How to Update Camera Driver on Windows 11

Drivers are one of the most essential pieces of software that act as a bridge between the operating system and the hardware components installed on your machine.

In Windows 11, updating any driver (Camera driver in this case) is as plain sailing as it gets. Moreover, there are more than one ways you can update the Camera driver on your machine along with the process being simple, fast, and easy.

Check for an Available Update in the Settings App

Windows also list out driver updates in the form of optional updates on your PC. Before you head to manually update the driver, it is definitely worth checking if the driver is available in the ‘Optional updates’ list as that will you save you from the hassle of going through some extra couple of steps.

To check for currently available updates, head to the Start Menu. Then either click on the ‘Settings’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section or by typing in the menu.

Next, from the left sidebar present on the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab to proceed.

Then, from the right section on the window, locate and click on the ‘Advanced options’ tile to continue.

On the next screen, locate the ‘Optional updates’ tile present under the ‘Additional options’ section.

Now, from the ‘Optional updates’ screen, click on the ‘Driver updates’ tile to expand the section. Then, if there’s an update available for the ‘Camera’, click on the checkbox preceding it to select. Next, click on the ‘Download & install’ button present to install the drivers.

That’s it, your Camera driver has been now updated. However, in case there’s no camera update listed in the ‘Optional Update’ section, hop onto the next section.

Update the Camera Driver from Device Manager

If there were no updates available for your camera module in the Settings app, you will have to update the driver using the Device Manager. Though the process comprises a couple of extra steps relative to the previous method, it is pretty straightforward.

To update the camera driver this way, head to the Start Menu and then type Device Manager to perform a search. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to open it.

Then, on the ‘Device Manager’ window, locate and double-click on the ‘Camera’ category to expand it. Once expanded, double-click on the listed ‘Camera’ component to open its properties in a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, click on the ‘Driver’ tab. Next, click on the, ‘Update Driver’ button present on the window. This will open a separate window on your screen.

From the separately opened window on your screen, click on the ‘Search automatically for drivers’ option to let the Windows search for drivers for you.

Force Reinstall the Camera Driver

If none of the above-mentioned ways work for you, you can also force reinstall the Camera driver by completely uninstalling it using the Device Manager. Windows then will automatically push the latest driver package as an update to your PC.

To uninstall the camera driver, first, open the Start Menu and type Device Manager in the Start Menu to search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to open it.

Then, on the ‘Device Manager’ window, locate and double-click on the ‘Cameras’ category to reveal the list of hardware components installed on your machine.

Now, right-click on the Camera component, and select the ‘Uninstall device’ option from the context menu to continue. This will bring up a prompt on your screen.

Now, from the prompt window on your screen, click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to uninstall the driver completely from your Windows machine.

Then, close all the windows, and restart your computer from the Start Menu.

Once restarted, open the Start Menu and either click on the ‘Settings’ tile present in the ‘Pinned apps’ section or by typing Settings in the Start Menu to search for it.

Then, from the left sidebar present on the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab to continue.

After that, from the right section of the window, Windows might have already detected the missing driver and have an update ready for you to download. To do so, click on the ‘Download & install’/’Install all’ button to commence the download and installation of the update.

In case you do not see an update package on the ‘Windows update’ screen. Click on the ‘Advanced options’ tile present under the ‘More options’ section.

Then, under the ‘Additional options’ section, click on the ‘Optional updates’ tile to proceed.

On the next screen, click on the ‘Driver updates’ tile to expand. Then, click on the available checkbox preceding the camera driver update present in the list and click on the ‘Download & install’ button to commence the download and installation of the driver on your machine.