Camera not working in Slack
Slack only uses your camera in huddles and clips, and it picks a camera on its own — often a virtual camera or the wrong device if you have more than one. Confirm the camera works first, then point Slack at the right one.
Step-by-step fix
- Confirm the camera works at all: run the CheckMyMic webcam test — you should see a live preview.
- In Slack, open Preferences → Audio & video and pick your camera under the video setting — the preview thumbnail updates the moment you select the right device.
- In a huddle, click the camera button to turn video on. Huddles start with video off by default, which is regularly mistaken for a broken camera.
- Desktop app: grant camera access at the OS level — Windows: Settings → Privacy & security → Camera, including "Let desktop apps access your camera"; macOS: Privacy & Security → Camera → Slack. Slack in the browser instead needs the per-site permission behind the lock icon in the address bar.
- If you've ever run OBS or Snap Camera, Slack may have auto-picked their virtual camera, which shows black when that app is closed. Select your real webcam explicitly in Preferences.
- Still black? Quit Slack fully (tray/menu-bar icon → Quit, not just the window), close other video apps holding the camera, and relaunch.
Frequently asked questions
The camera works in the browser test but not in Slack huddles — why?
Slack keeps its own camera pick under Preferences → Audio & video, and it loves stale choices — a virtual camera or an unplugged device. Select the camera that showed a preview in the test, then flip the huddle's camera button off and on.
Why is my video button greyed out in a Slack huddle?
The desktop app is missing OS-level camera permission. Grant it (Windows: Privacy & security → Camera, with desktop-app access on; macOS: Privacy & Security → Camera), then quit and relaunch Slack — the button enables once Slack can actually open a camera.
Does Slack in the browser need a separate camera permission?
Yes. Browser Slack uses the site permission — click the lock icon in the address bar and allow Camera for app.slack.com. It's completely independent of the desktop app's permission, so one working says nothing about the other.
I tried everything and Slack still shows no video — what now?
Update Slack, then use Help → Troubleshooting → Clear Cache and Restart — a corrupted cache breaks device enumeration. Confirm the camera still previews in the CheckMyMic webcam test, and check our webcam guide for your operating system: OS privacy toggles block desktop apps more often than Slack itself misbehaves.