How to Disable Your Built-In Webcam

If you have a newer desktop or laptop computer, it most likely came with a built-in webcam. If you have younger children that may be using the devices, you may want to disable the webcam for safety and privacy reasons. Disabling a webcam on a PC or laptop is fairly easy. Follow the steps below to disable yours.
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Step 1: Go to the Start menu on your computer and click Control Panel.

Step 2: Click Hardware & Sound.

Step 3: Click Device Manager under Devices and Printers.

Step 4: In the Device Manager window, click Imaging Devices. Find your webcam and double click it.

Step 5: A window will open called Video WebCam Properties. In that window, select the Driver tab.

Step 6: Click Disable to disable the webcam. A dialog box will pop up to confirm that you want to disable the webcam. Click Yes.

Following the above steps will effectively disable the webcam on your computer. One of the downfalls of having the webcam is that it can be taken over by malware. This would allow another party to essentially spy on you as you used your computer. The spying party could gather all sorts of data including passwords for things like bank accounts and credit cards. This, of course, can be dangerous.

As you can see, it is fairly easy to disable a computer’s webcam. When you want to use the webcam for a Skype conversation for example, you can follow the same steps to back and turn the webcam on. When finished, you can turn the webcam off again.