No matter which field you are working in, conferences will be a part of your daily routine. Different conference tools are introducing several features. However, not all of them have a shortcut for on and off of your mic.
The new feature in Windows 11 allows users to mute and unmute themself by tapping the spacebar. However, such a feature is not available in Windows 10. Hence, in order to set shortcuts, we have to follow a set of steps. In this article, we will discuss in detail the procedure to turn the mic and camera on and off in a video call on Windows 10.
Turn mic and camera on/off in a video call
As the shortcut feature isn’t available directly in Windows 10, we have to take help from 3rd party applications. Applications like PowerToys are able to control the camera and mic during a meeting at the app level.
Below we have mentioned the steps to turn on and off your mic and camera using PowerToys.
- First, Download and install PowerToys from Github.
- Go to the settings of PowerToys.
- Now open the Video Conference tab.
- Finally, enable the mute switch on.
Once you have completed the above-mentioned steps, you have to enable the features on the app that you use for conference calls. Here are the steps for the same:
- Open the app.
- Search and open the app’s settings.
- Select Devices
- Open the Mic dropdown and select PowerToys Video Conference Mute.
- Save the change.
- Repeat for all conferencing tools.
Every time you attend a conference, the PowerToys tool will add a toolbar to the desktop. You can reposition where the toolbar appears from PowerToys’ settings. The toolbar will notify you of the date of the webcam and mic.
Keyboard shortcuts:
- Toggle both webcam and mic: Win+N
- To toggle the mic: Win+Shift+A
- To toggle the webcam: Win+Shift+O
If these shortcuts clash with the shortcuts of other applications on your desktop, you can go to your PowerToys setting and change them.
Conclusion:
By implementing these steps you can easily add shortcuts to turn on and off your webcams in your windows 10.