Your Chromebook might have an inbuilt webcam of its own, however, you always have the choice to use a surface webcam instead. Purchasing a surface webcam to use with your Chromebook will let you display high-quality videos on your following video stream or call. However, the question which arises is how do you connect your Chromebook to a webcam?
It is a simple process. If you want to connect a webcam to your Chromebook, firstly you’ve to examine the webcam you’re going to use. Make sure that the webcam you’re going to use supports your Chromebook. If your webcam is compatible and can be easily connected, then plug it into the USB port of your Chromebook. Your Chromebook will detect a new device itself.
One of the good things about this is that most of the webcams support ChromeOS. All you’ve to know is how you can correctly connect the webcam to your Chromebook. Don’t worry, this read is all about connecting a webcam to your Chromebook. So, let’s dig in!
How Can You Connect Your Chrome To The Webcam?
Before you start with the process of connecting your webcam, make sure you have a compatible webcam for your Chromebook. Your webcam should support the operating system of your Chromebooks.
Once you’ve made sure that your webcam is compatible with the Chromebook, and will function on it, you can connect it with your device. Here are the steps to connect the webcam to your Chromebook:
- Using the USB port, connect the webcam to your Chromebook.
- Now, open your browser and click on the “Menu” button in the right corner. Once you open the menu, tap on “Settings”, and then “Show Advanced Settings”.
- You’ll see the “Privacy” sections, then you’ve to select the “Content Settings” button.
- Scroll down, and select the “Media” section. Now, pick the webcam that you’ve connected with the Camera dropdown list.
- Now, you should be able to work with your webcam with the Chromebook.
From here, do ensure that you have a suitable application installed in your Chromebook that operates with the webcam. As Chromebooks generally don’t have any pre-installed video recording applications, so you can install some apps that are compatible with your webcam. You might find some apps which are compatible and useful for your webcam.
One of the best apps is Chat, for Google. You can install it, and you can use it along with your default webcam also.
One thing you should know is that even after connecting a webcam with your Chromebook you can still use your default webcam. It doesn’t matter if you’ve disconnected it or not.
Once you’ve used your webcam, you can also disable it from your Chromebook’s settings. This is suggested for security reasons.
How To Fix a Webcam On Your Chromebook?
It is possible that while using your webcam for several days, you might face an issue like your Chromebook not detecting your webcam or your video is not coming clearly. However, before trying other things, you might want to reset the browser settings. Here are the steps to do this:
- Start your browser.
- Tap on “Menu” and then navigate to “Settings”.
- Now, navigate to “Show Advanced Settings”, then tap on “Reset Settings”.
How To Fix Webcam App Interference On Your Chromebook?
Well as mentioned before, a few webcams indeed need an app to operate. You might have to uninstall or restart and reinstall the particular app to make your Chromebook’s webcam work again. However, if it’s still the same, then it might be possible that there is an app intervening with the webcam’s app.
Here are the steps to fix this specific problem:
- Log off of your Chromebook, then log in again but as a Guest.
- Now, open a video chatting program to make sure that your webcam is properly streaming the videos.
If doing this fixes the issues, then it is clear that the issue is linked to the app intervening with your device. Make sure you use the proper software for your webcam and then make it the default app for your device.
You might also face this issue if you’ve ever had another external webcam. It might happen that the previous app is interfering with your current webcam.
Why should You Get A Surface Webcam For Your Chromebook?
The external webcams are known for bringing better features. There are several reasons why you should get a webcam, it can be for significant video chats and web conferences. The inbuilt webcam could be great too, but it clearly depends on the state of your Chromebook. However, it could be noticed that the inbuilt webcam of your device would not provide you with a whole range of exceptional features.
- A Chromebook’s external webcam offers you features that include high-Quality videos.
- Lively colors.
- A wide range of vision.
- An adaptable hinge to relocate your camera, even if it is mounted.
You can also use the surface webcam with various video chatting programs such as Google Hangouts or Skype, as long as you’ve correctly set up your webcam. Some external webcams come with an inbuilt microphone, which can record audio from every direction.
Connecting a surface webcam provides you with the capability to pick the webcam that perfectly satisfies your needs. If you use a default webcam, you are restricted to the program the operator has installed in your Chromebook.
Wrapping it up
Using as well as connecting a webcam to your Chromebook is quite simple, as long as you have the camera that supports the ChromeOS. If you ever face a connectivity issue, then simply reset your device’s setting or reboot it. This should fix the issues. I hope this read helped you!
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