Windows camera permissions do not present every application in the same way. An app installed as a desktop program may not have its own switch in the list where Microsoft Store apps appear. Its absence from that list is not proof that Windows has failed to detect your webcam.

First establish whether the camera works at all. Check its physical privacy shutter or hardware disable control, then try a brief preview in an application you trust. Avoid recording personal material for this test. If one app shows a picture and another does not, keep that comparison as the starting point.

Understand the controls you are changing

Open Settings, Privacy & security, Camera. Camera access controls device-level availability. Let apps access your camera enables the relevant app access, and listed Store apps can be controlled individually. Desktop applications use the separate Let desktop apps access your camera setting rather than a dedicated switch for every program.

If the failing meeting application is a desktop app, check that desktop setting and its own camera selection. A laptop may expose more than one camera device. A greyed-out system control may require an administrator; changing unrelated registry or security settings is not an appropriate substitute.

For a browser-based call, the website also needs its own permission. Check that layer through the browser's supported controls after the Windows setting is correct.

Confirm operation and privacy separately

Reopen the target app and inspect its preview before joining a call. Make sure the image comes from the expected camera. A working preview verifies that path, not every video-call function or microphone.

Microsoft documents exceptions and limitations to the privacy list, including desktop apps and Windows Hello. Do not treat an absent entry or an off toggle as a universal guarantee that every possible program is blocked. For physical reassurance when the camera is not needed, use its intended shutter or disconnect an external camera.

Reference: Microsoft Support.