Most devices like laptops and phones now have built HD and UHD cameras that are proving to be quite useful due to virtual meetings and work from home. People have often used these cameras either for fun or for video calling their friends and family.
Video conferencing relies heavily on the use of a camera. The built-in camera for Apple’s MacBook is pretty good for video calling and video chatting. A lot of activities now use video conferencing like escape rooms, online games, streaming, etc.,
But why would anyone want to disable a built-in camera?
Reasons for Disable Camera on Mac
- You maintain a certain level of privacy – there have been a lot of privacy concerns with the use of built-in cameras. People might want to maintain a certain level of privacy when at home or somewhere else and hence might want their camera to be disabled.
- You don’t want to show your face – people might be shy and not want to reveal their face.
- You want to preserve space and conserve battery – the camera might constantly be draining your battery. Shutting it off might help in conserving the MacBook life. If it is kept on for some reason, it might fill your laptop with pictures and videos, leading to space problems.
- Protection against cyberattacks is a growing concern among people that their cameras might not be secure enough. The growing trend of keeping your cameras shut with tape is a good cheap alternative way to protect your privacy and prevent any cyberattack.
Let us see some ways in which you, too, can disable or turn off your camera built into your MacBook.
1. Close the application
This is the standard and simplest method of closing or turning your camera. You simply close the application and observe the green light beside your camera turn off. That means it’s off now.
If the green light is still on, it means your camera is one, in such cases, simply use the Command q option to completely shut an application.
2. System Settings
You can access it by going to system preferences. Simply go to your system settings. Next, go to Security and privacy. Select camera from the options and then simply uncheck all the privileges.
This will stop the camera from getting access to a mac.
3. Stickers
One great cheap and repeatable procedure is to simply put a black sticker in front of your camera. This will stop it from actually recording anything. It serves as a brilliant alternative to disabling the camera.
You could always pull the sticker out and use the camera and put another sticker back on it when done.
4. Hardware Disabling
Through Hardware disabling, your camera is completely shut unless you reverse this process. It is not recommended you do this since it Is cumbersome, and you might need to be a bit careful.
In order to disable your camera. First create a backup file. Now open the terminal and type this command. “ mkdir /System/Library/QuickTime/ .iSightBackup”. Now type the following commands “sudo mv /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component” and then type “sudo mv /System/Library/QuickTime/ .SightBackup/”.
Now you simply need to reboot your MacBook.
To reverse the process, you need to put the file named as QuickTimeUSBVDCDIgitizer.component in this directory “/system/library/QuickTime.”
And now reboot.
Conclusion
iSight camera is the default application and camera that Apple uses in their MacBook. It is one of the most essential and important features of the entire series of Devices. Except for the Mini Mac, all MacOS devices have a built-in camera.
The camera is fun to use, and if for some reason you want to shut it down, you could easily do it with these 4 methods.
