Turning Off Camera

Question

Turning Off Camera

N/A 0

My Asus Zenbook has a camera button to turn the camera on and off.

It used to work, but now, it's only saying the camera is on each time I press the button.

I've tried restarting the laptop a few times to see if it resets it, but to no avail. My camera is now on all the time, and I fear for my privacy.

Instead of being able to deactivate my camera easily, I now need to go to Settings each time in order to disable it.

What do I do now?

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4 answers

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Answer 1

Thoura Sopheak Nanta 580

Hi @N/A

The camera button is likely aging and is now defective.

Usually, there is a light on the camera to show you if it's on or off.

Most of the time even the camera button is now on all the time, there's nothing using the camera, this can be proven in Settings, if will tell you that an app is using your camera in settings.

Best regards,

Nanta

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Answer 2

Hendrix-V 19,835 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi N/A,

Since the camera shortcut is still showing the on-screen notification but is no longer disabling the webcam, the issue may be with the ASUS hotkey utility or the device's camera control layer rather than the camera itself.

As a workaround, you can temporarily disable the camera at the device level:

Press Windows + X and open Device Manager.
Expand Cameras.
Right-click your webcam and select Disable device.
Restart the PC and test whether the camera remains unavailable to apps.

If this works, it helps confirm that Windows is detecting the camera correctly and that the problem is more likely related to the ASUS camera-toggle feature. In that case, checking for updates to ASUS System Control Interface, ASUS Keyboard Hotkeys, or related utilities from ASUS Support would be the next step.

I understand your privacy concern, and disabling the camera in Device Manager provides a reliable temporary safeguard while investigating the toggle-key behavior.

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Hendrix-V 19,835 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-08-20T07:03:35.1666667+00:00

Hi N/A,

If you have any further questions or updates regarding this issue, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section. I'd be happy to assist you.
Clive Page 0 Reputation points

2026-10-08T08:42:25.31+00:00

Yes, that is a work-around. A better one is to paste a tiny bit of post-it note over the camera when not in use, as that is faster to reverse when the camera is next needed.

But neither of those explains what has gone wrong. It may be something in the ASUS software that handles the function keys, but we haven't made any updates to that for a long time. The only thing that has changed recently is the installation of Windows updates from Microsoft. So it is a Microsoft problem that Microsoft needs to solve.
Hendrix-V 19,835 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-09T01:28:07.3+00:00
Hi Clive Page,

Since the usual workarounds don't address the underlying issue, the most useful next step is to report the reproducible behavior through Feedback Hub (Win + F), including:

Exact Zenbook model and Windows build (winver)

The KB number under Settings > Windows Update > Update history

That the camera key worked before the update but now only reports that the camera is on

That the behavior is reproducible on another identical Zenbook

That information can help distinguish a Windows regression from a compatibility issue between the update and ASUS's hotkey/camera implementation.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas.

Answer 3

Clive Page 0

No it's not a hardware problem. My wife has an identical Zenbook 14 and it shows the same problem. This came about after a recent Windows update. Many people have reported the same problem but nobody seems to have found a solution so far.

Hendrix-V 19,835 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-08T04:11:26.34+00:00
Hi Clive Page,

Given that an identical Zenbook shows the same behavior and it reportedly began after a Windows update, you can try this additional step:

Open Device Manager and expand Cameras.

Right-select the camera and choose Properties > Driver.

If Roll Back Driver is available, select it and restart the PC.

Test the camera hotkey again.

If rollback isn't available or makes no difference, reporting the behavior through Feedback Hub (Windows + F) with the Windows build and ASUS Zenbook model would also be useful for investigation.

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas.

Answer 4

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