Windows 11 has come with a new multi-app camera feature. With this feature enabled, you can allow multiple apps to use a camera simultaneously on your Windows 11 PC. Earlier, we weren’t able to use a webcam or camera with multiple apps (say the Windows Camera app, a browser, Microsoft Teams app, etc.) at the same time. On trying to do so, we receive an error like Your webcam is being used or blocked by another application. Now, we can use a built-in webcam or connected camera on more than one app simultaneously for camera streaming or other purposes.
As per the announcement, this multi-app camera feature is developed with the Hard-of-Hearing community to enable video streaming to both a sign language interpreter and the end audience at the same time. This much-awaited feature is currently available to Windows insiders. But it will be available in the stable release soon.
How to allow multiple apps to use Camera at the same time in Windows 11
The steps to allow multiple apps to use the webcam or camera at the same time in Windows 11 are as follows:
- Press the Win+I shortcut key to open the Settings app
- Select the Bluetooth & devices category
- Access the Cameras page
- In the Connected Cameras section, select a camera
- You will see an Advanced camera options setting
- Press the Edit button for that setting
- A pop-up will open
- Turn on the Allow multiple apps to use camera at the same time option
- When this feature is turned on, you can also choose a Media type (preferred camera resolution) like resolution and frame rate (say 640*360 (16:9) | 30.0 fps, 1280*720 (16:9) | 30.0 fps, etc.). Or else, you can keep the default setting which is Let Windows choose for Media type option
- Press the Apply button.
That’s it. Now the multiple app camera mode is enabled on your Windows 11 PC. Even if the camera access is turned off systemwide, this feature can be turned on or enabled.
Here, the best part is you can also use this feature if you are using the phone camera as a webcam using the Phone Link app on your Windows 11 system.
Later, when you want to turn off this feature, follow the above-mentioned steps, and use the toggle for Allow multiple apps to use camera at the same time option.
Now read: Camera is reporting that it is blocked or turned off in Windows PC
How do I allow apps to access my camera in Windows 11?
To allow apps to access your camera on a Windows PC, access the Camera privacy settings. Open the Settings app and navigate to Privacy & security > Camera (under the App permissions section). Make sure the Camera access setting is turned on. Now, turn on the Let apps access your camera setting, and choose which apps can access your camera.
How do I use two apps at the same time on Windows 11?
Open the Settings app and navigate to System > Multitasking. Turn on or enable the Snap windows option. Now you can use the Win key + Left arrow key and Win key + Right arrow key shortcut to open two apps side by side on your desktop screen. Alternatively, you can also place the mouse cursor on the maximize button of an app and then select any of the predefined snap layouts. This way, you can split your desktop screen to use multiple applications.
Read next: How to find out which app is using the webcam on a Windows PC.
