Troubleshooting
How to Allow Camera Access in Microsoft Edge
The short version of how to allow camera access in Edge: click Allow when the site asks. If you blocked it earlier, click the icon at the left end of the address bar, set Camera and Microphone to Allow under Permissions for this site, and reload the page.
Because Edge is mostly used on Windows, the other half of the job is Windows itself: if Windows doesn't let desktop apps use the camera, Edge can't pass it to any site. This guide covers the prompt, per-site and all-site settings, the Windows switches, Edge on Mac and mobile, and profiles. Menu names move around between Edge versions, so look for similar wording if yours differs.
Click Allow on Edge's camera prompt
The first time a site needs your camera, Edge shows a box under the address bar saying the site wants to use your camera and microphone. Click Allow and the site can start your camera straight away.
Edge is built on the same engine as Chrome, so recent versions may offer more than one way to allow, such as allowing only this time or allowing whenever you visit. Pick the lasting option for sites you use regularly.
On Omlet, your own video tile shows Waiting for your camera… while the prompt is open, and Camera blocked with a Try again button if the browser refused. Either way, the fix is in the next section.
Fix one site's camera permission from the address bar
- Open the site and click the icon at the left end of the address bar (a padlock on most versions).
- Under Permissions for this site, set Camera to Allow, and Microphone too.
- Reload the page when Edge suggests it.
If you blocked a site, Edge also shows a camera icon with a red cross at the right end of the address bar. Click it, choose to always allow the site to use your camera and microphone, click Done, and reload.
Reset a site to Ask
To wipe a site's choices and get the prompt back, open Site permissions from that same panel and click Reset permissions. You can also jump straight there by typing edge://settings/content/siteDetails?site=https://omlet.site into the address bar, replacing the address with any site you like.
Edge settings for every site
Type edge://settings/content/camera into the address bar. Through the menus, it's Settings and more (⋯) → Settings → Cookies and site permissions → All permissions → Camera; newer versions file it under Privacy, search, and services → Site permissions instead.
- Ask before accessing (recommended): keep this on. When it's off, Edge blocks the camera for every site without asking.
- Block list: sites you refused. Click ⋯ next to a site and choose Remove so it can ask again.
- Allow list: sites with standing access. Remove any you no longer use.
- Camera dropdown at the top: chooses which webcam Edge offers to sites.
The microphone page is edge://settings/content/microphone and works the same way. To browse site by site, open Site permissions → All sites and pick one.
Edge's settings are separate from Chrome's even though both use the same engine. Allowing a site in Chrome does nothing for Edge, and vice versa.
Turn on the Windows camera switches Edge needs
Edge is a desktop app in Windows' eyes, and that matters: it isn't listed with the Microsoft Store apps, so a different switch controls it.
- Open Settings → Privacy & security → Camera.
- Turn on Camera access and Let apps access your camera.
- Turn on Let desktop apps access your camera. This is the one that covers Edge.
- Go back to Privacy & security → Microphone and turn on the same three switches.
- Close Edge completely and open it again.
On Windows 10, the same switches live under Settings → Privacy → Camera, with slightly different names such as Allow desktop apps to access your camera.
Also check Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Cameras on Windows 11 to make sure your webcam isn't disabled, and look for a privacy shutter or a camera key on your laptop's keyboard. More Windows setup tips are in our guide to random video chat on a Windows PC.
Edge on Mac, Android and iPhone
- Mac: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera → switch on Microsoft Edge, and do the same under Microphone. Then quit Edge and reopen it. Site permissions inside Edge work exactly as above.
- Android: tap ⋯ → Settings → Privacy and security → Site permissions → Camera to see the default and any blocked sites. Edge also needs Android's own permission: Settings → Apps → Edge → Permissions → Camera.
- iPhone and iPad: open Settings → Apps → Edge and turn on Camera and Microphone, then answer the prompt inside Edge.
Profiles, installed apps and managed PCs
Edge keeps permissions per profile. If you switch between a Personal and a Work profile, allowing the camera in one has no effect in the other, so check the profile picture at the top left before you change anything.
If you install a site as an app from Edge, it normally uses that profile's permissions for the site. Allow the camera once in the browser or in the app window, and both should follow. Our guide to installing a web app on Windows or Mac explains how installed sites behave.
On a work computer you may see a building icon or a note that the browser is managed by your organization. Type edge://policy to see which policies are active. Camera access set by policy can only be changed by your IT team, and it's best not to use a work device for personal chats anyway.
Edge camera settings cheat sheet
| Goal | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Allow one site | Site icon in the address bar → Permissions for this site → Camera → Allow |
| Unblock one site | Red-crossed camera icon → always allow → Done |
| Let every site ask | edge://settings/content/camera → Ask before accessing on |
| Choose a webcam | edge://settings/content/camera → dropdown at the top |
| Reset one site | Site permissions → the site → Reset permissions |
| Let Edge use the camera at all | Windows: Privacy & security → Camera → Let desktop apps access your camera |
Done all of that and still no picture? The rest of the fixes, like freeing a camera held by another app, are in camera not working in Microsoft Edge. Using Firefox as well? Here's how to allow camera access in Firefox. And if your camera works but the other person's sound doesn't, see can't hear the other person.