Turn your camera and microphone on or off

Camera and microphone controls

Inside a room, your camera and microphone buttons sit in the bar at the top right of the screen.

Turn them on or off

1. Click the camera button to turn your camera on or off. Its tooltip reads Show camera – C or Hide camera – C.
2. Click the microphone button to mute or unmute. Its tooltip reads Mute mic – M or Unmute mic – M.

Keyboard shortcuts: C for camera, M for microphone. Shortcuts do not work while you are typing in a text field.

Pactto confirms each change with Camera is ON / Camera is OFF or Mic is ON / You are muted, mic is OFF.

If you are the room owner or an editor, you can also click the microphone badge in the top right corner of your own camera tile (Mute your microphone / Unmute your microphone).

When a button is grayed out

• No camera detected: your computer has no camera available. The camera button does not respond until you connect one.
• No microphone detected: your computer has no microphone available.
• After connecting a device, open Device options (the small arrow next to the microphone button) so Pactto detects it. See Choose your camera, microphone, and speakers.

If your browser blocks the camera or microphone

When Pactto is not allowed to use your devices, the camera and microphone buttons show a warning badge and the tooltip reads Camera access is not allowed. Click to allow (or Microphone access is not allowed. Click to allow).

1. Click the camera or microphone button. Pactto shows Pactto is blocked from using your camera and microphone with steps for your browser.
2. Follow the steps. In Chrome and Edge: click the camera icon at the left of the address bar, select Always allow for camera and microphone, click Done, then click Try again.
3. In Safari, Firefox, and on phones, change the site permission to Allow and reload the page.

When Pactto mutes you

• Joining an empty room: you start muted, with your camera off, if nobody else is there.
• Being left alone: if everyone else leaves and you stay alone for 60 seconds, Pactto mutes your microphone and shows You are muted, mic is OFF. If someone comes back within those 60 seconds, nothing happens.
• Muted by the owner or an editor: you see You have been muted. See Mute other participants.

Pactto never unmutes you on its own. Click the microphone button or press M when you want to talk again.

Good to know

• The buttons show what others actually see and hear. If your camera or microphone state changes because of a reconnection, the buttons update to match.
• When you turn your camera off, others stop seeing your video right away, and after a few seconds Pactto also releases the camera so your camera light turns off.
• If your audio stops reaching others, a red badge appears on your own tile: Your audio is not reaching other participants. Check your microphone and connection, or pick another microphone. If your network blocks the call entirely, the badge reads Your camera and mic are not reaching others. See Connection quality warnings.
• A Microphone muted icon on a tile means that person is muted.
• If you joined without a camera, you can still use your microphone (audio only).
• Pactto reduces background noise in your microphone automatically. See Background noise reduction.