Questions, answered.

Webcam Works changes the settings on your USB webcam, such as exposure, focus, white balance, and zoom, and adds a virtual camera, Webcam Works Camera, for other apps. It also records to your Mac, saves looks as presets, applies them on a schedule, and can bring a remote guest into your picture with Teleport.

Not for a USB webcam's own settings. System Settings has no panel for exposure, focus, or white balance, and the video effects in the menu bar's Video menu, like Portrait and Studio Light, don't change the camera itself. Webcam Works adds those controls for whatever settings your camera reports.

Any USB webcam that follows the UVC standard, including the Logitech Brio, C920, and C922, Razer Kiyo, Elgato Facecam, and Insta360 Link. Webcam Works shows the controls each camera reports. It adds field of view for supported Logitech Brio models, Razer Kiyo Pro, Dell UltraSharp WB7022, and AnkerWork C310, and HDR for the Brio 4K, Brio 4K Stream Edition, Brio 505, Kiyo Pro, WB7022, and C310.

Yes, with the limits Apple sets. macOS manages brightness, exposure, and white balance on built-in and Continuity cameras, so Webcam Works can't change them. You get resolution and frame rate, Center Stage where the camera supports it, and the virtual camera, recording, and presets.

Yes. Webcam Works runs on Macs with Apple silicon and on Intel Macs. It needs macOS 15.6 or later and is available only on the Mac App Store.

Yes, on USB webcams. Webcam Works changes settings on the camera itself, so they follow it into every app, even ones that never open Webcam Works. The virtual camera's look is different: it reaches only the apps where you choose Webcam Works Camera.

Open Exposure and set Auto exposure to Off, then set exposure time and gain yourself. Camera AE hands metering back to the camera, and Smart AE has Webcam Works hold a steady brightness for you. These options appear only if your camera has the controls.

Many webcams return to their defaults when they lose power. Webcam Works remembers the last settings it applied to each camera and puts them back when the camera reconnects, so turn on Open at Login in the Webcam Works menu. Some meeting apps also push their own camera settings when they start, so open Webcam Works before your meeting app.

Webcam Works shows only the controls your camera reports, so a camera without autofocus has no focus control. Controls a camera lists but can't actually change are left out, and one that keeps refusing changes becomes read-only for the session. Built-in and iPhone cameras don't offer these controls at all.

Yes. Camera settings you change apply to the physical camera in any app that uses it. For color, backgrounds, overlays, and Be Right Back, choose Webcam Works Camera in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, Discord, OBS, or any other app that lets you pick a camera.

Choosing your webcam by name gives an app the camera with your hardware settings. Choosing Webcam Works Camera gives it the finished picture: color adjustments and LUTs, background blur or replacement, overlays, and Be Right Back. In Screen mode it keeps sending your face, and you present your screen by sharing the Webcam Works Output window. Webcam Works needs to be running for that, but its window can be closed.

In System Settings, open General, then Login Items & Extensions, scroll down to Extensions, and click By Category, then Camera Extensions. Turn on Webcam Works and enter your password. If it still doesn't work, quit Webcam Works, restart your Mac, and turn the virtual camera on again. On a work-managed Mac, your IT administrator may need to allow camera extensions.

A preset is a named snapshot of your camera controls and your virtual camera look, including background and overlays. Webcam Works comes with factory presets to start from, and Visualize compares presets side by side.

Yes. Schedule applies a preset while a chosen app is the one in front, or during a time window on the days you pick. If both match, the app rule wins. The check for which app is in front happens on your Mac, and the app list isn't sent anywhere.

In a Webcam Works folder inside Movies, unless you choose another folder. Recordings are H.264 .mov files with microphone audio. If Webcam Works quits unexpectedly during a take, the recording is recovered the next time you open Webcam Works, and if the microphone drops out, the video keeps recording.

Teleport brings a remote guest into your camera picture. You send a link, your guest opens it in a web browser on their phone or computer, and they appear next to you in one Webcam Works Camera tile, with no app or account on their side. One guest can join at a time, and starting a Teleport turns on the virtual camera.

Your guest hears you, not the rest of the meeting. If your guest isn't in the call themselves, use speakers rather than headphones: their voice plays through your speakers, so your call hears them.

No. Teleport is a peer-to-peer WebRTC connection: your guest's video and audio go to your Mac, your microphone goes back to your guest, and the shared picture is put together on your Mac. Our server, which runs on Cloudflare, only passes the setup messages that let the two sides find each other, and Teleport doesn't record or store the call. When a direct connection isn't possible, the encrypted stream is relayed through Cloudflare's relay service instead. On a direct connection, as in any peer-to-peer call, each side can see the other's IP address.

No. Your camera feed, microphone audio, and recordings are never uploaded to Lors. The picture goes only to the apps where you choose Webcam Works Camera, and recordings go only to the folder you choose. The one exception is a Teleport session you start: your microphone audio goes to your guest over the Teleport connection so they can hear you.

Anonymous app events, such as a control changing, a preset being applied, a recording starting or finishing, or a schedule rule firing, plus launch, foreground, background, and error events. Each one carries the camera's name, its USB vendor and product IDs, and the active preset, if any. An analytics provider stores them for us under contract, and we don't sell them or share them with third parties. There are no advertising IDs, and you don't need an account or email to use the app.

Webcam Works has a 14-day free trial and a $9.99 one-time unlock through the Mac App Store. The trial needs no sign-up or credit card. There is no subscription.

No. It's a one-time purchase, and it covers every future update to Webcam Works. There's no paid upgrade for a new major version later.

The Exposure card keeps working on USB webcams, including exposure time, gain, white balance, and Smart AE, and the Audio card keeps working for your microphone. Built-in and iPhone cameras also keep Format and Effects. The virtual camera, recording, presets, schedules, Teleport, Fill Light, and the other camera cards lock until you buy the one-time unlock. Your presets and rules are kept, ready for when you do.

Yes. The unlock supports Family Sharing, so up to five people in your Apple family group can use it on their own Macs. You can also install it on every Mac signed in to your Apple Account.

Refunds are handled by Apple, not by us, because we never take payment directly. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com, and Apple will handle it under its standard policy.

Turn on Virtual Camera in Webcam Works first; nothing reaches other apps until it's running. The first time, macOS asks you to approve the camera extension: choose Open System Settings in that dialog, not OK, and turn on Webcam Works under Camera Extensions. Then quit and reopen Zoom, since most apps read the camera list only when they start.

Check that Webcam Works is allowed to use your camera. Without camera access, the virtual camera still runs, but other apps see an empty picture. Turn on Webcam Works in System Settings under Privacy & Security, then Camera; the Virtual Camera card has a button that opens it.

macOS sometimes restarts the camera extension, and an app that was already using it can hold on to the old connection. In that app, choose another camera and then Webcam Works Camera again, or quit and reopen the app. If FaceTime still won't connect, or Webcam Works says the camera extension didn't start, restart your Mac once.

Unplug the camera and plug it back in; some USB hubs hide cameras until they reconnect. Also check that Webcam Works is allowed in System Settings under Privacy & Security, then Camera. If other apps see the camera and Webcam Works still doesn't, email us the camera model.

Click Restore Purchases on the purchase screen while signed in to the App Store with the Apple Account you bought it with. Webcam Works checks your purchase with Apple when it opens and when you restore. If it's still locked, email us.