Turning Off Center Stage

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Level 1

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Turning Off Center Stage

This is a tip, not a question.

A few people have asked how to turn off 'Center Stage', the feature that tracks you on your Mac's camera, which affects, Photo Booth, FaceTime and Zoom…maybe others.

Apple's instructions are "macOS Ventura 13 or macOS Monterey 12: Click Control Center in the menu bar, click Video Effects, then click Center Stage." Use Center Stage to keep you centered in the camera frame - Apple Support

…but it's not there. 'Center Stage' is not in Settings, either.

This post gives instructions for turning off Center Stage in Zoom Problem turning off Centre Stage when usi… - Apple Community

…which I applied to FaceTime (open FaceTime and click the top-right menu to reveal the Center Stage on/off button).

This worked and turned it off Photo Booth, too. So it looks like a *general* control, not an app-specific control. Therefore, it should surely be in Settings, not in a particular app 🤷‍♀️

Mac Studio (2022)

Posted on Sep 2, 2025 1:29 AM

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Answer 1

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Luis Sequeira1

Level 9

72,942 points

Sep 4, 2025 7:26 AM in response to Seabeethree

What the thread you linked to suggests is basically how it works in any OS that I've tried it on - you need to be using the camera in some application in order to access these controls. It could be Zoom, it could be Photo Booth, or any other app that records video; I usually do it with Quicktime Player: press Command-Option-N or choose File->New Movie Recording, and the green camera menu appears.

I can't test in Ventura (no Mac capable of running it anymore), but I also do not recall there being "Video Effects" in Control Center (unless maybe those would also only appear when using the camera?).

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Answer 2

Seabeethree Author

Level 1

23 points

Sep 5, 2025 12:53 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

'the thread you linked to suggests is basically how it works'

>>> yes, although it only mentions Zoom. I found that it worked in other applications and thought that it might be helpful to raise that—especially:

1. as Zoom is 3rd party and many macOS users won't have it;

2. as Apple's information [Use Center Stage to keep you centered in the camera frame - Apple Support] appears to be entirely incorrect. (and, me neither—the Centre-Stage switch does not appear in the Control Centre, even when a camera-application is running…it seems to only appear in the top-right menu for the camera app);

3. as it is a general setting, not an app-specific setting and would normally be in Settings, although being in the Control Centre, too, would make sense (for easier access)…if it were true!

Ideally, Centre-Stage should be controllable application-specifically. It's quite plausible that you'd want it on some apps, but not on others. Or better still, controllable by Focus modes! E.g., I might be quite happy for it to be running when talking to a remote family member, but not want it to show my messy WFH area if I were in a work meeting!

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