MSI Laptop Camera Not Working [SOLVED]
Did you know that all MSI laptops webcam by default always disabled? This is one of the primary reasons why your MSI laptop camera is not working.
As you can see, this isn’t a problem because your camera would start working once you enable it. Here’s how to quickly fix your MSI camera that isn’t working:
- Press and hold the Fn + F6 keys together to enable your MSI Laptop Camera.
Some other MSI laptop models might require only the F6 key to enable its camera because the FN key is already enabled by default. With the Fn key automatically enabled, there’s no need to hold down the Fn key before clicking on the F6 key.
In most cases, MSI laptop cameras usually behave this way if it had issues turning on in the past or had encountered charging issues.
If you have experienced any of these, you should take note of the troubleshooting methods I’m about to show you. This is an online Webcam Test site to check whether your webcam works correctly or not.
Reasons Why MSI Laptop Camera Isn’t Working
Fn lock.
The camera is disabled.
Driver issues.
Faulty Keyboard.
Damaged Camera.
1. Fn Lock
Fn lock is a specific key located at the bottom left-hand corner of your keyboard which is a toggle key that is used to enable or disable any of your F keys located at the top of your keyboard.
On your MSI laptop, you are required to hold down the Fn key before clicking on F6 to enable your webcam. But, there are situations whereby this method doesn’t do anything and the reason for this is because the Fn key is disabled.
If the Fn key is disabled, there’s no way it would be able to carry out its primary function. The obvious solution would be to enable the Fn lock before you can enable your MSI laptop camera.
Just like how you can use the FN key to take a screenshot on your MSI laptop, it is the same way you can use it to trigger your MSI camera. But, if it is indeed disabled, then you need to enable it.
2. Camera Is Disabled
As I stated earlier, your MSI laptop camera is disabled by default right out of its package. You would need to enable the camera manually before you can use your camera.
There are several ways to enable your webcam but the common way to do so on your MSI laptop is to hold the Fn key and then press the F6 key. But I’m guessing if you are reading this article to this point, that particular method didn’t work for you.
There are times when you may notice that your MSI battery light is blinking red which is caused by the camera issue you are going through.
That’s ok because you can also enable your MSI webcam inside the windows setting which would be explained in detail if you go through the solutions below.
3. Driver Issues
Drivers are one of the leading primary culprits for causing problems on a computer. The idea here is that you might have some issues with your camera drivers that are resulting in your MSI laptop camera not working as it should
These are the possible things that could be wrong with your drivers:
Corrupted Driver
Uninstalled Driver
Incompatible Driver
Everything listed above can be caused by a Windows update or a recent software you installed on your MSI laptop. Sometimes, it can hurt your charging experience when it is plugged in.
Either way, there’s an easy way to fix this and I explained in detail how you can do this in the solution below.
4. Faulty Keyboard
You may not have considered this but I think you should. Remember your Fn key and your F6 key are the primary keys that turn on your MSI camera.
If you’ve noticed your webcam not working like it’s supposed to after implementing the right keys to enable it, then you should inspect your keyboard closely. There’s a chance some of your keys might not be working which includes either your Fn key or F6 key.
At the same time, your keyboard might not be working overall, and surely you must have noticed this. You can easily test your MSI laptop with an external keyboard to see if there would be any changes.
You can easily tell if you have a keyboard issue especially when you are unable to change the keyboard color on your MSI laptop.
5. Damaged Camera
You might want to consider the condition of your MSI webcam depending on how long you have used it.
Camera damage is not very common but, if you have challenges using your webcam, there’s a possibility that your camera is damaged. There’s no easy way to test your camera to see if it is working because it is not detachable.
What you can do is restart your computer to see if that will resolve it. And, if your MSI laptop refuses to turn on, there’s a way out of that.
My advice for you would be to visit your nearest computer engineer to help you diagnose your webcam or you can also check the solutions below to see if it helps.
Solutions
These are the ways to fix the MSI laptop camera not working:
Enable MSI Webcam
Allow Camera Access
Uninstall / Reinstall Camera Drivers
Update Camera Drivers
Uninstall Conflicting Programs
Update Windows
1. Enable MSI Webcam
Just like I mentioned earlier, MSI laptops have their camera disabled by default when you purchase them. You would have to enable it to use its camera.
Here’s how,
- Press and hold the Fn key + F6 key to turn on your camera
Just maybe it doesn’t work, then you should try clicking on the F6 key alone to enable your camera because your MSI laptop must have locked the Fn key.
Now, if the alternative method doesn’t work either, then it means you would need to go through the extra step of unlocking your Fn key and then try the key combinations again to enable your camera.
2. Allow Camera Access
Chances are that your MSI laptop might not have granted your computer camera access, to begin with. This is an important aspect to inspect properly before jumping to any type of conclusion.
To grant your computer camera access, here’s how to go about it:
Press the following command to open windows settings:
Click on privacy inside windows settings.
Select the camera on your left hand side.
Underneath the camera section, click on change and make sure your camera is toggled on.
Scroll down to make sure other camera options are turned on to grant complete access.
3. Uninstall / Reinstall Camera Drivers
The driver you will be giving attention to is your camera driver. Just like I stated earlier, your camera driver can be the reason why your MSI laptop webcam isn’t working.
By uninstalling and reinstalling, we are making sure we get rid of any hidden errors from your camera driver.
Here’s how:
Search for the device manager in windows search and click on it.
Double-click on either Imagine devices or camera to reveal a drop-down depending on what comes with your MSI laptop.
Inside that drop-down, right click on the first driver.
Select uninstall the device.
Click on uninstall again when you get a popup.
Restart your computer.
3. Restart Your Computer
The moment you have restarted your MSI laptop, your camera drivers would automatically be reinstalled after it is booted completely. Now you should go ahead and test it.
4. Update Camera Drivers
An outdated driver might be the reason why your camera isn’t working as it should and updating it is supposed to fix everything once and for all.
There are two ways to update your camera drivers:
Automatically
Manually
Automatically
Here’s how,
Search for the device manager in windows search and click on it.
Double click on either Imagine devices or camera to reveal a drop-down depending on what comes with your MSI laptop.
Inside that drop-down, right click on the first driver.
Click on update driver.
Select search automatically for drivers.
Wait for your MSI laptop to find and install your latest camera driver.
Manually
The idea here is to download your MSI laptop camera driver from MSI official website specifically for your laptop model.
Visit MSI official website.
Find your product by filling in all the right information and then click on search.
Select your laptop model.
Navigate to the driver tab.
Look for your camera driver and download it.
Install it on your computer.
Restart your computer.
If you have a connected AirPods to your MSI laptop that you regularly use for video chat, you can also update that too while you are in the device manager and then restart your computer.
5. Uninstall Conflicting Programs
If you have tried everything above and nothing is working for you, then you should review all the applications installed on your MSI laptop. You should focus on the recently installed applications.
There’s a possibility that an App on your computer is conflicting somehow with your camera driver and uninstalling the app should resolve the problem.
So, review your apps properly to check the recently installed app and then uninstall it completely to remove all traces.
You should also consider removing apps that you don’t use or need.
6. Update Windows
If your MSI laptop is outdated, there’s a chance it is missing out on important updates that are beneficial for your webcam to function properly.
Keeping your MSI laptop up to date is very important and could help you resolve your camera issue once and for all.
Here’s how to update your MSI laptop:
Press the following command to open windows settings.
Select Update & Security inside windows settings.
Click on check for update. If you can’t find the check for update button, you should click on download and install and updates required.
Restart your computer after the update is complete.
FAQ
How do I fix the camera on my MSI laptop?
To fix the camera on your MSI laptop, you would need to enable the camera by holding down the Fn key and then clicking on the F6 key. Sometimes, you may be required to only click on the F6 key to enable your camera because the Fn key is locked. Why is my MSI camera not working?
The reason why your MSI camera isn’t working is that the camera is disabled by default. You would need to enable your MSI camera before it can work.
These are other reasons why the camera may not work:
Fn lock.
The camera is disabled.
Driver issues.
Faulty Keyboard.
Damaged Camera.
How do I install the camera driver on my MSI laptop?
To download the camera driver on your MSI laptop, you would need to download the camera driver from MSI official website. Once you have downloaded the camera driver, you would then need to extract it using either 7zip or WinRAR and then install it. You can now restart your MSI laptop after you have installed your camera driver.