You installed a virtual camera, but it’s not in the camera list inside Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. This is almost always one of a handful of causes on macOS. Work through them in order — the first three solve the large majority of cases.

1. Restart the meeting app completely

Meeting apps read the list of available cameras once, when they launch. If you installed the virtual camera while Zoom (or Chrome, or Teams) was already open, it won’t see the new device until it fully restarts.

Quit the app entirely (⌘Q — not just close the window).
For browser-based Meet, quit and reopen the whole browser, not just the tab.
Relaunch, then open camera settings again. The virtual camera should now be listed.

This one step fixes most “it’s not showing up” reports.

2. Approve the camera extension in System Settings

A modern macOS virtual camera installs as a system extension, and macOS requires you to approve it the first time — otherwise it’s installed but not active.

Open System Settings ▸ General ▸ Login Items & Extensions (on the latest macOS, look under Privacy & Security for a “Media Extension” or “Camera Extensions” entry).
Find the app’s extension and make sure it’s enabled.
If macOS prompted you to approve it earlier and you dismissed the prompt, re-triggering the install from the app will bring the prompt back.

In AwayCam, the onboarding Install Virtual Camera step (and Settings ▸ Virtual Camera) walks you through this and re-checks automatically.

3. Re-select the camera inside the meeting app

Even once the device exists, the meeting app may still be pointed at your built-in webcam.

In Zoom: Settings ▸ Video ▸ Camera → choose AwayCam Camera.
In Google Meet: the ⚙ (gear) during a call ▸ Video ▸ Camera.
In QuickTime (a great way to test): File ▸ New Movie Recording ▸ click the ⌄ next to the record button ▸ pick the camera.

Test in QuickTime or Photo Booth first — if the virtual camera works there, the device is healthy and the issue is app-specific.

4. Grant camera permission to the app that’s consuming it

macOS gates camera access per app. If the meeting app was denied camera permission, no camera — virtual or physical — will appear.

System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Camera → make sure your meeting app (and your browser, for web meetings) is toggled on.

App-specific gotchas

Microsoft Teams (new/desktop) on macOS is the notorious one — the current desktop Teams client does not reliably list third-party virtual cameras. The dependable workaround is to use Teams in a browser (teams.microsoft.com), where virtual cameras appear normally.
After a macOS point-update, a system extension can occasionally need re-approval. If a virtual camera stopped working right after updating macOS, re-check step 2.
Two apps can’t hold the physical camera at once. If your webcam is busy in another app, “Live” pass-through may fail. Quit the other app.

Still stuck?

If AwayCam Camera works in QuickTime but not in one specific meeting app, it’s almost certainly that app’s camera cache (step 1) or its permission (step 4). If it doesn’t work in QuickTime either, re-run the extension install/approval (step 2).

Full troubleshooting lives on the Help page, and you can always reach a human at support@awaycam.app.

Virtual camera not showing up in Zoom, Meet, or Teams on Mac? Here's the fix