If a virtual camera does not appear in your app’s camera dropdown, the most common cause is launch order: the meeting app scanned for cameras before the virtual camera was running. The second most common cause is a missing system permission on macOS. Here are the fixes, in the order to try them — most people are solved by the first two.
Fix 1: Launch the virtual camera app first
Video apps scan for cameras when they start. If your virtual camera app was not running yet, the app never saw it.
- Quit your meeting app completely (Zoom, Teams, etc.).
- Open and start your virtual camera app first.
- Then open the meeting app.
Make starting the virtual camera the first thing you do, before joining any call.
Fix 2: Fully restart the meeting app
A virtual camera that started after the meeting app will not show up until the app rescans. Closing the window is not enough — fully quit it:
- Windows: right-click the taskbar icon → Close, or end it from Task Manager.
- macOS: Cmd+Q, or right-click the Dock icon → Quit.
Then reopen it. The camera list is rebuilt on launch.
Fix 3: Grant camera permission (macOS)
macOS blocks camera access per app. If permission is off, the camera silently never appears.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera.
- Make sure both the virtual camera app and the meeting app are enabled.
- If you just changed this, restart the meeting app.
On Windows, check Settings → Privacy & security → Camera and confirm camera access and desktop-app access are on.
Fix 4: Approve the system extension (macOS)
Virtual cameras on macOS install a system extension. The first time, macOS asks you to approve it — and if you missed the prompt, the camera will not load.
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and look for a blocked-software message naming the virtual camera. Click Allow, then restart your Mac.
Fix 5: Restart the computer
After installing or updating a virtual camera, a full restart lets the operating system register the new camera device cleanly. This resolves cases where nothing else worked.
Fix 6: Close apps holding the camera
Some apps lock a camera so nothing else can use it. If another app already grabbed your webcam — or the virtual camera — quit every other video app and try again.
App-specific notes
- Zoom: Zoom updates frequently; if the camera still will not show, update Zoom to the latest version, which has the broadest virtual-camera support.
- OBS: add the virtual camera as a Video Capture Device source, not under Settings. If the device list is empty, restart OBS after the virtual camera is running.
- Teams: the new Teams client rescans devices on launch — quit it from the system tray, not just the window, before reopening.
Still missing? Reinstall
If the virtual camera never appears in any app, the camera device itself did not register. Uninstall the virtual camera software, restart, and reinstall. During install, accept every permission and driver prompt — a skipped prompt is the usual reason registration fails.
Setup done right the first time
Most “not showing up” problems are launch order and permissions, not broken software. CiCi Cam registers a system-level virtual camera and walks you through permissions on first launch. The per-app setup steps are in how to use a beauty filter and virtual camera with beauty filters.