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Antivirus Blocking Camera: 8 Ways to Fix

Unblock your camera by following these easy steps

4 min. read

Updated onOctober 24, 2024

updated onOctober 24, 2024

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Is yourantivirusblocking your computer camera? It’s probably an attempt to protect your privacy. However, some security software also block legitimate apps.

Today we’ll show you how to tweak strict security settings, update camera drivers, and other tricks that will stop your antivirus from blocking camera.

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How can I fix the antivirus blocking camera issues?

1. Check Windows Privacy settings

2. Update camera drivers

Alternatively, if you need to manage your drivers or Windows can’t find new camera drivers, consider using anautomated driver updaterlike PC Helpsoft’s.

This tool scans your PC for missing or outdated drivers and installs them automatically. It’s often faster than Device Manager, which can have delays between driver release and availability.

→Get PC Helpsoft Driver Updater

3. ESET HOME Security Essential

ESET is a PC protection company operating for about two decades. It helps to keep threats at bay and offers excellent protection against malicious websites.

ESET HOME Security Essential

4. Bitdefender Internet Security

Bitdefender is pre-installed with a built-in feature designed to secure your camera app. And this feature can be configured so that you can decide which apps can use it and which cannot.

⇒Get Bitdefender Internet Security

5. Kaspersky Internet Security

Like Bitdefender, Kaspersky will automatically block certain apps and software from accessing your camera.

While this is a good thing as it can protect your identity, in some situations, you might have to add an exclusion for a specific tool or for the webcam app itself.

⇒Get Kaspersky Internet Security

6. Avast Free Antivirus

In most situations, this antivirus program will successfully secure your computer against malware attacks or similar other malicious and infected files.

Sometimes you have to manually introduce the IP address of your camera in the ignored addresses field to be sure that you can enjoy its functionality.

⇒Get Avast Free Antivirus

7. Norton 360

With Norton’s SafeCam feature enabled, untrusted sources cannot access and capture images or videos and send them outside of your PC to compromise your privacy.

⇒Get Norton 360

8. Windows Defender

This will stop Windows Defender from blocking the camera.

Summary

The guidelines above should help you add exclusions for the webcam or camera app. Of course, similar steps can be applied to other antivirus programs too.

Don’t forget that the first thing to do when noticing that the camera/webcam isn’t running or cannot be accessed is to reinstall the associated drivers.

Sometimes your antivirus can be responsible for theCamera reserved by another app error, so ensure that it doesn’t interfere with your webcam in any way.

If specific errors are received, don’t hesitate and share all these details with us by accessing the comments section below.

Antivirus Blocking Camera: 8 Ways to Fix#

How can I fix the antivirus blocking camera issues?#

1. Check Windows Privacy settings#

2. Update camera drivers#

3. ESET HOME Security Essential#

ESET HOME Security Essential#

4. Bitdefender Internet Security#

5. Kaspersky Internet Security#

6. Avast Free Antivirus#

7. Norton 360#

8. Windows Defender#

Summary#