# How to see yourself on your Mac camera before joining a meeting > Preview your Mac camera in one hover with the NotchStar Mirror, without Photo Booth or a test meeting. Camera permission, limits and the camera light. Canonical: https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/see-yourself-before-joining-a-meeting-without-opening-photo-booth/ Last updated: 2026-11-04 Published 2026-11-04. You can see yourself before a meeting by opening NotchStar's **Mirror** tab. It shows a live, flipped preview of your Mac's default camera in the notch, with no extra window, no photo and no meeting. Apple's Photo Booth does a similar job in a full window, as the [camera check guide](https://www.notchstar.com/guides/check-mac-camera-before-video-call/) explains. ## What happens when you open it 1. Open the notch and choose **Mirror**. 2. If macOS has not asked before, it shows its normal camera permission prompt. Allow it. 3. The preview appears. The camera starts when the tab opens, so the green light comes on at that moment. 4. Switch to another tab or move away so the notch closes. The camera stops, and the light goes out. That behaviour is deliberate. NotchStar's code starts the camera session when the Mirror view appears and stops it when the view disappears, so the light matches what you are doing. The picture is never saved or sent anywhere. ## When you only have a few seconds A quick check is enough for four things: your face is in the frame, the light is on your face and not behind you, the camera is not tilted up your nose, and nothing in the background that you did not mean to show. If something is wrong, move the screen or a lamp rather than looking for a software setting. ## If the preview is blank or says access is needed Mirror shows a card with a button that opens the Camera page of System Settings. Allow NotchStar there. Apple's camera access page, checked on 2 November 2026, explains that the list shows apps that asked for the camera. Allowing NotchStar does not allow your meeting app, which has its own entry. ## What Mirror does not do - **No recording and no photos.** It is a preview only. - **No camera picker.** It uses the camera macOS picks as the default. If your meeting app uses a different one, open that app's preview as well. - **No filters, background blur or lighting fixes.** - **No sound check.** Your microphone is a separate setting in the meeting app. ## Pair it with a rehearsal If you will read from a script, switch from Mirror to the [Teleprompter](https://www.notchstar.com/features/teleprompter/) and read a paragraph aloud while watching how far your eyes move. You can go back and forth between the two tabs. The [Mirror feature page](https://www.notchstar.com/features/mirror/) lists every limit in one place. ## Quick answers. ### Is the camera on all the time? No. It starts when the Mirror tab opens and stops when you leave the tab or close the notch. ### Can I use Photo Booth instead? Yes. Apple documents Photo Booth as a way to preview a camera. Mirror is quicker if NotchStar is already running. ## Keep reading. - [A quick mirror before every call](https://www.notchstar.com/features/mirror/): Check how you look before a call with a live, mirrored camera preview in the notch. The camera runs only while the Mirror tab is open. - [Check your Mac camera before a video call](https://www.notchstar.com/guides/check-mac-camera-before-video-call/): Preview your camera, check permissions and confirm the camera selected in your meeting app. Use a mirror preview without mistaking it for a recording test. - [How to check your camera before a video interview on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/check-your-camera-before-a-job-interview-on-a-mac/): Use the NotchStar Mirror to see yourself before a video interview, fix the framing, and check the camera your call app uses. Mirror does not record. - [A privacy checklist for any Mac notch app](https://www.notchstar.com/guides/notch-app-privacy-checklist/): Seven checks to make before you install a notch app: permissions, notarization, network use, data storage and what to do if something looks off. ## More in Calls and recording. - [How to read a script on a Zoom call on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/read-a-script-on-a-zoom-call-on-a-mac/): Paste a script into the NotchStar Teleprompter, pin the notch open and read beside your camera on a Zoom or other video call. Limits included. - [How to keep talking points near your camera on a work call on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/read-notes-during-a-sales-or-interview-call-on-a-mac/): Keep short talking points beside the camera on a video call with the NotchStar Quick Note or Teleprompter, with exact steps and honest limits. - [How to check your camera before a video interview on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/check-your-camera-before-a-job-interview-on-a-mac/): Use the NotchStar Mirror to see yourself before a video interview, fix the framing, and check the camera your call app uses. Mirror does not record. - [How to send a screenshot in a support chat on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/send-screenshots-in-a-support-chat-on-a-mac/): Take a screenshot, then drag it from the NotchStar Screenshot Tray into a support chat. Steps, the five minute limit, and what the tray does not do. - [How to send several screenshots at once on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/send-several-screenshots-at-once-on-a-mac/): Take a few screenshots, Command click to pick them in the NotchStar tray, then drag them together into a chat or email. Option drag sends all of them. - [How to keep time and notes while presenting on a Mac](https://www.notchstar.com/use-cases/present-on-a-mac-with-a-timer-and-notes-in-the-notch/): Use a NotchStar countdown and Quick Note while presenting on a Mac. What the timer does when the notch is closed, what makes a sound and what may be shared.