A freezing or crashing webcam in Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet is one of the most disruptive issues in a modern hybrid-work environment. The problem has been around since Windows 10 but acquired new dimensions in Windows 11 — including a Windows Camera Frame Server architecture change and, most recently, a 2025 wave of freezes tied to Intel AI Boost (NPU) drivers on new business laptops. This guide covers every fix in order from quickest to most involved.

Detail
Last UpdatedMarch 2026
Applies ToWindows 10, Windows 11
Affected AppsMicrosoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Windows Camera app
DifficultyBeginner to Intermediate

Quick Diagnosis — Narrow Down the Cause First

Before applying any fix, answer these three questions — they will immediately point you to the right section:

  • Does the camera work in the Windows Camera app but freeze in Teams/Zoom? → Most likely a GPU hardware acceleration conflict or app cache issue. Go to Fix 4 or Fix 5.
  • Does the camera freeze in all apps including the Windows Camera app? → Driver or Frame Server issue. Start with Fix 1, then Fix 3.
  • Did the problem start after a Windows update or new laptop driver? → Likely the Intel AI Boost / NPU driver issue or Frame Server regression. Go to Fix 7.

Fix 1: Check Camera Privacy Permissions

Windows 11 has granular camera permissions that can silently block individual apps. This is the most commonly overlooked cause — particularly after a Windows feature update which sometimes resets app permissions.

  1. Go to Settings → Privacy & security → Camera
  2. Ensure Camera access is toggled On at the top
  3. Scroll down to Let desktop apps access your camera and ensure it is On
  4. Find your specific app (Teams, Zoom) in the list and confirm its individual toggle is On

You can also verify and set permissions via PowerShell:

# Check current camera capability access policy
Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\webcam" |
    Select-Object Value

# Set to Allow if currently Deny
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\webcam" `
    -Name "Value" -Value "Allow"

Fix 2: Close Apps Competing for the Camera

Only one application can exclusively hold the camera at a time on Windows. If Zoom, Skype, a browser tab with Google Meet, a camera utility, or even Windows Hello is running in the background, Teams will freeze when it tries to access the camera.

# Check which process is currently using the camera
# Requires running as Administrator
$cameraPath = "\\?\root#media#*"
$devices = Get-PnpDevice -Class Camera -PresentOnly

foreach ($device in $devices) {
    $instanceId = $device.InstanceId
    Write-Host "Camera: $($device.FriendlyName)"
}

# List all processes that have camera-related DLLs loaded
Get-Process | Where-Object {
    $_.Modules.ModuleName -contains "MFPlat.dll" -or
    $_.Modules.ModuleName -contains "VideoCapture.dll"
} -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object Name, Id

Close all camera-using applications from the system tray as well — some camera utilities (Logitech G Hub, Dell Peripheral Manager, HP Camera app) sit in the background and hold the camera even when their window is not visible.

Fix 3: Reinstall Camera Driver

An outdated, corrupt, or incompatible camera driver is responsible for the majority of camera freezes. Reinstalling forces Windows to pull a clean driver.

  1. Open Device Manager (Win + X → Device Manager)
  2. Expand Cameras (or Imaging devices on older systems)
  3. Right-click your webcam → Uninstall device → check Delete the driver software for this device → Uninstall
  4. Restart the computer — Windows will automatically reinstall the driver on next boot

Or do this silently via PowerShell:

# Uninstall camera driver via PowerShell (requires elevation)
$camera = Get-PnpDevice -Class Camera -PresentOnly | Select-Object -First 1
if ($camera) {
    Write-Host "Uninstalling: $($camera.FriendlyName)"
    $camera | Disable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
    $camera | Enable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false
    Write-Host "Camera re-enabled — driver will be refreshed on next use."
} else {
    Write-Host "No camera found in Device Manager."
}

Fix 4: The Registry Fix — EnableFrameServerMode

This is one of the most effective fixes for camera freezing in third-party apps on Windows 11, and has been solving this problem reliably for multiple Windows versions. The Windows Camera Frame Server (a service that brokers camera access between apps) can conflict with how applications like Teams and Zoom request the video feed. Setting EnableFrameServerMode to 0 disables this brokering and lets apps access the camera directly.

# Apply the EnableFrameServerMode registry fix
$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media Foundation\Platform"

# Create the key if it doesn't exist
if (-not (Test-Path $regPath)) {
    New-Item -Path $regPath -Force | Out-Null
}

# Set EnableFrameServerMode to 0
Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "EnableFrameServerMode" -Value 0 -Type DWord

# Also apply for 32-bit processes on 64-bit Windows
$regPath32 = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows Media Foundation\Platform"
if (-not (Test-Path $regPath32)) {
    New-Item -Path $regPath32 -Force | Out-Null
}
Set-ItemProperty -Path $regPath32 -Name "EnableFrameServerMode" -Value 0 -Type DWord

Write-Host "Registry fix applied. Restart required."

Restart the machine after applying this fix. To revert it, delete the EnableFrameServerMode value or set it back to 1.

Deploy this across a fleet via Intune Remediation or SCCM script — useful when many users report the same issue after a Windows update:

# Detection script: Check if fix is already applied
$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media Foundation\Platform"
$value = (Get-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name "EnableFrameServerMode" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).EnableFrameServerMode

if ($value -eq 0) {
    Write-Host "Compliant — fix already applied"
    exit 0
} else {
    Write-Host "Non-compliant — fix not applied"
    exit 1
}

Fix 5: Disable Hardware Acceleration in Teams and Zoom

Both Teams and Zoom use GPU hardware acceleration for video processing. On machines where the GPU driver has a conflict with the camera driver, disabling hardware acceleration resolves freezing immediately.

Microsoft Teams (New Teams)

  1. Open Teams → click your profile picture → Settings
  2. Go to General
  3. Uncheck Disable GPU hardware acceleration (the label is inverted — checking this box disables acceleration)
  4. Restart Teams

Zoom

  1. Open Zoom → Settings (gear icon)
  2. Go to Video → Advanced
  3. Uncheck Enable hardware acceleration for video processing and Enable hardware acceleration for receiving video

Fix 6: Clear Teams Cache

Corrupted Teams cache files cause camera crashes specifically when joining meetings. Clearing the cache is a safe, non-destructive fix that has no side effects beyond a slightly slower first load after clearing.

# Clear Microsoft Teams cache (New Teams)
# Quit Teams first
Get-Process -Name "ms-teams" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Stop-Process -Force

$teamsCachePath = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages\MSTeams_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Microsoft\MSTeams"
if (Test-Path $teamsCachePath) {
    Remove-Item -Path "$teamsCachePath\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    Write-Host "New Teams cache cleared."
}

# Classic Teams cache (if still installed)
$classicCachePath = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Teams"
if (Test-Path $classicCachePath) {
    $foldersToClean = @("Cache", "blob_storage", "databases", "GPUCache", "IndexedDB", "Local Storage", "tmp")
    foreach ($folder in $foldersToClean) {
        $fullPath = Join-Path $classicCachePath $folder
        if (Test-Path $fullPath) {
            Remove-Item -Path "$fullPath\*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        }
    }
    Write-Host "Classic Teams cache cleared."
}

Write-Host "Restart Teams to complete."

Fix 7: Intel AI Boost / NPU Driver Issue (2025 — New Dell and Intel Evo Laptops)

If you are experiencing camera freezing on a new Dell Pro, Latitude, or other Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake / Lunar Lake) laptop — particularly with Teams or Zoom — this section is for you. In 2025, widespread reports emerged of complete system freezes during video calls, traced to the Intel AI Boost (NPU) driver conflicting with the Windows Camera Frame Server.

The issue manifests as: camera opens briefly in Teams, then freezes; or the entire system becomes unresponsive for 1–5 minutes when the camera is activated. Windows Hello facial recognition may also be affected.

Option A: Update the Intel NPU Driver

The Intel AI Boost driver version 32.0.100.3717 (dated February 2025) is known to cause the issue. Version 32.0.100.4239 (dated August 2025) resolves it for most users. Check your current version and update if needed:

# Check Intel AI Boost / NPU driver version
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PnPSignedDriver |
    Where-Object { $_.DeviceName -like "*AI Boost*" -or $_.DeviceName -like "*NPU*" -or $_.DeviceName -like "*Neural*" } |
    Select-Object DeviceName, DriverVersion, Manufacturer, DriverDate |
    Format-Table -AutoSize

Update via Dell Command Update, Intel Driver & Support Assistant, or download the driver directly from Intel’s website.

Option B: Disable Intel AI Boost in Device Manager

If updating the driver does not resolve the issue, disabling the NPU device entirely eliminates the conflict. This has no impact on normal productivity — AI Boost is used for specific AI acceleration tasks, not standard camera operation.

# Disable Intel AI Boost / NPU device via PowerShell (requires elevation)
$npuDevice = Get-PnpDevice | Where-Object {
    $_.FriendlyName -like "*AI Boost*" -or
    $_.FriendlyName -like "*NPU*" -or
    $_.FriendlyName -like "*Neural Processing*"
}

if ($npuDevice) {
    Write-Host "Disabling: $($npuDevice.FriendlyName)"
    $npuDevice | Disable-PnpDevice -Confirm:$false
    Write-Host "Intel AI Boost disabled. Restart recommended."
} else {
    Write-Host "No Intel AI Boost / NPU device found on this machine."
}

For fleet-wide deployment, use this as an Intune Remediation script. Note that you will also need to prevent Windows Update from automatically reinstalling the problematic driver version — do this via a Windows Update driver exclusion policy or Dell Command Update XML configuration.

Fix 8: Run the Camera Troubleshooter

Windows 11 includes a built-in Camera troubleshooter that handles the most common issues automatically — missing permissions, Frame Server errors, and driver state resets. Run it before escalating to more complex fixes:

# Launch the Camera troubleshooter via PowerShell
Start-Process -FilePath "msdt.exe" -ArgumentList "-id DeviceDiagnostic"

# Or open the Settings troubleshooter page directly
Start-Process "ms-settings:troubleshoot"

Fix Checklist — Quick Reference

FixBest ForEffort
1. Check camera privacy permissionsApp freezes or shows black screenLow
2. Close competing appsCamera works then freezes mid-callLow
3. Reinstall camera driverFreeze in all apps including Camera appLow
4. EnableFrameServerMode registry fixFreeze in Teams/Zoom but Camera app worksLow
5. Disable hardware acceleration in appFreeze when video starts in Teams/ZoomLow
6. Clear Teams cacheTeams-specific crash when joining meetingLow
7. Intel AI Boost NPU driver fixNew Dell / Intel Core Ultra laptop, post-2024Medium
8. Camera troubleshooterUnknown cause — quick automated scanLow

Summary

Webcam freezing in Windows 11 has more causes than ever in 2026 — from the classic Frame Server conflict to the newer Intel AI Boost NPU driver issue affecting a wave of 2024/2025 business laptops. Work through the fixes in order: start with permissions and competing apps, apply the EnableFrameServerMode registry fix, then check for Intel NPU driver issues if the device is new hardware.

  • The EnableFrameServerMode registry fix (Fix 4) resolves the majority of Teams/Zoom freeze cases on Windows 11 — try this early
  • If on a new Dell or Intel Core Ultra laptop purchased in 2024–2025, check the Intel AI Boost driver version — 32.0.100.3717 is problematic; update or disable the device
  • Disabling GPU hardware acceleration in Teams or Zoom settings is a quick workaround while investigating the root cause
  • For enterprise fleet management, the EnableFrameServerMode fix and Intel NPU disable script can both be deployed as Intune Remediations