Safety & privacy
How to Revoke Camera Permission From Websites
Here's how to revoke camera permission from websites: open your browser's camera settings, find the list of sites you've allowed, and remove or block the ones you don't need. In Chrome that list lives at chrome://settings/content/camera, and Edge, Firefox and Safari each have an equivalent. It takes about a minute.
Nothing breaks when you do this. A site you remove simply has to ask again the next time it wants your camera, and you decide then. Below are the steps for each browser on desktop and phone, plus how to choose safer defaults.
Which sites have camera access? Where to look
Every major browser keeps a per-site list with three possible states: Allow (the site can use your camera without asking), Ask (it has to ask each time) and Block (it can't use it at all). The microphone has its own separate list, so review both.
| Browser | Where the camera list is | How to remove a site |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome (desktop) | chrome://settings/content/camera | Trash icon next to the site, or set it to Block |
| Chrome (Android) | ⋮ → Settings → Site settings → Camera | Tap the site, then Block or Remove |
| Edge | edge://settings/content/camera | Remove or Block next to the site |
| Firefox (desktop) | about:preferences#privacy → Permissions → Camera → Settings | Select the site, Remove Website, Save Changes |
| Safari (Mac) | Safari → Settings → Websites → Camera | Set the site to Deny or Ask, or Remove it |
| Safari (iPhone/iPad) | Settings → Apps → Safari → Camera, or Website Settings on the page | Choose Ask or Deny |
Menu names may differ slightly by browser version. If a path doesn't match exactly, look for "Site settings," "Site permissions" or "Websites."
Remove camera access in Chrome
Windows, Mac and Chromebook
- Type chrome://settings/content/camera in the address bar and press Enter.
- Under "Allowed to use your camera," find the site.
- Click the trash icon to remove it, or open the site's settings and set Camera to Block.
- Repeat at chrome://settings/content/microphone.
On a site you're visiting, you can also click the site controls icon on the left of the address bar, switch Camera off, or choose Reset permissions. Recent versions of Chrome may also remove permissions from sites you haven't visited in a while and mention it in Safety Check.
Android
- Tap ⋮ → Settings → Site settings → Camera.
- Tap a site in the allowed list.
- Choose Block, or Remove to make it ask again next time.
Need to turn access back on later? Our guide to allowing camera access in Chrome covers the reverse.
Remove camera access in Microsoft Edge
- Type edge://settings/content/camera in the address bar.
- Find the site under the Allow list.
- Click the trash icon or the three-dot menu next to it and choose Remove or Block.
- Do the same at edge://settings/content/microphone.
You can also click the lock or site info icon in the address bar while you're on a site and change its camera permission from there.
Remove camera access in Firefox
- Type about:preferences#privacy in the address bar.
- Scroll to Permissions and click Settings next to Camera.
- Select a site and click Remove Website, or Remove All Websites to start fresh.
- Click Save Changes. Repeat for Microphone.
The same window has a "Block new requests asking to access your camera" option if you never want sites to ask. Firefox also only remembers camera access if you tick "Remember this decision" when you allow it, so leaving that unticked is an easy way to grant access just for the current visit. More on using Firefox for video in our Firefox video chat guide.
On Firefox for Android, look under Settings → Site permissions, where you can change the camera default and clear permissions for individual sites.
Remove camera access in Safari on Mac, iPhone and iPad
Mac
Open Safari → Settings (Preferences on older versions) → Websites → Camera. Each site you've visited is listed with Ask, Deny or Allow. Change it, or select it and click Remove. The "When visiting other websites" menu at the bottom sets the default for every other site.
iPhone and iPad
For all sites, go to Settings → Apps → Safari → Camera (on older iOS versions, Settings → Safari → Camera) and choose Ask or Deny. For a single site, open it in Safari, tap the page menu (the "aA" icon on many versions), choose Website Settings and set Camera to Ask or Deny.
Allow while visiting or every time? Safer website camera permissions
When a site asks for your camera, recent Chrome versions offer "Allow while visiting the site" as well as "Allow on every visit." Firefox's "Remember this decision" checkbox and Safari's Ask setting do similar jobs.
- Allow while visiting suits sites you use occasionally, sites you're trying for the first time, and any shared computer.
- Allow on every visit is fine for a site you trust and use often, like your regular video chat, and saves you a prompt each time.
- Block by default if you rarely use your camera in the browser: set the default to don't allow, then allow single sites when you need them.
On a shared or public computer, use a private window, which generally forgets permissions when you close it, and check the camera list before you leave. Our guide to video chatting on public Wi-Fi has more on chatting away from home.
For a master switch, turn camera access off for the browser itself: on Windows in Settings → Privacy & security → Camera, on a Mac in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera. More layers of protection are in our guide to protecting your webcam from hackers.
What changes after you revoke access
A site set to Ask will show its permission prompt again next time. A site set to Block won't be able to use the camera at all, and most sites will show an error or a "camera blocked" message until you change it back.
If you use Omlet, revoking the camera won't affect anything else: chatting is free, and with no camera you can still chat by text. Just don't use "Clear data" for the site when you only mean to remove the camera. Clearing a site's data resets Omlet's device identifier and removes a purchased country filter in that browser. To video chat again, start a chat and allow the camera when your browser asks.