How to check your camera before a video interview on a Mac
To check your camera before a video interview, open the NotchStar notch, choose Mirror and look at yourself. Fix the framing, then confirm in your interview app that it uses the same camera. Mirror is a live preview only. It does not record or take photos.
Steps
- Close other apps that use the camera, such as a meeting window that is already open.
- Hover over the notch (or click it, if you set click mode in Settings) and choose Mirror.
- The first time, macOS asks whether NotchStar may use the camera. Choose Allow. If you said no earlier, the tab shows a card with a button that opens the Camera setting in System Settings.
- Look at the picture. It is flipped like a bathroom mirror, so moving left looks like moving left. Your call app may show you a flipped or unflipped picture, so check its own preview as well.
- Adjust the screen angle so the camera sees your face level, not from below. Put bright light in front of you, not behind.
- Look at what is behind you. A clear background is easier than a tidy one.
- Leave the tab. The camera stops when Mirror is no longer on screen, and the green indicator goes out.
What to check in the interview app
Mirror uses the default camera macOS picks, and it has no camera picker. Your interview app may select another camera, such as an external webcam, and may crop or process the picture differently. Open its own preview, check the camera and the microphone it has selected, and compare the framing with what you saw. The camera check guide goes through permissions and the tests that need the call app itself.
What Mirror does not do
- It does not test your microphone, speakers or internet connection.
- It does not apply filters, blur your background or change the light.
- It does not tell you what the interview app is sending.
- If you use an iPhone as your camera, what Mirror shows depends on which camera macOS has chosen as the default.
Do it early
Do the check at least ten minutes before the start so that a permission prompt or a blank screen does not take the time you wanted for preparing. If you plan to read from notes, set them up in the Teleprompter or a Quick Note at the same time, and keep them in mind when you check where your eyes will rest.
