LockDown Browser Webcam Check - Spinning Wheel

Owned by Steven Garrett
Last updated: Feb 03, 2022 by Sarah Nguyen (Deactivated)
3 min read

Students taking an online exam in HuskyCT using LockDown Browser may see a "spinning wheel" during the pre-exam WebCam check. 

spinning wheel appearing during pre-exam check

If you encounter any of the above "spinning wheel" errors (and a blanked-out frame where your webcam image should be), another program, background process, or privacy setting on your computer is preventing LockDown Browser from activating your camera.

Checking Camera Privacy Settings (Windows 10)

  1. Navigate to your Camera Privacy Settings.

    camera privacy settings

  2. Scroll to "Allow desktop apps to access your camera" and make sure On is selected. LockDown Browser should also appear in the list below.

  3. Repeat the above process for your Microphone Privacy Settings.

If you are running an older version of Windows, the above camera and microphone permissions may not be available (and are likely enabled by default).

Check the camera privacy settings in camera utilities or anti-virus software that may be installed on your computer.

If the above steps do not resolve the problem on a Windows or Mac computer, it is possible another application has control of your webcam or microphone. An example of an application is Kaltura Capture, which must be manually terminated before starting LockDown Browser. 

To see if an application is currently in use (for Windows), go to Camera Privacy Settings and scroll to Choose which Microsoft Store Apps can access your camera. If an app is shown as "currently in use" (see example below), change the setting to Off.  You may also try turning off all the apps in the "Microsoft Store Apps" list to see if it LockDown Browser to access the camera. Make sure to keep the main Camera set to On.

If you are unable to locate the app or process that has control of the camera, you must manually search and shut down apps that might use a camera or microphone.

  1. Exit LockDown Browser.

  2. If using Windows, press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to open Windows Task Manager. If using a Mac, open Activity Monitor from the applications folder.

  3. Close applications that might be using or blocking access to your webcam.

  4. Close Task Manager/Activity Monitor and restart LockDown Browser to evaluate the results.

If a camera driver was recently updated on your computer and your webcam has since stopped working with LockDown Browser, consider “rolling back” to the previous version of that driver.

Another potential workaround is to try an external USB webcam.

If the above steps fail, you may need to locate a different computer to take your exam.

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