02/06/2023
There's never a good time for your phone's camera to stop working, but especially approaching the holidays!
Here are a few troubleshooting tips to get it working again:
Restart your Android phone
Sometimes all your phone needs is a simple restart to fix any bugs or glitches affecting the camera. The exact steps may vary depending on your device and Android version, but they'll go something like this:
Press and hold the Power button (usually found on the right side of your phone) for several seconds.
Wait until a menu appears on your screen. Select Restart to shut down your phone and turn it back on again.
Fully charge your phone
If the camera still isn't working on your Android, charge your phone to 100%. Then try using it again.
Confirm that the camera app has the necessary permissions
Your camera app needs authorizations, called “permissions," to allow it to function and save images to your device or the cloud. Occasionally, a recent app update can throw off these permissions. To fix it, follow these steps:
Press and hold the Camera app, and tap the “i" button to open the App info menu.
Go to the Permissions menu.
Confirm that the Camera, Location, and Microphone permissions are allowed from the menu that follows. If they aren't, allow these permissions.
Close out other apps that are using the camera
Using your main camera app on Instagram® or Snapchat® is handy, but sometimes it can cause glitches. If this is your issue, troubleshooting is easy.
If you use gesture navigations: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and hold until the recent apps menu appears.
If you use button navigation: Tap on the recent apps button. Depending on your device, it will be to the left or right side of the home button.
Swipe up (or left or right, depending on your phone) to close specific apps, like the camera app, or tap Close all, Clear all, or X to close all apps open in the background.
Note that some phones may not have a Close all or similar button.
Once you've closed the camera app, open it again to see if it's working.
Force quit the camera app
If your camera app has become unresponsive or if you see a camera error message on your screen, try force quitting the app. Here's how:
Go to Settings > Apps.
Tap the More settings icon (three-dot icon, upper right).
Tap Show system apps.
Find and tap the camera app.
Tap Force Stop.
Update your Android operating system
Keeping your phone up to date fixes bugs and helps it run smoothly and securely. It can also improve the camera's performance. If you're not sure how to update your phone's operating system, check out our guide.
While you're at it, make sure you've updated your camera app to the latest version by going to Settings > About Camera.
Free up storage space
If the camera app for your Android phone still isn't working, your device may not have enough storage. To free up space, just uninstall apps you no longer use. Here's how (note that some of these steps only work on Android 13 and up).
DELETE APPS YOU INSTALLED
Open the Google Play™ Store app.
Tap the Profile icon at the top right.
Tap Manage apps & devices > Manage.
Tap the name of the app you want to delete, then tap Uninstall.
You can add back any apps you delete, including those you bought by downloading them again from the Play Store.
DISABLE APPS THAT CAME ON YOUR PHONE
You can't delete some apps that come preinstalled on your Android phone. But you can disable them so that they no longer appear on your app list. Here's how:
Clear camera app cache
Clearing the cache from your camera app can help your phone work better and faster, and it may solve your camera glitches too. And don't worry, it won't delete your photos or related information. Here's how to clear the camera app's cache:
Press and hold the Camera app, and tap the “i" button to open the app info menu.
Go to the Storage & cache menu.
Tap Clear cache. Try using your camera again.
If it's still not working, clear the app data.
Tap Settings > Apps.
Find and tap the Camera app.
Tap Storage > Clear data.
