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You are here: Home / Mac / How to Set Up & Use FaceTime for Mac

How to Set Up & Use FaceTime for Mac

By Sudz Kar 8 comments Last updated November 4, 2018

Want to FaceTime with friends, family, and co-workers from your Mac computer? It’s as easy as 1-2-3! This short guide explains how to to use FaceTime on a Mac to video chat with an iPhone 4 or later, iPad 2 or later, or another Mac user.

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Contents

    • Things you’ll need to use FaceTime on a Mac:
  • 6 Steps To FaceTime Using a Mac
    • Or use Siri to Make a FaceTime Call
    • Change Settings During a FaceTime Call on Mac
  • Callers See FaceTime Notifications on Macs
    • Answer or Decline a FaceTime call on your Mac
    • Want to Change FaceTime Notifications on your Mac?
  • Use Group FaceTime on your Mac 
    • Make a Group FaceTime call
      • You can also make a Group FaceTime call from the Messages App
      • Add a person to a Group FaceTime call
  • Set Up A Unique FaceTime Ringtone
    • Change Your Location in FaceTime
  • Don’t Want FaceTime Calls on Your Mac?

Things you’ll need to use FaceTime on a Mac:

  • Mac with macOS (any version) or Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.6 or later
    • All callers must also have either an Apple iDevice (iPhone, iPad, or iPod) or a Mac using OS X 10.6.6 or later (or any version of macOS)
    • FaceTime Audio works with Apple Watch too!
  • Stable and fast internet connection
  • Apple ID
  • FaceTime is included with OS X Lion or later
    • If you are a Mac OS X v10.6 user, download FaceTime from the Mac App Store

6 Steps To FaceTime Using a Mac

  1. Launch the FaceTime App
    1. Download it from the Mac App Store if needed
  2. Enter your Apple ID or create a new one
    1. For folks with two-step or two-factor authentication, enter your verification code
  3. Verify your contact information in “You can be reached for FaceTime at:” including email addresses and phone numbers and select a phone number or email for “Start new calls from:”
  4. Choose to make a Video or Audio Call
  5. Enter the name, email address, or number for a contact in the search bar
  6. Tap the camera or the telephone icon to start a call

Or use Siri to Make a FaceTime Call

  • Tap the Siri icon in the top-right corner of your Mac’s menu bar 10 Things Every Mac Owner Should Know
  • Ask Siri to ”FaceTime Audio XXX” or ”FaceTime XXX” and let Siri do the rest!

Change Settings During a FaceTime Call on Mac

Move your mouse, trackpad, or pointer over the FaceTime window during a call to show your onscreen FaceTime Call controls.

Mac FaceTime On-Screen Controls

Callers See FaceTime Notifications on Macs

If you want to make or receive a FaceTime call but can’t get to your iPad or iPhone use your Mac instead!

When someone facetimes you, a notification appears on your Mac to accept or decline the call. Folks with a Touchbar can use that to accept or decline an FT call as well.accept or decline FaceTime call on Mac Notification

Answer or Decline a FaceTime call on your Mac

If you don’t have time to answer the call, simply tap dismiss or reply with a message or set a callback reminder by tapping the arrow next to Decline.

You can also dismiss an alert notification without interacting with it. Just use your mouse, trackpad, or pointer to swipe the banner to the right to silence it.

Want to Change FaceTime Notifications on your Mac?

  • Under the Apple Menu
  • Go to System Preferences > Notifications > FaceTime
  • Uncheck any settings you want disabled, such as play sound for notifications, badge app icon, and so forth. Or choose a different alert style facetime notification settings on Mac

Use Group FaceTime on your Mac Group FaceTime on macOS Mojave MacBook Mac

With macOS Mojave and iOS 12.1, folks can also get on group FaceTime video or audio calls.

Group FaceTime supports up to 32 different participants. All participants on Group FaceTime calls must run iOS 12.1+, macOS Mojave+, or watchOS 5.1+ (audio only on Apple Watch.)

Make a Group FaceTime call

  1. Open the FaceTime app
  2. Enter the names of your contacts, emails, or phone numbers group FaceTime on Mac
  3. Tap the telephone (for audio) or camera icon (for video and audio) to start your FaceTime call

You can also make a Group FaceTime call from the Messages App

  • Open or start a group conversation
  • Tap Details, then click the camera icon or the phone icon

Add a person to a Group FaceTime call

  1. Show the FaceTime sidebar by tapping the sidebar icon sidebar icon FaceTime on Mac
  2. Click the Plus Sign (+) to add a person(s)
  3. Enter your contact’s name, email, or phone number, then click Add

Set Up A Unique FaceTime Ringtone

  1. Open FaceTime
  2. Go to FaceTime in the Menu bar and select Preferences FaceTime Not Working in iOS 11, How-To Fix
  3. Click the drop-down menu for ringtones
  4. Tap on a ringtone to select it

Change Your Location in FaceTime

  1. Open FaceTime > Preferences
  2. Scroll down to Location
  3. Click on the drop-down menu and select your current location

Don’t Want FaceTime Calls on Your Mac?

To stop receiving FaceTime calls on your Mac, open FaceTime, then choose FaceTime > Turn FaceTime Off from the menu bar.

Or while in the FaceTime App, use the keyboard shortcut Command (⌘) + K

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sudz - apple
Sudz Kar

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the original editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.

Reader Interactions

Write a Comment Cancel reply

Show 8 Comments

  1. Don Robert says

    November 30, 2020 at 1:18 PM

    I dislike reading manuals or user guides on the screen of my mac.
    I enjoy being able to download user guides so I can print them and read them.
    I have spent over an hour trying to find a way to download the FaceTime User Guide.
    Still have not found away to do so.

    Don
    Mac user since 1984

    Reply
  2. edTow says

    November 22, 2019 at 6:02 AM

    Ah – Not so fast…. Those of us stuck with “nearly extinct animals like LIONs” can most certainly NOT just go to the store. Obviously, Apple’s all about planned obsolescence, but my older Mac Mini (and millions of units not even 5 yrs old) are en route to paperweight status. Yes, if you hunt really hard – AND GET LUCKY – you might find a .dmx from a few years back that’ll run, but it’s obviously hit & miss – emphasis on plenty of misses!

    Reply
  3. Hazel Adolphson says

    November 4, 2018 at 9:26 AM

    I haven’t used facetime in a while, and today when my son called and we went on facetime, he could see me, I could not see him. No idea how to fix this.

    Reply
    • SK says

      November 4, 2018 at 10:26 AM

      Hi Hazel,

      Try the following:

        Quit FaceTime, then open FaceTime again and try again to make a video call

        Restart your Mac (go to Apple menu > Restart)

        Change your WiFi network or try using Ethernet instead of Wifi, is available

        See if your camera works in Photo Booth, Skype, or a similar application. If the camera works, the problem is with FaceTime. If the camera doesn’t work, it’s likely a hardware or other issue with your Mac

        If you have multiple cameras connected to your Mac, check the Video menu in the FaceTime menu bar to make sure that you have the correct camera and microphone selected

      Reply
  4. Ken Lubas says

    September 21, 2016 at 2:00 PM

    I have a 27-inch mid 2011, IMac running El Capitan-10.11.6
    I get an error when i want to use FaceTime or Photo Booth saying no camera. It worked before updating operating system. What can i do to get it to work.

    Reply
  5. Cindy Kolo says

    July 19, 2015 at 7:49 PM

    I have not been able to connect with my fiends. when they call or I call it will say connecting and then it drops us…. multiple times…. Am I missing a connection somewhere?

    Reply
  6. Charlotte says

    January 17, 2015 at 1:23 PM

    My FaceTime will not ring me and I cannot ring out on my iPad mini. Works on my iPhone only. How do I get it to work on my iPad? Any ideas please? Thanks x

    Reply
  7. Wendy says

    January 15, 2015 at 8:37 PM

    My camera is not working on my mac desktop so when I FaceTime my daughter OS I can see her but she can’t see me. How do I turn it on Pls?

    Reply

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Last Updated on November 4, 2018 by Sudz Kar