The “camera failed” error is an error that appears when opening the Camera app. When this error occurs, users won’t be able to use the Camera of their Galaxy smartphone. This error is unique to Samsung Galaxy smartphones and in this guide, we are focusing on the Samsung Galaxy S21 model.
More than 90% of the time, the “Camera failed” error arises due to a software glitch rather than a hardware defect. In some rare cases, a defective camera unit could also be a culprit in this problem.
Considering the possibilities of both software and hardware culprits behind this error message, we have created this guide by including 05 working solutions to fix this issue.
Note: Solutions in this guide will work on any Samsung Galaxy S21 model (S21, S21 Plus, S21 Fe, and S21 Ultra models).
Editor’s note: We created these instructions using a Samsung Galaxy S21 running Android 13. Depending on your device’s software version, some steps and menu positions may look slightly different.
Jumps Into
Fix 01: Clear Camera App Cache
The “Camera” app stores user preferences and session data in its cache folder. Over time, the cache grows in size and sometimes becomes corrupted due to system glitches, camera app glitches, and failed software updates.
If the camera app cache is corrupted, it can lead to the “Camera failed” error.
To rule out this possible cause, you can clear the cache of the camera app to allow the app to build a new cache. Here is how you can do that:
- Open Settings.
- Scroll down and tap on “Apps”.
- Tap on “Camera”.
- Go to “Storage”.
- Tap on “Clear cache”.
Fix 02: Allow Missing Permissions For Camera App
The camera app needs permission not only to access your device’s camera and storage but also the microphone, location, nearby devices, and notifications. If the required permissions are revoked or have been altered in a bad way, it can lead to the “camera failed” error.
Even if you have allowed for every permission, you can refresh them to refresh the whole permission settings for the Camera app and fix temporary glitches within it.
Follow the steps below to refresh/allow camera persmissions:
- Go to Settings and tap on “Apps”.
- Select the “Camera” app and go to “Permissions”.
- Allow permission for everything on the list.
After allowing the permissions, restart your Galaxy S21 to apply the changes successfully.
Fix 03: Clear Camera App Data
Clearing the camera app data will resolve the “camera failed” error by fixing other misconfigurations made to the camera app.
Clearing camera app cache and camera app data are not the same. The camera app cache holds only temporary data. But the camera app data holds user settings.
This means, when the camera app data is cleared, it will remove your custom settings made to the camera app.
Follow the steps below to clear the Camera app data of your Galaxy S21:
- Go to Settings > Apps > Camera, and select “Storage”.
- Now, tap on “Clear data” and confirm your selection.
After clearing the data, restart your Samsung Galaxy S21 to apply the changes.
Fix 04: Do a Software Update
Software updates come with bug fixes, which means those updates Samsung releases resolve bugs in the previous software version.
Therefore, update your Samsung Galaxy S21 to the latest version to rule out possible system bugs causing the camera app to fail. You can see a complete list of software update history for Samsung Galaxy S21 from here.
Follow the steps below to update your Galaxy S21:
- Head over to Settings.
- Go to “Battery and device care”.
- Tap on “Software update”.
- Then, tap on “Download and install”.
Fix 05: Take the Device to a Repair Center
If none of the above solutions have worked to fix the “Camera failed” error, the Camera unit of your Samsung Galaxy S21 may be defective.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this guide, a hardware issue also causes the “camera failed” error in rare cases. Unfortunately, DIY troubleshooting methods won’t work in such cases.
Therefore, if you are still getting the “Camera failed” error when you open the Camera app, your best decision should be to take your device to the nearest Samsung-authorized service center. If you don’t know the nearest Samsung service center to yours, you can find it using the Service Locator feature on the Samsung website.