Command to list available webcam/video devices?

Question

Is there a way to list all webcams that are available to my Mac (e.g. FaceTime camera) using Terminal?

I know there's

diskutil list

to list all disks attached to my Mac, but is there a command that does the same thing for input cameras?

Things I've already tried:

system_profiler SPCameraDataType

This doesn't list the identifier with associated number, which is the information that I need from the list.

ls -ltrh /dev/video*

I tried this too, but I'm pretty sure this only works for Linux/Ubuntu, which I know nothing about.

Thanks in advance.

I’m curious what you’re planning to do with this list... — bmike, Commented Sep 12, 2020 at 22:59
Listing hardware is not a crime, actually is a good practice for advanced users. — elulcao, Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 3:38
The answer may depend on what you actually want to do with the result. Listing all webcams can be accomplished with the command you've mentioned, but you seem to be looking for something else. — nohillside, Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 8:37

elulcao · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-13 03:24:14Z

4

Try ioreg command:

ioreg | grep -i cam

answered Sep 13, 2020 at 3:24

elulcao

2702 silver badges11 bronze badges

This only finds hardware cameras.
– nohillside ♦
Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 8:38
2

@nohillside wow, so you are saying that there are other camera that are not hardware?
– elulcao
Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 11:19
No :-) But I can install software which allows me to use an iPhone or a DSLR as a webcam, without the iPhone or DSLR showing up as a camera in ioreg.
– nohillside ♦
Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 11:34
@nohillside show the command, :-)
– elulcao
Commented Sep 13, 2020 at 11:40
2

@elulcao there are virtual (software-based) cameras, too.
– Guido
Commented May 20, 2022 at 13:47

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jasonology · Accepted Answer · 2021-02-26 01:01:22Z

1

I have installed webcamoid and Reincubate Camo, and both of their plugins are installed into

/Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/DAL/

However Reincubate's documentation indicates that it is not compatible with FaceTime, so not all virtual cameras will work with it.

answered Feb 26, 2021 at 1:01

jasonology

8295 silver badges14 bronze badges

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