If you can’t use the camera on your Toshiba laptop, it means your computer can’t access this device. In such cases, if you try opening the built-in camera app, it will show something like—“We can’t find your camera, 0xA00F4244 ”.
While it can happen due to software or hardware causes but software errors are more common. Improper camera settings, corrupt drivers, and conflicts due to malware or other applications are all likely scenarios. The hardware issues include physical damage to the device or loose connections to the motherboard.
Power Cycle Your PC
Whenever you encounter this issue, try restarting your PC first and see if it works. you may also power cycle the laptop by shutting it down, removing the charger and external battery, pressing the power button for 20-30 seconds, and then starting it again.
Check Camera Permissions
Windows comes with privacy settings for different trackable components, such as cameras, to make your device more secure. So, you should check the privacy settings and ensure that your camera has proper access.
Check Camera on Device Manager
You should also check your camera device on the device manager. Depending on its status, you will be able to narrow down why this issue is happening.
If the camera still doesn’t appear, it indicates a hardware issue. If the camera device shows ayellow exclamation icon, its driver is not working properly. In this situation, you need toupdate or reinstall the driver.
You should alsodouble-click on the deviceto open its Properties. Here, check the proper error code and message to get additional information on the nature of the error.
Update or Reinstall Camera Drivers
If you have outdated camera drivers on your system, the devices may not work properly. Regularly updating your Windows System should avoid this issue. But we recommend you look for available driver updates manually to make sure you have the latest version.
If you already have the latest versions, you need to reinstall this driver to resolve its bugs.
Restart your laptop if the camera device doesn’t reappear on the Device Manager.
Update or Rollback Windows Update
Sometimes, a broken update can cause many system issues. It may also stop your devices, including the camera, from working.
So, if you are encountering this issue right afterupdating your system, you should report to Microsoft about the potential bug. Then, after it releases a bug fix or further updates that address this issue, install them as soon as possible.
If any new update is not available, you can roll back Windows to the previous version in the meantime.
Check for Conflicting Applications
Applications that use cameras can stop other apps from accessing this device. you may check if any other such apps are running from the Task Manager.
If the camera starts working now, those apps were definitely responsible for the issue. you’re able to check their in-app settings to know why it happened and change any relevant settings. Or you can disable oruninstall the appsto avoid such conflicts.
Scan for Malware
Malware scripts are known to cause various issues in your system including device drivers not working. Additionally, yourantivirus softwarecan block certain drivers if it determines that they are carrying any threats.
In such cases, it’s better to perform a full malware scan to detect and remove all such threats.
After that reinstall the camera driver and see if the error resolves.
Troubleshoot Hardware Issue
If the Device Manager does not show the camera device or it comes with an error code that says the device is not connected, you need to perform a hardware repair.
If the camera’s cable connection is not secure, you must reinsert the ribbon cable into the device. On the other hand, if the device is damaged, you have to replace it altogether.
Whatever the scenario, you will need to remove the screen bezel and check the webcam. If you are not confident in doing this yourself, we recommend you seek help from hardware experts.
