Does your camera work?

📷 Test your camera and microphone

Do this now, not at 19:00. It takes ten seconds and it is the single commonest thing that spoils a first round.

Your browser will ask permission. Nothing is sent anywhere — this preview never leaves your device, and on a real call the video goes straight to the other person, never through us.

⭐ Whatever you choose here is what the call will use. If you have two cameras or a headset, set it now and the evening will pick it up.

If it does not work

Almost every failure is one of these four, in this order of likelihood.

1. Another program has the camera. Zoom, Teams, Meet and a second tab of this site all hold it exclusively on Windows. Close them, then press the button again.
2. The browser is blocking it. Click the padlock (or the crossed-out camera) in the address bar, set the camera and microphone to Allow, and reload.
3. The wrong device is selected. If the test works but you see the wrong picture, use the two dropdowns above — whatever you pick there is what the call will use.
4. The operating system is blocking it. On Windows: Settings → Privacy & security → Camera. On a Mac: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera. Your browser needs to be switched on there before it can ask you at all.

⚠ A call needs a camera and a microphone. A picture with a dead level meter means the microphone is the problem, not the camera.