Online Mirror

Use your camera as a mirror in one click. Brighten it, zoom in, freeze the frame or go full screen, and flip it to see yourself the way others do. Nothing is recorded.

Open the mirror

Your camera becomes a mirror. Allow camera access when the browser asks; nothing is recorded.

The picture never leaves your device. Nothing is recorded or uploaded.

A mirror on any screen with a camera

Press Turn on mirror, allow the camera, and your screen becomes a mirror. The picture is flipped left to right like the glass on a bathroom wall, so when you raise your right hand, the hand on the right of the screen goes up. Zoom in for a close look, raise the brightness in a dim room, or press Light to turn the edges of your screen into a soft white light.

Use it for a quick hair and make-up check before a video call, a glance at your teeth after lunch, or straightening a collar when there’s no mirror nearby. Nothing is recorded or saved: the picture goes from your camera to your screen and nowhere else. If you’d like to keep a shot, take a photo with your webcam instead.

How to use your camera as a mirror

Turn on the mirror
Press Turn on mirror and allow the camera when the browser asks. On a phone the front camera opens.
Adjust the view
Drag Brightness up in a dark room and use Zoom for detail. Press Light, or L, to light your face from the screen.
Freeze, go full screen or flip
Press Freeze (Space) to hold the picture and Full screen (F) to fill the display; Esc leaves full screen. Press Mirror (M) to see the true view, the way others see you.

Mirror view or true view?

A mirror swaps left and right. Most of us are so used to our reflection that the unflipped picture, the one friends and cameras see, looks slightly odd: a parting on the “wrong” side, a lopsided smile that seems to have moved. Faces aren’t perfectly symmetrical, and you mostly know yours in reverse.

Switch Mirror off to see the true view. Writing on a T-shirt reads correctly there and backwards in the mirror view. On a video call other people see the true view, even though most call apps show you a mirrored preview of yourself.

Light, brightness, zoom and freeze

Light

Light puts a wide white border round the picture. In a dark room your screen then works a little like a ring light and brightens your face. Turn your screen’s own brightness up for the strongest effect, and go full screen so the border fills the display.

Brightness

Brightness lifts or dims the picture from 50% to 200%. It changes only what’s shown, not the camera, so a very dark room still looks grainy; Light helps more there.

Zoom

Zoom enlarges the centre of the picture up to three times. It’s a digital zoom, so the picture softens as you go in. For the sharpest detail, move closer to the camera instead.

Freeze

Freeze holds the current picture so you can look closely without staying still, for example at an earring or the side of your hair after turning your head. Press it again, or Space, to go live.

Using the mirror on a phone, tablet or laptop

A laptop camera above the screen looks slightly down at you. Tilting the screen back a touch, or raising the laptop on a few books, gives a more natural angle. On phones and tablets the front camera opens first, and the Camera list lets you switch to another camera where the browser offers one.

Safari on iPhone doesn’t let web pages fill the whole screen, so the Full screen button is hidden there; turn the phone sideways for a bigger view. Desktop browsers, Android and iPad support full screen.

Private by design

The mirror shows your camera’s picture on your own screen and does nothing else with it. No frame is recorded, saved or sent anywhere. The camera turns off when you press Turn off, switch to another tab or close the page, and your browser shows its camera indicator whenever it’s on.

Online mirror questions

How do I use my computer as a mirror?

Open the online mirror, press Turn on mirror and allow the camera. Your webcam picture appears flipped like a real mirror. Press F for full screen and Esc to leave it.

Is the online mirror private?

Yes. The picture only travels from your camera to your screen. Nothing is recorded or uploaded, and the camera switches off when you leave the tab.

Why do I look different in the true view?

Because you’re used to seeing yourself reversed. Faces aren’t symmetrical, so the unflipped view moves your parting, freckles and smile to the side you don’t expect. It’s how everyone else sees you.

Can I use the mirror as a ring light?

Up to a point. Press Light to surround the picture with white and turn your screen brightness up. It won’t match a real ring light, but in a dim room it clearly brightens your face.

Does the online mirror work on iPhone and Android?

Yes. Open the page in your phone’s browser and allow the camera; the front camera is used first. Full screen isn’t available in Safari on iPhone, so turn the phone sideways for a larger picture.

Can I take a photo from the mirror?

The mirror never saves anything. To keep a picture, use the webcam photo tool on recorder.video, which has a self-timer and downloads PNG or JPG.

Why does the mirror get blurry when I zoom in?

Zoom enlarges the pixels the camera already sends rather than using a lens, so detail softens at higher zoom. Move closer to the camera or add light for a sharper view.

Why won’t the camera turn on?

The browser may be blocking it, another app may be using it, or the system may have camera access turned off. The mirror shows fix steps for your browser, and the webcam test has a fuller checklist.