camera is and what to do when one goes missing, see virtual cameras on a Mac.
Resetting camera permissions from Terminal
When the list doesn't help, you can wipe the decision macOS stored so it asks again. The tool is tccutil, documented in Apple's developer docs.
To reset camera access for every app, open Terminal and run:
tccutil reset Camera
To reset a single app, add its bundle identifier. To look one up, put the app's name in this command:
osascript -e 'id of app "Google Chrome"'
It prints com.google.Chrome, so the reset becomes:
tccutil reset Camera com.google.Chrome
By default this only touches your own user account. Quit and reopen the app afterward, and macOS will ask the next time it tries to use the camera. Stay away from tccutil reset All: it clears privacy decisions in every list, and you'll be answering microphone, screen recording, file access and every other prompt all over again.
Quick answers
The app isn't in the Camera list. The list only shows apps that have asked for access. Open the app, try to turn video on, then check the list again. If the prompt never shows up, reset that app's camera access with tccutil and try once more.
I switched it off and the green light is still on. Quit the app completely. If the light stays on, open Control Center to see which app is using the camera.
Do Zoom and Teams need permission? Yes, like any app that doesn't come with the Mac. If they're already allowed and you still get no picture, Mac camera not working in Zoom and camera not working in Teams on a Mac cover the other causes.
Does CamHold send my video anywhere? No. It has no account, makes no network requests at all, and processes video on the Mac without recording it. The only video it keeps is the short Loop clip, and only when you record one.