Don’t have a good webcam on your PC? Good news: Windows now allows you to use your smartphone’s camera and microphone to make video calls or participate in video conferences.
With the democratization of teleworking, remote meetings and video calls have become common practices. But your computer hardware does not always have the necessary peripherals to carry out these communications in good conditions. Desktop PCs often lack webcams and microphones, and those on laptops are often mediocre.
To get around these obstacles, the usual trick is to use your smartphone to make video calls or participate in video conferences. In certain situations, however, this is not the most practical, especially in a meeting during which you must regularly mute your microphone, ask to speak, share your screen or interact in writing in a parallel chat.
These little inconveniences are a thing of the past, however, thanks to a practical and easy-to-use Windows feature. Since one of its recent updates, Microsoft’s operating system allows you to use the camera and microphone of your smartphone, as if it were a webcam directly integrated into your PC . All without complex settings and without third-party applications.
To use this function, nothing could be simpler. Start by taking a look at the Microsoft Storesection Downloads (at the bottom of the vertical bar on the left) then click on the button Get updatesto ensure that you have the latest version of the system component Cross-device experience host (version 1.24101.35.0 or higher).
Then go to the Settings of Windows, section Bluetooth and devices > Mobile devices. Check that the option Allow this PC to access your mobile devices is enabled, then click the button Manage devices. There, click on the name of the smartphone you want to use and check that the option Use as a connected camera is activated.
Once this is done, all you have to do is open the video calling or video conferencing application of your choice (Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, etc.), then set your smartphone as the video input device and audio in settings. When you start a call or a meeting, you can then switch between the front or rear camera of the smartphone, using buttons present on both your PC and your phone.
Furthermore, you can modify some settings of your “webcam” in the Settings of Windows, section Bluetooth and devices > Cameras. In this menu, you can choose a rotation to the video stream from your camera, and access the privacy options, to define the applications on your PC that can access your smartphone camera.
Finally, note that your PC and your phone must be linked to the same Microsoft account for this system to work. So, to use your personal mobile as a webcam on a company PC, you will first need to log in to your professional Microsoft account on your smartphone (and probably contact the IT department in the process).