How to fix Discord Green Screen Camera issue?

Contents

• Why Is Camera Showing a Green Screen in Discord?
• How to Fix the Discord Green Screen Camera Problem
  • Restart Discord
  • Tweak Privacy Settings for the Camera
  • Run Discord in Administrator Mode
  • Use a Different Camera
  • Update or Reinstall the Camera Driver
  • Check the USB Connection
  • Apply the Latest Windows Updates
  • Close Other Programs that Use the Camera
  • Turn Off Hardware Acceleration
  • Rapid-Click the Discord Camera
  • Try the Web Version of Discord
  • Reinstall the App
  • From Programs & Features:
  • From Settings:
• Conclusion

Discord is one of the best hybrid media apps out there. It was embraced first by the gaming community and has since become a darling in other industries, especially in cryptocurrency.

Discord lets you chat, talk, video call or conference with your friends. You can hold a secret conversation or live-stream your activities to thousands of followers.

To get the most out of Discord, you need a working camera with decent specs. But what happens if the webcam stops working in Discord? A user may feel that sticking around might not be worth it anymore.

Many Windows users have narrated their painful experiences of trying to use their camera in Discord only to be greeted by a green screen. With the global pandemic still very much around and people stuck indoors, not being able to video chat with folks on Discord because of this error can quickly become unbearable.

Read this article for tips, fixes and workarounds that will enable your webcam to work on Discord. But before that, it might interest you to know the possible reasons why the green screen happens in Discord.

Why Is Camera Showing a Green Screen in Discord?

Many theories have been given for why the green screen often appears when a user tries to use the camera in Discord. The bug doesn’t have a fixed cause, as the origins of the error depend on the peculiar circumstances of each affected PC.

Broadly, these are some common reasons for why the error appears when it does:

• System camera settings. If permission to use the camera hasn’t been granted by the system, any attempt by the Discord app will result in errors like the one we’re talking about. Whether this affects just Discord or every app depends on the specific nature of the disabled permission.
• Corrupted installation. You can guess if a Discord installation is corrupt if it starts giving random errors and glitches that others aren’t getting. This cannot be ruled out as the cause of the green camera screen error.
• Driver errors. A missing, broken, obsolete or incompatible camera driver can cause the green screen to appear in Discord and other applications. This results from improper rendering because the driver is faulty in some way.
• Hardware acceleration. If some normal programs that don’t require a lot of resources are routed to the GPU, this can cause problems. Generally, the CPU is capable enough to handle the webcam and a program like Discord. So, if the camera or the app are still sent to the GPU, it can cause the green screen error.
• Camera selection. If the camera is already in use elsewhere, Discord might not be able to access it. The same error can happen if the camera you want to use and the camera Discord selects are not the same. Though rare, it’s also possible that a USB webcam isn’t compatible with Windows or Discord.

These and many more reasons can cause the camera to become unusable in Discord.

How to Fix the Discord Green Screen Camera Problem

Here are some fixes for the green camera issue that have worked for plenty of users. The list is by no means exhaustive, but each of these fixes has worked for at least one person, so feel free to apply them to your situation.

1. Restart Discord

There is a reason many guides recommend a restart or refresh as the first step when troubleshooting. Some errors are nothing major but the result of a little bug in the application or system. A restart or refresh can clear away the cobwebs and restore the program in question to full working order.

A restart entails closing the app completely and launching it anew while a refresh means renewing the contents of the app. Either way, the objective is to eliminate whatever is causing the green camera issue and this method has proven effective for many users.

1. To restart the Discord app, click the upward-facing “Show hidden icons” icon on the taskbar.
2. Right-click the Discord icon, and select Quit Discord. Wait for a few seconds and then start the app again.
3. To refresh Discord, press Ctrl + R while you’re in the Discord window.

If this doesn’t work for you there’s still a lot of solutions to come.

2. Tweak Privacy Settings for the Camera

With Windows 10, Microsoft went big on privacy and security. Now, users can control which apps get access to important hardware like the camera and microphone. You can even block every app from using the inbuilt camera totally if you want.

With respect to the current topic, if Discord doesn’t have access to the camera, you will likely get the green screen whenever you start a video call. You can go into settings to check if camera access is granted for all apps and then enable access for Discord if necessary.

1. Hit Win + I to open Settings.
2. Navigate to Privacy > Camera and check that the “Allow apps to access your camera” toggle is set to On. If not, enable the setting.
3. Locate Discord under “Choose which apps can access your camera” and turn on camera access is needed.

Reboot the system now and check that the camera is working fine in Discord.

3. Run Discord in Administrator Mode

When a program acquires administrator permission, it gains access to files that were restricted by the system. This can help to avoid issues like the green camera screen on Discord.

Strictly speaking, Discord doesn’t need admin rights to run properly on your PC. However, this workaround has helped many to eliminate the green screen during video calls, so you might as well give it a shot. As long as you’re using the official Discord app, giving it elevated access rights shouldn’t harm your computer.

1. Hit the Windows key and type “Discord” into the Search panel.
2. Right-click Discord in the search results and select “Run as administrator”.

The camera should work properly now if what the app needed was admin rights. Broadly speaking, Microsoft has tightened security on Windows when it comes to using protected system resources like the internal mic or camera. Giving Discord admin rights might be the only way to ensure that the camera works properly all the time.

1. To grant Discord permanent admin rights, right-click its shortcut on the desktop and select Properties. If there’s no desktop shortcut, navigate to the Discord folder in C:\Program Files, right-click the Discord executable and select Properties.
2. Switch to the Compatibility tab of the Discord properties window and tick the checkbox beside “Run this program as an administrator”.
3. Hit the Apply and OK buttons to save the change.

Does the Discord camera work fine now after securing admin privileges? If the camera interface still displays the annoying green hue, you can try the next solution.

4. Use a Different Camera

This type of error often occurs in camera-using programs when there are multiple cameras or apps in play. Most systems come with an internal webcam. However, some users might prefer an external webcam because the quality is better or the flexibility is greater.

On the other hand, Discord might not be the only running program that requires access to the camera. If there’s another app, either open or running in the background, that’s using the camera, Discord might not be able to use it as well, thus causing the green screen.

In the first scenario of multiple cameras, you can try the internal webcam if the USB cam isn’t working for you and vice versa.

1. In Discord, click the cog icon in the bottom left corner to open the Discord Settings page.
2. Click the Voice & Video tab under App Settings on the left-hand pane of the Discord Settings window.
3. Your current camera will be listed under Video Settings in the Voice & Video tab.
4. If multiple cameras are connected on your system, click the drop-down arrow under Camera to select a different camera for Discord.
5. Click the Test Video button in the preview box to test-use the chosen camera. If everything is fine, exit the Settings screen.

If another app that needs the camera is open or running, first figure out your PC’s default camera and use the steps above to choose another camera for Discord. The other app is probably using the system default camera — in most cases, this is the internal webcam — so just choose a camera that isn’t in use.

This method might be a bit tricky if you wish to use the default camera instead. In that case, you can change the system default camera to the one that you don’t want to use. The other apps will start using that camera, thus freeing up the one you want to use with Discord.

1. Hit the Windows key and type “cpl”. Hit Enter to launch Control Panel.
2. Set the view mode in Control Panel to Category.
3. Select “View devices and printers”.
4. Right-click the camera you want the system and apps to choose going forward and select “Set this device as default”.

If for some reason Discord keeps reverting to the internal webcam even though you’ve previously selected an external camera, you can disable all the other cameras and force the system and apps to use the only one that remains available.

1. Hit Win + X and select Device Manager.
2. Locate and double-click Imaging Devices.
3. Right-click the camera you want to disable and select Disable Device.

When you fire up Discord again, it will start using your preferred camera. If this still doesn’t solve the green screen issue, you can try the workaround below in the meantime.

5. Update or Reinstall the Camera Driver

If the green screen error in Discord happens when an external webcam is in use, it might be because the camera driver is missing, corrupt or incompatible.

Most, but not all, USB cameras automatically install a dedicated driver during the first connection. If you’re using one that didn’t install a driver, this might be the cause of the error. There’s no driver to use and the generic Windows driver might not be suitable.

A corrupt driver can also cause some features to stop working. If you recently upgraded to Windows 10 or a later build and the camera driver became incompatible, this error can happen too.

In all these cases, the solution is to either reinstall the driver or update it. Reinstalling can fix a corrupt driver and updating the driver will fix compatibility issues.

Here’s how to reinstall the driver for your camera using native Windows resources:

1. Hit Win + X and select Device Manager.
2. Locate Camera, Cameras, or Imaging Devices. The specific term will vary. Double-click the item to expand it.
3. Right-click the problematic camera device and select “Uninstall device”. When the pop up shows up, click Uninstall.

Reboot the system so Windows can reinstall the driver during startup.

If the camera still isn’t working in Discord, you can try updating it and see if that helps. If you have an internet connection, updating the webcam driver on Windows is easy meat.

1. Open Device Manager and expand the section that contains your camera device(s).
2. Right-click your device and select “Update driver”.
3. On the next screen, select “Search automatically for drivers” or “Search automatically for updated driver software”.
4. After the update is done, reboot the system.

If this doesn’t work (Windows might falsely tell you that your current driver is the latest version), you can manually update your driver by visiting the download page of the device manufacturer. Choose a driver suitable for your device and system version and install it like you would a normal software app.

If you’d rather do without the stress of looking for the correct driver yourself or wish to update additional drivers like the one for the graphics card, a third-party app like Auslogics Driver Updater will come in handy.

It will categorize all your drivers according to whether they’re up to date or not, and you can swiftly update the obsolete ones with a click of a button.

6. Check the USB Connection

If you’re using a USB webcam, check that the USB is properly connected and getting enough power. Errors like the one under discussion can arise due to overloading the USB connection. Each port on your computer can handle a certain number of endpoints and anything beyond that means that the ports are overcrowded.

1. Close Discord from your taskbar. Check the system tray and close it there too. Open Task Manager and end all processes related to Discord.
2. Unplug all USB devices and reboot the system.
3. After logging back in, plug in the USB camera alone to a port that doesn’t have any problems. Preferably, this should be a USB 3.0 port. Now test the camera and see if the green screen is gone.
4. Test all the ports this way until you find one that works or figure out that the ports aren’t the problem (by testing other USB devices).

7. Apply the Latest Windows Updates

You should regularly update your operating system to take advantage of the latest bug patches and security fixes. Microsoft has a regular update cycle, especially for small security updates that fix known bugs. You may be able to solve whatever is causing the green camera screen in Discord this way.

1. Open Settings and go to Update & Security > Windows Update.

• Click “Check for updates” and Windows will automatically download the latest updates.
• Reboot your computer to enable the installation of these updates.

Check whether the issue is resolved.

8. Close Other Programs that Use the Camera

What if you’re getting the green camera screen in Discord because the camera is in use by another application? This can happen if there’s only the internal webcam and another program is already using it. You may have to close that other program first to enable Discord to access the camera.

Skype, Facebook Messenger, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and YouTube are examples of desktop apps that also use the camera. If you’re used to running multiple apps like these on Windows, you should check that one of them isn’t running in camera or upload mode.

Close Discord and the other program(s) completely. Open Task Manager and end every running program that can use the camera. Wait a minute, then relaunch Discord and check that it can now use the camera and there’s no green hue in sight.

9. Turn Off Hardware Acceleration

Hardware acceleration speeds up your computer by sharing the load between your CPU and the dedicated graphics card. Unfortunately, this can cause issues when the webcam or a normal program like Discord is also routed to the GPU. Disabling hardware acceleration for Discord can fix this problem.

1. Open Discord and click the Settings cog in the bottom-right corner.
2. Select Appearance on the left side tab.
3. Head over to the right, scroll down and set the Hardware Acceleration toggle to Off.

Check that the camera issue is rectified.

10. Rapid-Click the Discord Camera

Some users on the Discord forum discovered an unconventional solution to fix the green screen that covers the camera feed in the Discord app. This involves rapidly clicking the camera button a few times until the green screen goes away.

Several users who tried out this method reported that it worked for them. You will need to be fast with your clicks. Rapidly clicking on and off four times should be enough, but you can keep at it for a few more rounds till you get the desired result.

One potential downside: You might need to repeat this action each time you launch Discord and want to make a call. Still, it’s better than nothing, right?

11. Try the Web Version of Discord

If the camera isn’t working for you and you’re in a hurry, you can use the web version of Discord for that pressing video call. Everyone that has reported getting the green screen issue on the desktop client reported that switching to the web version didn’t turn up the same issue.

Discord on the web can also access your camera so you can use this to test whether the camera is the issue. If everything works fine then you can focus your troubleshooting on other areas. However, if the camera doesn’t work even on the web, then you might have to switch to another camera.

12. Reinstall the App

After reaching this point, you might still be looking for how to fix the Discord green screen/camera not working error because the issue lies with the Discord installation.

It’s not unheard of for some features of an app to work even when the installation is corrupt. Some parts of the app won’t work or won’t work as well, though; this might be what’s happening with the Discord green screen if every avenue so far has failed to resolve the problem.

You can try uninstalling Discord then installing it anew. You can do this from Settings or the Apps & Features section of Control Panel.

From Programs & Features:

1. Type cpl into the Search box and select Control Panel.
2. Set the view mode in Control Panel to Category and select the “Uninstall a program” link.
3. Locate Discord in the list of programs. Right-click it and select Uninstall.

From Settings:

1. Use Win + I to launch Settings.
2. Navigate to Apps > Apps & Features.
3. Locate Discord in the list of apps. Click Discord and select Uninstall.

If you downloaded Discord from Microsoft Store, you can simply search for it from the Start menu, right-click the app when it appears in the search results, and select Uninstall.

The next step is to remove all leftover files.

1. Open Run with Win + R, type “%appdata%” in the Run field, and click OK.
2. Locate the Discord folder in the Roaming folder. Right-click it and hit Delete.
3. Open Run again and run the “%LocalAppData%” command.
4. Find Discord in this folder and delete it too.

After this, reboot the computer and install the program back. You can either find it in the Microsoft Store or visit the official Discord download page to download and install the latest version of Discord. This should hopefully fix the camera issue.

Conclusion

These are the best fixes for the green camera issue in Discord. There’s a slight likelihood that the webcam itself is bad, so verify with another app first.

External webcams can have issues due to poor connections. Check the connection and port and consider using a different USB cable.

If nothing works, consider using System Restore to go back to a previous point when the Discord app wasn’t having this issue. Of course, this option is only available if there are restore points to use.

Discord and similar apps tend to prioritize the inbuilt webcam even if you prefer the connected camera. Disabling the internal camera via Device Manager should force Discord to use the plugged-in alternative.

Hopefully, one of the fixes we’ve covered here is going to be the magic pill that will cure the issues you are having with using a camera in Discord. Let us know what worked for you by commenting below, so other users can shortcut to the same fix and try it first.