How to Fix Your Camera Flashlight on Your iPhone

By Avery Martin

The iPhone has two cameras; the back camera includes a flash.
i Andrew Burton/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Provided you don't have a hardware-related issue, you can fix a problem with your camera not working by following a few basic troubleshooting steps. In some cases, you could have the flash turned off. If that simple solution doesn't solve your problem, you can try resetting the camera software all the way up to completely restoring your iPhone to its original factory default settings. Provided you create a backup of your iPhone before completing the restore process, you don't need to worry about losing your data.

General Troubleshooting

Step 1

Swipe from the bottom to the top of your iPhone to display the Control Center. Tap the flashlight icon to turn on the camera flash. If the camera light doesn't turn on, take your camera in for servicing. If the camera light does turn on, you have a software-related problem that you can fix on your own.

Step 2

Tap the "Camera" app and check to see that the top right option on the Camera app displays the word "Off." Tap the "Off" text and select "On" to enable the flash. If the camera flash works at this point, you can select the "On" text and change it to "Auto" to use the flash only when needed.

Step 3

Double-click the Home button and swipe the Camera app's preview screen in an upward direction to close the app. Launch the "Camera" app again and try taking a picture.

Step 4

Launch the "Camera" app and switch between the front and rear camera to see if that solves your problem. Press the Camera icon in the Camera app to toggle between the front and rear camera. Take several pictures with the flash set to the "On" position.

Step 5

Select the "Settings" app, tap "General" and choose "Restrictions." Check to see that you set the "Camera" option to the "On" position.

Step 6

Reboot your iPhone by holding down the "Sleep/Wake" button. When the red slider appears, swipe the button from left to right. Press the "Sleep/Wake" button again to start your iPhone once it shuts down.

Restore iPhone

Step 1

Attach your iPhone to your computer using the USB Lightning connector cable.

Step 2

Select the "iPhone" button when it displays in iTunes. Alternately, select your iPhone from the Devices section if you enabled the sidebar.

Step 3

Select the "Back Up Now" button.

Step 4

Click the "Restore Backup..." option, click the "iPhone Name" drop-down menu and select the latest backup. Click "Restore" to restore your iPhone.

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