Webcam not recording or not showing in a Mac screen recorder

The camera thumbnail is black in the New Recording window, or the camera is missing from the recording afterwards.

Cause. Either another app is holding the camera, or camera access is not granted. macOS gives a camera to one app at a time, and an app keeps it while it is running even when its window is hidden — video call apps are the usual holder.

Fix

1. Quit any app that could be using the camera, including video call apps running in the background.
2. Open the New Recording window and turn the Camera switch on.
3. If the row Camera access needed is showing, press Grant and turn iRecord on in Privacy & Security → Camera.
4. If the thumbnail is still black, pick the camera again from the device picker. iRecord will say is already in use by another app when that is what happened.
5. Confirm the thumbnail shows live video before you press Record.

The camera you see while recording is not part of the take. The floating camera window is drawn on your screen for you and is deliberately excluded from capture. The camera is written to its own file alongside the screen, and the two are combined in the editor and in Save Video. If the camera is missing from the editor canvas, open the Camera panel — it appears only for a Recording that actually has camera footage.