Which application is currently using my camera on Windows 10?

Question

I have an A4Tech camera on Windows 10. It hasn't got an in-your-face led as such to indicate it's on. I just noticed a blue haze but wasn't sure if it was a reflection or if the camera was on. I used Zoom to confirm it was on and, it turned off when I exited Zoom.

Question : How can I tell which application is currently using the camera ?

There are many posts showing you which apps have access to it. I want to know which one is currently using it.

Answer 1

Which apps are allowed to or are using the webcam

As pointed out by @Gantendo from the link,

1. Open Settings
2. Click Privacy and select Camera
3. OR type in Camera in the search box and select Camera Privacy Settings.

This shows which apps have permission to use the camera and when they last used it as Last accessed xxxxx. It will also show it is currently being used as Currently in use. The list is divided into "Store Apps" and "Desktop Apps"

But

Unfortunately, you can't necessarily rely on the contents of this screen. By virtue of their nature, desktop apps are able to access your camera hardware directly, bypassing Windows' regular APIs. This means that a malicious app could stream your camera feed without notifying Windows, so it won't show up in the list. Generally, most respectable programs will appear here, but Microsoft's own documentation warns of the possibility that some won't.

How to see which apps are using your webcam in Windows 10

How to identify which process is using the camera

1. Open Device Manager
2. Click on Cameras if it exists, otherwise click on Imaging Devices
3. Double click on the device
4. Select Details Tab
5. Select Physical Device Object Name in the drop down. (On mine it shows \Device\0000006a
6. Right click and Copy it
7. Launch Process Explorer from Microsoft Sysinternals
8. Press Ctrl+F to open Search box
9. Paste from the clipboard
10. It will list all processes using that device
11. You can right-click and Kill Process

Tracking processes accessing the camera

1. Open Registry Editor by pressing Win+R and typing regedit
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\webcam\
3. If not found, try HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\webcam\
4. Microsoft applications are saved as child keys, non-Microsoft applications are under NonPackaged
5. Click on the application
6. Each entry has two values LastUsedTimeStart and LastUsedTimeStop. Unfortunately, the values are stored in FileTime. It can be converted in most languages, I have not found an online tool yet.
7. To track in real-time, you can use SysMon with a Registry Modification event.

Information garnered from medium.com and tested on my PC.

Answer 2

For me, I just turn these allow access off then on, it works!