# What to do when the kiosk camera stops working

**For:** Manager | Admin | Shift worker
**You'll need:** Physical access to the tablet to fix it.

A kiosk camera can fail for ordinary reasons: someone revoked the browser's camera permission, the lens is covered, the tablet has no camera at all, or the hardware gave up. This article explains what {{ app_name }} does about it and how to clear it. **Punching keeps working the whole time** — that's deliberate, because recording working time is the stronger obligation.

## What you'll see

- **On the tablet** — a persistent banner across the top: **'Camera needs attention — punches are currently recorded without photos. Please inform a manager.'** It stays until a photo is stored again.
- **In your notifications** — the managers of that tablet's location get an alert through their normal channels. {{ app_name }} sends at most **one alert per tablet per 24 hours**, so a camera that's been broken all week doesn't flood your inbox.
- **On the timesheet** — punches taken while the camera was down show up as **'Photo missing'** rows in the **'Punch photos'** section. See {doc}`review-punch-photos`.

Nobody at the tablet is at fault, and nothing about their hours changes.

## Fix it

Work through these at the tablet, in order:

1. **Check the lens.** A sticker, a case flap, or a smudge is the most common cause.
2. **Check the camera permission.** Open the browser's site settings for the kiosk page and allow camera access, then reload the page.
3. **Reload the tablet.** The camera is opened fresh for each punch, so a passing glitch clears itself on the next one — but a reload rules out a stuck page.
4. **Check the tablet has a camera at all.** Kiosk pages on devices without one simply hide the photo pane and punch normally; if that's your hardware, either replace the tablet or turn photos off for that location (see {doc}`turn-on-punch-photos`).

If the tablet is out of action for a while — repair, renovation — take it out of service rather than leaving it half-working. See {doc}`/track-time/where-people-can-clock-in`.

## Verify it worked

Punch once at the tablet. The banner disappears as soon as a photo is stored successfully, and the punch confirmation shows the captured photo. On the timesheet, that punch shows a thumbnail instead of a **'Photo missing'** row.

## Related

- {doc}`punch-photos-at-the-tablet`
- {doc}`review-punch-photos`
- {doc}`rotate-or-replace-a-device`
- {doc}`/track-time/where-people-can-clock-in`