Why has my webcam stopped working?

It appears that there may be a bug in the most recent version of ChromeOS Version 86. The reason why your Chromebook webcam may have overnight stopped working is because your device has upgraded to version 86 from a previously working version. There is a conversation ongoing on a Google ticket about this.

On the Asus C300 I encountered this on, the webcam, mic and speakers weren’t working and using an external webcam USB device didn’t work either.

I resolved this by restoring the device back to a previous version of ChromeOS (Version 85 worked for me). This is not without risks however, so unless you are experienced with flashing devices it may be best to hold on until Google resolve this with a bug fix.

To roll back to a previous version of Chrome OS, the easiest way to do this is to do a “Powerwash” and restore to previous version. You can find instructions for how to do this here: https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answe...

ONLY ATTEMPT BELOW IF YOU REALLY NEED YOUR WEBCAM BACK AS RECOVERING THIS WAY COULD BE RISKY!

If this didn’t work (and it didn’t for me on the Asus device) the other method is to use the Chromebook Recovery Utility to create some recovery media. You’ll need an SD card of at least 8GB which will be reformatted.

1. Download and install the Chromebook Recovery Utility
2. Go to https://cros-updates-serving.appspot.com... and find your version of the Chromebook on the right hand side. For example, if you have an AusChromebook C300SA you need to scroll down to the codename “terra”.
3. Download the image file linked as 85 and place the file somewhere you can find it. The download links are the numbers on the second to last column.
4. Start up the Chromebook Recovery Utility (search for “recovery” on your Chromebook and it should appear)
5. Hit “Get started” and you’ll get a screen with an “Identify your chromebook”. Instead of filling in the box, click on the small cog at the top right and select “use local image” from the drop down
6. Select the image file you downloaded previously.
7. Insert your SD card into the Chrome book and hit continue.
8. Once it has completed writing and verifying the the image on the SD card, you can remove the card.
9. Then restart the Chromebook in recovery mode. Do this by holding down ESC, the REFRESH arrow (Usually the 4th button on the top row) with one hand and pressing the power button (usually far right). Your screen should go blank. Lift the power button but keep the ESC and REFRESH buttons down until you see some writing.
10. It should now tell you that it needs to recover the OS. Insert the SD card from before and the old image should be installed onto your Chromebook.

Fingers crossed when this has completed and after you’ve set the device back up, it will work again.

BE WARNED! If you let the Chromebook restart, it may install version 86 again and break the webcam again, so ensure to keep it charged and don’t restart it. Hopefully Google will produce a fix soon.

Good luck!