👉TL;DR - If you haven't already and want to save yourself some trouble... reboot your computer first and try again. (Just let your partner for the session know you will brb)
This is likely to solve the problem if you've used Focusmate before and never had a problem. Sometimes your operating system and/or the browser can't access the camera and this will clear that issue.
For other troubleshooting methods, continue below:
When you click on your cam/mic buttons, do you see the unblock message above?
If so, this means that your camera/mic is blocked by (1) your browser or (2) your Operating System. Learn how to fix this below!
When you load Focusmate for the first time, do you see the unblock message above?
If so, this means that your camera/mic is blocked by (1) your browser or (2) your Operating System. Learn how to fix this below!
Chrome users
To unblock your camera/mic follow these steps:
Click the camera icon — in your browsers address bar, top right
Make sure that "Always allow" is selected
Click done
Refresh your browser
Chrome users see this. (For other browsers - see below)
macOS users — check Systems Preferences
Windows users
Please check for Systems Updates! This Lifewire post is helpful.
Do you have a program that automatically opens at startup, which uses your camera?
We have reproduced an issue where one popular program, when auto-starting, does not close cleanly. It still claims access to the camera even after it's closed.
Turn off the program automatically opening at startup. Now reboot.
Run this test:
This is a page not created by us. If it can't see your camera and microphone, it probably indicates something is wrong with your browser.
Click the blue button
Reboot:
👉If you haven't already... Reboot your computer. Your system needs to clear out any old issues.
More help:
Do you have ad blockers or browser extensions installed? Try Incognito mode. An extension might be blocking access to your camera.
Need more help? Just contact us.