Find out how to fix Snap Camera not working problems on your windows and Mac PCs with ease, including discovering other tweaks you may need.
Snap Camera is an excellent method to add filters to your live streams and video calls. Snap Camera brings all popular Snapchat filters currently on the market directly to your desktop. The software is compatible with Windows and Mac PCs and comes with simple installation programs.
Snap Camera captures the virtual feed from your webcam and overlays it with filters. In this way, the filters can work with all streaming and video call services, be it Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, Twitch, Skype, or Zoom.
If you’re having trouble getting Snap Camera to work on your system, we have the perfect guide. Let us begin.
Note:
This article is centered on the Snap Camera software for the PC, not the Snapchat Camera app. If you have problems with the Snapchat app camera (black screen problem?), Visit this link on your Android phone or iPhone.
How the Snap Camera Works
To use the snap camera, you must know how it works. It doesn’t have its hardware but uses your PC’s webcam to create a virtual webcam with advanced effects.
The Snap Camera software works as a bridge between your real webcam and the video calling software.
In a situation where you have two or more webcam connected to your PC, you can choose the webcam you want Snap Camera to use by selecting its option from the “Choose your webcam” drop-down menu.
To use the snap camera as input, you need to select it as an option in your webcam list to use enhanced video in the video calling app you want.
Restart your video Calling Software after Installing Snap Camera
If the video calling software you are using does not recognize the snap camera as input, you must restart it and try again. To ensure that the snap camera works, you should not only close the video call app but also lock it, as many video call programs remain open in the background.
On Windows, you can end the video calling software by locating the application in Task Manager, right-clicking, and selecting End Task. On the Mac, open the software and press Command + Q on the keyboard.
If you use the web browser to connect to your video calling service, you must close it on your Windows or Mac device.
Clear Snap Camera’s Cache and App Use
Like smartphones, apps, and services, use a certain amount of storage space via the cache. If an app stores too much of its cache, it may not work correctly. Therefore, it is essential that you adjust the cache size used by Snap Camera and also clear the history.
To be able to get this done, click the Settings icon in the top right corner of Snap Camera and go to cache and app usage> View. You can configure the cache size that the snap camera can occupy in your memory and clear the history to clear the lens history, preferred lenses, third party integrations, and the cache.
Force Restart Snap Camera
You can manually exit and then restart the Snap Camera app first to fix the problem you’re facing. This is how it works on Windows and Mac.
Fix Snap Camera not working for Windows users
- Step 1: Press Ctrl + Alt + in the combo box on your PC. On the next screen, select “Task Manager.”
- Step 2: After opening Task Manager, scroll down until you find the snap camera. Click on it to select the application. Press the S button to switch between programs whose names begin with S and then end up in the Snap Camera app list. You may be prompted to click “More Details” first to get a list of all background apps and processes (snap camera is archived in this latter group).
- Step 3: Right-click on Snap Camera.exe and then select the “End Task” option.
- Step 4: Restart the application in question via the desktop or the start menu.
- The camera should now appear like a webcam input option in your app.
Fix Snap Camera not working for Mac users
- Step 1: Find the running app in your dock and right-click on the icon.
- Step 2: Select “Exit or Quit” from the submenu that appears when you click on the menu bar’s application name.
- Note: You can also click the application to make it the active window on your screen and press Command + Q at the same time.
- Step 3: Restart the application via “Launchpad.”
The captured camera should now appear like a webcam input option in the corresponding app.
Make sure Snap Camera has access/permission to use your webcam.
Modern operating systems, like their mobile counterparts, have data protection and security controls. Like iOS and Android, Windows and Mac computers also have authorization controls for access to your webcam.
For the snap camera to work on your computer, you need to enable access to your camera to edit your camera inputs and adapt them to your needs.
You can enable camera access on your PC by following these steps:
- On a Mac: On your Mac, click the System Preferences icon, go to Security & Privacy> Privacy> Camera and check the box next to Align camera.
- In Windows: Press the key combination “Windows key + I,” go to “Privacy”> “Camera,” activate the buttons next to “Allow applications on your camera,” and “Set camera.”
Make sure that the VPN is disabled on your computer.
Some of you may use VPN services on your computers to surf the web safely. In case you didn’t know, Snap Camera Snapchat doesn’t work well when VPN is enabled. This is because the software to download a lens to the snap camera needs to be connected to the Internet to download it from Snapchat servers. As with all critical services, no connection to servers with activated VPN is established.
If the snap camera is not working correctly, make sure that you have disabled the VPN service used on your computer.