How to Find Out Which App Is Using Your Camera Right Now?

Introduction

If your laptop camera suddenly turns on — the indicator lights up or you notice activity — it's important to quickly identify which application is using it. Sometimes it's a harmless app (Zoom, Teams), but in rare cases — suspicious software. Let's explore how to safely check what's "holding" the camera and how to stop unauthorized access.

1. Signs of Camera Activity

  • The camera indicator lights up (small LED next to the lens).
  • You hear the system sound of a device connecting.
  • Computer starts working louder (CPU load increased).

If the indicator is on, but you haven't opened any video apps — it's worth checking.

2. Check in Windows 10 / 11

🪟 Via Privacy Settings

  1. Open Settings → Privacy → Camera.
  2. Scroll down — you'll see a list of apps that have camera access.
  3. Recently used apps are marked as "recently used".

🧩 Via Task Manager

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
  2. Open the Processes tab.
  3. Check programs using GPU or camera device activity (for example, Windows Camera Frame Server).

Tip: if you don't know what the process is — right-click and select "Open file location" or "Search online".

3. Check via PowerShell (accurate and fast)

Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.Path -match "camera" -or $_.Path -match "webcam" }

This command will show all camera-related processes. If you see an unknown app — terminate the process and check its path.

4. Check in macOS

  1. Open System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Camera.
  2. See which apps have requested access.
  3. To check current activity — open Activity Monitor and search for processes related to "camera" or "AV".

The camera indicator on Mac (green LED next to the camera) always lights up when in use — this is a built-in macOS security feature.

5. Check in Browser

  • In Chrome open chrome://settings/content/camera and check active sites.
  • A tab with open camera (Zoom, Meet, etc.) will show a 🎥 icon to the right of the address bar.
  • Hover over it — you'll see a tooltip "Camera is in use".

6. What to Do If Camera Is Active for No Reason

  • Close all apps (Zoom, Teams, Skype, OBS, Discord).
  • Open Task Manager and end suspicious processes.
  • Check startup programs — disable unnecessary ones.
  • Scan the system with antivirus or Windows Defender Offline utility.
  • As a last resort — disable the camera via Device Manager.

7. Helpful Tip

You can physically protect your camera — use a privacy shutter or sticker. This is a simple but effective solution if you often work in public places.

Conclusion

Summary: to find out who is using your camera, just check system permissions and active processes. If you have doubts about security — temporarily disable the device or test the camera on DoCam.io — the service will show if the camera works and which apps are accessing it.

Check camera activity safely at DoCam.io.