Abstract: Surgical robotic systems may guide a user to align an instrument's insertion axis with a camera field of view. A surgical robotic system can include a first robotic arm coupled to a camera and a second robotic arm coupled to a surgical tool. The surgical tool can have a tool insertion axis along a shaft of the surgical tool. The surgical robotic system can be configured to determine whether the tool insertion axis overlaps with a field of view of the camera and provide a notification to a user in accordance with a determination that the tool insertion axis does not overlap with the field of view of the camera.