Is your iPhone camera not working? Here’s how to fix it

There’s no need to panic if your iPhone camera isn’t working. It’s either a software problem or a hardware problem, and there are different possibilities that you can use methodically to isolate and fix the problem. Having a panic attack is not one of those possibilities! Scroll down to start trying different possible solutions. You may get lucky and get it working again after the first try.

Read more: How to Set a Timer on Your iPhone Camera

If your iPhone camera isn’t working, it’s probably because the camera app didn’t load properly. One of the ways to unlock the bottlenecks is to switch between the front camera and the rear camera and vice versa. This will hopefully help shake things up again.

The icon to tap to switch between cameras is the two circular arrows next to the shutter button. Tap it a few times and see if the screen improves.

If switching between cameras didn’t work, the next step is to close and restart the camera app. It’s extremely easy to do. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen until you see smaller versions of each of your open apps. Then swipe up on the camera app window. This will close the camera.

Of course, to open the camera app again, just tap the camera icon on your home screen.

The next step is to see if VoiceOver is enabled. VoiceOver is an accessibility feature of iOS and can sometimes interfere with the operation of your camera. So you need to disable VoiceOver and see if that makes a difference.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver. Disable VoiceOver if enabled.

Now is the time to restart your iPhone. We very rarely restart our phones these days, so maybe the old “have you tried turning it off and on again?” routine is just all you need.

With modern versions of iPhones, all you need to restart the device is to press and hold the volume down button and the power button simultaneously. When the slide to turn off option appears on the screen, swipe right. Wait 15-20 seconds before restarting.

Does the camera still refuse to cooperate? Then check if you are using the latest version of iOS. Go to Settings > General > Software Update. If an update is pending, download and install it.

Reset All iPhone Settings

If you’ve come to this, then you’re headed to nuclear options because it’s time to start resetting things. The easiest reset option is to reset all settings. It doesn’t erase your content, like your photos and music. It just resets things like your network settings, location and privacy settings, etc.

Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone. Picking out Resetnot Erase all content and settings. Then choose either Reset all settings or one of the others if you prefer to try individual things.

Factory Reset iPhone

No one wants things to go that far because wiping the whole phone and reverting to factory settings is a major pain in the back. You need to make sure you have a viable backup and then sit back and wait for the phone to do its job. But if the previous tips didn’t work to get your iPhone camera working again, you probably have no choice.

If all of the above didn’t work, it’s probably time to contact Apple Support. You will most likely have a hardware problem that can only be fixed by Apple. If you still have a valid warranty on your phone, you may even be able to get the phone replaced if the camera issue is not repairable.

Read more: How to Enable and Disable Your iPhone Camera’s Night Mode