Camera - black screen

Windows 11 version 22H2 OS Build 22621.2428
UVC Camera (Manuf. Microsoft, location: 0000.0014.0000.008.000.000.000.000.000)

Have been trying to use the camera on Win 11 but only get a black screen.

After trying to resolve this and going over the settings, I found in Troubleshooter that ‘this file does not have an app association with it for performing this action. Please install an app or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Apps Settings page.”

How do I create that association.? That page has 3 items (choices?) :
Microsoft..Windows.Camera
Microsoft.Windows.Camera.Multipicker and
Microsoft.Windows.Camera.Picker
Do I need to click all 3?
(Since the camera came with the computer (DELL) and since it is Microsoft product, I assumed the defaults would be on, by default.)

My settings:
In Camera, App Permissions,camera, microphone, videos are all On.
Background permissions/Let this app run in background is Always

My Driver is up-to-date BUT, Device Manager Events indicates a problem from 2022,even tho the General tab indicates the camera is working properly.
In Device Manager for camera, under events I see Device USB\VID_12D1&PID_4321&MI_00\6&34bbb27&0&0000 requires further installation

All suggestions gratefully received. (As you can tell, I am a newbie to this) Thank you

Judging by the messages you have recieved, I imagine you have either a missing or damaged driver.

Go to your Laptop manufacturer's website and make sure you download all of the latest drivers from there and install them all.

Since it is a Dell, do not trust what their websites says regarding the updates and do not rely on their update software. Do your best to download the updates any way you can.

Does the camera show up in device manager. If so right click, properties. Does it show the device is working properly? If so make the choice of the 3 items you listed above as Microsoft..Windows.Camera
To use the camera, go to all apps, locate the Camera App. Drag it to your desktop to give yourself a shortcut.
Open the app and you should see yourself on the screen.
(Camera App should already be installed. If it's not in your all apps list you can get it from the windows store.)

Thank you so much for your response. glasskuter. Yes, the device is working properly.
When I clicked Microsoft.Windows. Camera, the screen shows 'MICROSOFT.WINDOWS.CAMERA' links. Don't know what the links means but, in any event, the camera screen is still black. I restarted the PC, still black.
I went to Photo gallery there is a black empty box. (File location is OneDrive camera roll.) When I click Open with Photos, I get 'Class not registerd'
At this point I am resigned to using my plug in webcam..
Again, my thanks.

You can try resetting camera app first. If no difference try uninstalling the camera app, restart, it and then reinstalling it from the store.

One last go:
I had tried Resetting the camera, still black screen. I uninstalled, restarted, downloaded from the Store. Still no luck. Two messages:
One telling me, yet again to create an association in the Default Apps Settings page. Again I choose Microsoft..Windows.Camera
Then OneDrive\Pictures\CameraRoll\Win_20240101_18_44_25_Pro.jpg, Class not registered. (If I have to contend with DLL files, I won't.)
That's it for this saga. I again thank you for your help and patience, and I wish you a good New Year.

Only other suggestion I have is to try a repair install. Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial
Wishng a safe and prosperous New Year to you as well.

Thank you

If your camera light blinks on and off while the picture stays black, and stops blinking when the window loses focus, this may be it — and it is not a driver or a privacy setting.

Acer installs a Device MFT (AcerMediaService.dll) that sits inside the Windows Media Foundation camera pipeline and processes every frame. After a recent Windows 11 update it loads but stops delivering frames, so every app gets black while Device Manager still reports the camera as healthy. The blinking is the app opening the stream, getting nothing, timing out and retrying.


The reason the registry fixes in this thread stop working after a reboot: the service AcerARTAIMMXDriverService re-registers the plug-in at every startup through DetectCameraDMFT.exe. You have to stop that service too.


The neat part is that Acer already ships the uninstaller for it — UninstallAcerCameraDMFT.exe, inside its own driver package.


I wrote it up with a script that runs read-only by default and tells you whether this is actually your problem before touching anything:
GitHub - BiNeurale/acer-camera-black-screen-fix: Root cause and fix for Acer webcams that show a black screen in every application while Device Manager reports the camera as healthy. The Acer ART-AIMMX Device MFT is re-registered at every boot, which is why registry-only fixes stop working after a reboot.


If the read-only run does not print CameraDeviceMftClsidChain, this is not your fault — stop there, the same symptom has several other causes.