Why does my web cam turn on when I start a game, and how can I make it stop?

General Discussion
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Guess I kind of gave it all away in the subject line…

I play Overwatch on Windows 10 with a connected web camera. When I start a game the camera comes on. When I stop the game, the camera turns off. I can’t seem to find out how to stop it from happening. I don’t stream or Twitch or whatever it is the cool kids are into these days.

I thought I had a lead on a fix by adjusting team chat settings but I ended up turning off all in-game chat. And I’m not sure it fixed the webcam auto-start issue anyway.

I haven’t been able to find a thread here that addresses the issue. I’d appreciate any insight from folks who have experienced this and were able to stop it.

Thank you in advance!

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This is the creepiest sounding thing ive ever read on this forum.

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Same happens on facebook sometimes for a lot of people.

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I have a desktop and a plug in cam i use to call my girlfriend so i just unplug it. Im thankful i dont have to get out the sticky tape

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It’s activating the microphone in your webcam for ingame chat.

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^ Answer to all of life’s problems

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    It’s activating the microphone in your webcam for ingame chat

I thought that might be it, but I’ve got a headset configured for both audio out and my microphone. Would the game client be defaulting to the webcam? The in-game controls aren’t terribly specific.

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yeah. check audio settings and switch specifically to your headset mic

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Jeff likes to watch you rage while you try to solo heal the 5 dps not in chat

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check audio settings and switch specifically to your headset mic

That sorted it out. I had to go into the Windows settings and switch the input from my webcam back to my headset mic. I never select the webcam for mic input, but for whatever reason Windows decided to.

Thanks!

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Papa Jeff is always watching…

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This thread reminded me that I have to put masking tape back over my camera THANK U

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No matter what you are doing or where you are… Jeff is always watching you!

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It’s probably a setting inside Nvidia.

That said, a piece of tape would do the job, if you really care.

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Jeff kaplan is always watching

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That’s hella creepy. People don’t have their webcams covered with something at all times? :thinking: Too trusting. Even the front facing camera is covered on my phone. No peeping Toms will spy on me, nuh uh.

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Maybe you have the “broadcast” or “record” options activated from the Game bar or whatever it’s called. I think you can check that by pressing the “windows button” + “g” when you’re playing a game.

Doesn’t hurt to try.

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change default mic to your headset maybe?

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I know this post is super old but I just had this issue as well and couldnt figure it out until I realized it might be coming from my Gforce experience. I went into that and turned OFF Instant Replay feature and the camera turned right off. I hope this helps whoever else runs into the issue!

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