To check which apps can use your camera and microphone, open the Privacy settings on your device and look at the Camera and Microphone lists. On Windows 11 that's Settings > Privacy & security, where Recent activity shows what used them in the last seven days.
To check which apps have access to your camera and microphone, open your device's privacy settings and look at the Camera and Microphone pages. On Windows 11 that's Settings > Privacy & security > Camera (or Microphone), where Recent activity shows which apps used them in the last seven days. On a Mac it's System Settings > Privacy & Security. On an iPhone it's Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera or Microphone. On Android, go to Settings > Security and privacy > Privacy > Permission manager. Switch off anything you don't recognise or don't use, then check your browser's site permissions too.
Most of us tap "Allow" on permission pop-ups without a second thought. A game wants the microphone for voice chat, a shopping app wants the camera to scan barcodes, a website wants both for a one-off meeting. Months later, nobody remembers which apps still have that access.
When you finally look, the list is usually longer than you'd expect: old video call apps, tools you barely use, sites you visited once. None of it is dangerous on its own, but every permission you don't need is one more thing that could go wrong later.
This guide walks through every place to check: Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad, Android and the browsers you use every day. I'll also show you how to see what actually used your camera or mic recently, which permissions are perfectly normal, and what to do if you find something you can't explain.
In this guide:
Every major system keeps a list of the apps you've allowed to use your camera and microphone. The trick is knowing where it lives, because each one hides it in a slightly different place. Here's the short version before we go through each in detail.
| Device | Where to see app access | Where to see recent use | Live indicator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 | Settings > Privacy & security > Camera / Microphone | Recent activity on the same page (last 7 days) | Camera light or on-screen notice; mic icon in the taskbar |
| Windows 10 | Settings > Privacy > Camera / Microphone | "Last accessed" dates in the app list | Camera light; mic icon in the taskbar |
| Mac | System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera / Microphone | Control Center shows the app currently using it | Green light by the camera; orange dot in the menu bar for the mic |
| iPhone and iPad | Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera / Microphone | App Privacy Report (last 7 days, once turned on) | Green dot (camera) or orange dot (mic only) |
| Android 12 and later | Settings > Security and privacy > Privacy > Permission manager | Privacy dashboard (24 hours on Android 12, 7 days on 13 and later) | Green indicator at the top right |
| Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox | Site settings or site permissions for Camera / Microphone | No history, only the allowed and blocked lists | Recording icon in the tab or address bar |
Menu names on Android phones vary a little between makers. On a Samsung, for example, you'll find the same options under Security and privacy, but the exact wording can differ. If you get lost, use the search box at the top of Settings and type "camera" or "permission".
Windows splits apps into two groups, and that's the bit most guides skip over. Apps from the Microsoft Store get their own on/off switch. Ordinary desktop apps, the kind you download from a website, share one switch between them.
On Windows 10 the path is Settings > Privacy > Camera (and Microphone) instead, with the same Store app and desktop app sections.
Here's the catch. Microsoft's page on how to manage app permissions for a camera in Windows confirms that desktop apps can't be switched off one by one. Turning off "Let desktop apps access your camera" blocks all of them at once, including your browser and video call apps. So if you only want to stop one desktop program, the cleaner fix is to uninstall it or change the setting inside the program itself.
There's one more exception worth knowing. If you sign in with Windows Hello face recognition, Windows can still use the camera for sign-in even when camera access for apps is turned off.
The permission list tells you who could use your camera. The recent activity list tells you who did. On Windows 11 this is the more useful check.
Go through the list with a cup of tea and ask one question about each entry: do I remember using this? A video call on Tuesday afternoon, your browser during a meeting, the Camera app when you scanned a document. Those all make sense. A program you've never opened accessing the mic at 3am does not.
For a live check, look at the taskbar. A small microphone icon appears in the notification area whenever an app is using the mic, and hovering over it shows the app's name. For the camera, your webcam light turns on, or Windows shows a notification if the camera has no light.
Don't treat the list as a perfect record, though. Microsoft's own Windows camera, microphone and privacy page says desktop apps may not always appear in these lists and might still reach the camera or mic even when the settings are off. Some Windows features also show up under a component name instead of their own. Voice features, for example, can appear as "Speech Runtime Executable". If you want a hardware guarantee, a webcam cover or privacy shutter is the only thing software can't get round.
macOS asks before any app you install can use the camera or microphone, and it keeps a list of every app that has asked.
While you're in Privacy & Security, it's worth opening Screen & System Audio Recording too (called Screen Recording on older versions of macOS). An app with that permission can see what's on your screen, which matters just as much as the camera.
If the Camera list is empty, that's normal. As Apple's guide to control access to the camera on Mac explains, FaceTime, Photo Booth and other apps that come with your Mac have access automatically, so they don't appear in the list.
To see what's using them right now, look at the hardware and the menu bar. A green light next to the built-in camera glows whenever it's on, and it turns off when you quit every app that can use it. When the microphone is in use, an orange dot appears in the menu bar. Click Control Center and the app using it is named at the top.
Safari handles websites separately. Go to Safari > Settings > Websites, then select Camera or Microphone on the left to see which sites are allowed, denied or set to ask.
On iPhone and iPad, apps have to ask permission and explain why before they can use the camera or microphone. That makes the list easy to review.
An app won't appear in these lists until it has asked, so a short list is a good sign rather than a missing feature.
For live use, watch the top of the screen. A green dot means the camera is in use (on its own or with the mic). An orange dot means the microphone is being used without the camera. Open Control Center and you'll see which app used it recently.
The really useful tool is the App Privacy Report. It shows how often each app accessed your camera, microphone, location, photos and contacts over the last seven days. To turn it on, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report and tap Turn on App Privacy Report. Apple's page about App Privacy Report notes that it only starts collecting from the moment you switch it on, and the data stays encrypted on your device. Turn it on today and come back in a week for a proper picture.
If you're worried that someone you know might have set up access to your phone, Apple's Safety Check (in Settings > Privacy & Security on iOS 16 and later) lets you review and reset app access and sharing in one go.
Android gives you two ways in: by app or by permission. For this job, by permission is quicker, because it shows every app with camera or mic access on one screen.
The options mean different things, so here's what each one allows:
| Option | What the app can do | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Allow only while using the app | Use the camera or mic while the app is open | Apps you use often, like WhatsApp or your camera app |
| Ask every time | Ask each time you open it, then use it until you're done | Apps you use occasionally |
| Don't allow | Never use the camera or mic | Anything that has no reason to need it |
To see what actually used your camera or mic, open Privacy dashboard in the same Privacy menu. On Android 12 it covers the last 24 hours. On Android 13 and later it covers the last seven days. When an app is using the camera or mic right now, a green indicator appears at the top right of the screen. Swipe down and tap it to see the app's name.
Two more settings are worth switching on. Under Privacy controls you can turn off Camera access or Microphone access for the whole phone with one tap. And in each app's settings, Pause app activity if unused removes permissions from apps you haven't opened in a while. Google's help page to change app permissions on your Android phone covers both.
Your browser is the one place people forget. Every time you click "Allow" on a video call site, quiz tool or voice search, the browser remembers it.
The good news is that a website can't silently turn on your camera the way a rogue app might. It has to ask first. Still, it's worth clearing out sites you no longer use.
Google's guide to use your camera and microphone in Chrome also explains a useful detail: when you pick "Allow this time" instead of "Allow while visiting the site", the permission doesn't stick around. I use that for one-off meetings.
One thing to remember on Windows: browsers count as desktop apps. If you turn off "Let desktop apps access your camera", video calls in your browser stop working too.
Most of what you'll find is completely innocent. It's easy to panic at a long list, so here's how I sort through mine.
| What you see | Usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Discord | Video and voice calls | Leave it if you use the app |
| Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari | A website you allowed used it | Check the browser's site permissions |
| Speech Runtime Executable or another Windows component | A built-in Windows feature such as voice typing | Normal if you use voice features |
| A social media or shopping app | Posting photos, voice notes or scanning barcodes | Change to "Ask every time" or "While using" |
| A torch, calculator, wallpaper or simple game with mic access | A permission it doesn't need, often for ads or unused features | Remove the permission or the app |
| An app you don't recognise, or one with a vague name like "System Service" | Possibly unwanted or hidden software | Investigate before deleting (see below) |
| Recent use at a time you weren't using the device | A background app or something you didn't install | Find the app and check where it came from |
Unexplained apps on a PC often get there the same way: bundled with a free download and set to start with Windows. If something you don't recognise keeps showing up, my guide on how to check startup programs shows how to find and stop whatever is launching it.
First, don't rush. Search the app's exact name and look at where it's installed before you remove anything. Plenty of odd-looking names turn out to be drivers, printer software or part of your laptop maker's tools.
If it's genuinely unknown, work through these steps:
There's one situation where you should slow down even more. If you think a partner or ex-partner may have installed something to watch or listen to you, removing it could warn them. The US Federal Trade Commission's guide to stalkerware recommends contacting a domestic violence advocate from a different device first, documenting what you've found, and only then resetting the phone or getting a new one. It also warns against restoring apps from an old backup, because that can bring the spyware back. In the UK, the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline run by Refuge is on 0808 2000 247.
After a tidy-up, it's easy to break something you actually need. A classic example is switching off desktop app access on Windows, then wondering why your browser can't find a camera five minutes before a meeting.
So once you've finished, do a quick test in the apps you rely on. Open your video call app and check its audio and video settings. Then test in the browser. My free webcam test runs entirely in your browser, shows your camera's resolution and frame rate, and will tell you straight away if a permission is blocking it. There's a mic test on the same free tools page if you need to check your microphone level too.
If the test can't find your camera, work back through the settings in this order: the device-wide switch (Camera access), then the desktop apps switch, then the browser's site permission. Nine times out of ten it's one of those three.
You don't need to check this every week. I do a quick pass every few months, and after installing anything new that asked for permissions I wasn't expecting.
If you're working through your PC more broadly, my Windows security guides page collects the other quick checks, from Defender and the firewall to BitLocker and failed sign-ins, in one place.
On Windows, hover over the microphone icon in the taskbar's notification area. On a Mac, click Control Center when the orange dot appears in the menu bar. On iPhone, open Control Center. On Android 12 and later, swipe down and tap the green indicator. Each shows the app's name.
On most laptops and Macs the camera light is wired to turn on with the camera, which is why it's a useful warning. Not every device has a light, and Windows shows a notification instead on those. If you want certainty, use a physical webcam cover or privacy shutter.
Windows only gives individual switches to Microsoft Store apps. Ordinary desktop apps share the 'Let desktop apps access your camera' setting, so turning it off blocks them all, including your browser. To stop just one, uninstall it or change its own settings.
Open Settings, then Privacy & security, then Camera or Microphone, and expand Recent activity. It lists apps that used the device in the last seven days with the date and time. Treat it as a guide rather than a full record, because some desktop apps may not appear.
Yes, it won't harm your device. Apps that need them, such as video calls, voice notes or voice typing, simply stop working until you turn access back on. Turning off the device-wide switch is a handy option if you rarely use them.
No. Browsers make websites ask for permission before using your camera or microphone, and they show an icon in the tab or address bar while recording. Sites you've allowed in the past keep that permission, so review the list in your browser's site settings.
An orange dot means an app is using the microphone. A green dot means the camera is in use, either on its own or together with the microphone. Open Control Center to see which app it is.
Last checked: 26 October 2026. Figures, settings and guidance can change, so confirm anything important with the sources linked above.
To enable DNS over HTTPS on Windows 11, open Settings > Network & internet, choose your connection, edit DNS server assignment, switch to Manual, enter a supported resolver such as 9.9.9.9 or 1.1.1.1 and set DNS over HTTPS to On (automatic template).
To remove an unknown device, sign in at account.microsoft.com/devices, open the device and choose Remove device. But removing it doesn't sign it out. If you don't recognise it, also change your password, sign out everywhere and turn on two-step verification.
To check installed updates on Windows 11, open Settings > Windows Update > Update history. For a quick list in PowerShell, run Get-HotFix. To confirm one patch, run Get-HotFix -Id KB followed by its number, and remember that wmic qfe no longer exists on current Windows 11.
To check Windows Firewall status, open Windows Security and select Firewall & network protection. Each profile (Domain, Private, Public) says whether the firewall is on, and the one you're using is marked active. netsh and PowerShell give the same answer in one line.