Skip to main content
All CollectionsTelehealthTroubleshooting telehealth appointments
Troubleshooting video and sound on a Windows computer
Troubleshooting video and sound on a Windows computer

If you're using a PC, this guide will walk you through the steps to troubleshoot specific issues you might experience.

Emily avatar
Written by Emily
Updated over a week ago

If you're using a Windows computer, use this guide as a starting point for troubleshooting telehealth appointments. Most likely, if you're encountering problems, they'll have to do with your microphone and camera. We'll go through the various ways to check your settings, depending on what browser you're using!

Follow the links below to jump to your relevant browser:

On your PC, you can also find the Start menu, which will allow you to check whether your browsers are allowing the camera and microphone to work. If you'd like to skip to this step, head right here.

IMPORTANT: Many newer Windows laptops come with something called an "IR Camera". This camera is used for the Windows Hello Face sign in, and is often automatically turned on as the default setting. It's been known to cause some issues with telehealth calls in Cliniko when it's enabled, but luckily it can be quickly and easily resolved by temporarily disabling the camera! We walk through the steps right here.


Troubleshooting telehealth on Chrome

When you try to connect to a telehealth call, Chrome is going to ask if you want to allow the site to use your camera and microphone:

Pressing "Allow" should get everything to work as normal, but if you miss this step and somehow press "Block", then you're going to have to inspect the settings to fix it up.

Head to the Chrome menu in the upper-right of your screen (it should be accessible by selecting the "three dots" in the corner), and then select Settings:

That will open up a new window. Select Site settings:

From there, look for the Camera and Microphone settings. They should either say "Ask before accessing" or "Allow":

If either of them say "Blocked", you you'll need to select the relevant one (either camera or microphone) and unblock it. That can be done by pressing the trash can icon next to the "blocked" site:

Once that's changed, go back to your telehealth appointment, refresh the page, and make sure to press "Allow" when prompted by the browser. That should fix things up for you! 👍


Troubleshooting telehealth on Edge

When you try to connect to a telehealth call, Edge is going to ask if you want to allow the site to use your camera and microphone:

Pressing "Allow" should get everything to work as normal, but if you press "Block", then you're going to have to inspect the settings to fix it up.

Head to the Edge menu in the upper-right of your screen (it should be accessible by selecting the "three dots" in the corner), and then select Settings:

Select "Site permissions", and then look at the Camera and Microphone settings. They should say "Allow" or "Ask first", but if they don't, then you'll need to fix the settings:

Select either one, and make sure that the little "switch" is turned on—and also make sure that Cliniko isn't listed under the "blocked" sites:

Once that's changed, go back to your telehealth appointment, refresh the page, and make sure to press "Allow" when prompted by the browser. Ideally, things should be sorted now!


Troubleshooting telehealth on Firefox

Coming soon—sit tight!


Troubleshooting telehealth in Windows Settings

Your PC's Settings app is sort of the "brain" of your computer—this is where you can modify a lot of different permissions. One of these is the ability to specify whether browsers can access your computer's camera and microphone.

On your PC, go to the Start menu, and then select Settings:

Then, select System:

Within these settings, you'll then be able to look at the input and output settings for your computer (the example below is for the "sound" setting):

If you're using headphones or speakers, in addition to an external microphone (or an external webcam) you would be able to specify which particular device(s) the sound and video should be routed through (if not the computer's inbuilt microphone and camera):


Disable the Windows IR Camera

The "IR Camera" is something that comes installed on newer Windows laptops for the Hello Face sign in functionality, and it's generally enabled by default. This means that you probably don't even know it's on if it's not something you use on a daily basis!

The IR Camera is known to cause issues with telehealth in Cliniko, and luckily, it's easy enough to fix if you temporarily disable it. We'll walk you through the steps for troubleshooting/disabling the IR Camera below.:

  1. Right-click the Windows 10 "Start" button and select "Device Manager".

  2. In the "Device Manager" that opens, select the arrow to expand camera devices.

  3. Right-click your camera's name and select "Disable device". It will probably be called an "AvStream Media Device", and sometimes you might have two cameras with the same name. You will need to disable them one at a time in order to determine which camera is the "problem camera".

  4. If a pop-up asks you for confirmation to disable, select "Yes.

  5. Reboot your computer (this step is critical and must be done in order to "refresh" things).

  6. Check telehealth to see if it's working properly. If it is, great! If not, then you will need to follow the same steps to disable the other camera.

  7. Once telehealth is working properly, you can reenable the camera.

These instructions were written as of February 1, 2021. It's possible that Windows may periodically change how things work. We'll do our best to keep these steps updated.


If none of the above helps, our support team is certainly able to have a look and see what might be going on. Just send us a message and we'll see what we can do!

Did this answer your question?