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When I am having a video call with someone-- whether on Skype, Zoom, or Google Meet, everyone sees a mirror image of me.

I am on a MacBook Air (manufactured in 2015) on Mac OS Big Sur. I am using an external webcam, a Depstech 2K. I bought this webcam so that I wouldn't have to keep flipping up my laptop whenever I wanted to get on a video call (I just rest it on the external monitor). I went to Depstech's website and found nothing of use for troubleshooting this mirroring problem. I also contacted them and they said they had never received this complaint before. I searched the settings on my Mac and Googled the issue. Nothing. The only thing that alleviates this issue is using the 3rd party software, ManyCam. It works with Zoom but crashes when I try it with Skype (I haven't tried it with Google Meet yet).

Clearly, this is not an issue with any of the video software I'm using. Otherwise, I wouldn't have the problem across multiple video conferencing platforms. I didn't have this problem with my Mac's built-in webcam but, as I've said, I want to use an external one. And yet Depstech said they have never received this complaint before.

Does anybody have an idea of what the issue could be? I find it incredibly hard to believe that the only way to deal with this is to use workaround software like ManyCam.

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  • I haven't figured any way to flip it, but I've always thought it was an Apple default; the iPhone camera does the same. I think the original idea was that it doesn't confuse the user when they can see themself mirrored. Of course, the paradigm fails if you want to show a document etc. The theory is that only you see the mirror, anyone receiving your video call sees it correctly.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Jan 3, 2021 at 10:37
  • Except this doesn't seem to happen when it's with the built-in webcam on the Mac. Are you saying it happens with your built-in webcam?
    – julie1013
    Commented Jan 3, 2021 at 21:35
  • I don't have a built-in cam, but many posts I Googled suggest it does. You can flip it with a pref in Photo Booth but not elsewhere, apparently. All agree it isn't broadcast, it's local only.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Jan 4, 2021 at 8:28
  • Yes, theoretically it's supposed to be local only, but everyone has reported that they see a mirror image of me and my apartment.
    – julie1013
    Commented Jan 4, 2021 at 15:26

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