The camera app of Samsung Galaxy S21 has a feature to scan QR codes without the need for third-party apps. 

But sometimes, it may not work as expected and you will run into problems like the QR scanner not recognizing the QR code you are scanning. Or maybe the feature is missing from the camera.

Most of the time, the reason why QR code scanner doesn’t work is a problem with the Camera app. But also, there are a few cases where users have reported they experience this issue after doing a software update.

Whatever the reason that causes your Samsung Galaxy S21 QR scanner to not work, by doing the solutions in this guide, you will be able to resolve the problem successfully.

So let’s start troubleshooting your Galaxy S21 smartphone’s QR scanner not working 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.

Fix 01: Re-Enable QR Scanner

Re-enabling the QR scanner can help to fix the glitches that cause it to malfunction. To do this;

1. Open the Camera app
2. Tap on Settings
3. See if the “Scan QR codes” setting is turned on. If so, re-enable it. If it is not turned on, turn it on.

Fix 02: Enable QR Code Scanner in Samsung Internet Settings

If you don’t know, the Samsung internet app also has the option to enable the same built QR scanner.

If this setting is disabled, then this might be the cause why you cannot use the QR code on your Galaxy S21. Here is what you need to do;

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap on Apps.
3. Tap on Samsung internet.
4. On the top, tap on “Samsung internet settings”.

5. Then tap on “Useful features”.

6. Now toggle on the button next to “QR code scanner”.

Once done, open the camera app and see if the QR code scanner works.

Fix 03: Reset Camera Settings

As the first step to fixing issues inside the camera app on your Galaxy S21, you can reset camera settings to set its values back to default. 

Doing this will help to solve if there is any misconfiguration in the camera settings. To reset the camera, follow these steps;

1. Open Camera.
2. Tap on Settings (the gear icon on the left side).
3. Scroll down and tap on “Reset camera settings”.

Once you reset the camera settings, restart the app and check the QR scanner to see if the solution has worked.

Fix 04: Clear Camera App Cache

We have said this a lot of times in our guides. Caching is good for improving how an app performs. But if the caching files are outdated or corrupted (cache can get outdated after a software/app update), then it can cause various issues.

Clearing the cache is probably the fix here. Once you clear the cache the camera app will rebuild it, thus fixing the issue.

So here is what you need to do to clear the camera app cache on your Galaxy S21

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Apps.
3. Scroll down and tap on the Camera app.
4. Tap on Storage.
5. Tap on Clear cache.

Fix 05: Clear Camera App Data

If clearing the camera cache didn’t help, you can try clearing its app data. 

It is relatively same as clearing the app data of the camera app;

1. Go to Settings > Apps and tap on Camera
2. Tap on Storage
3. Tap on Clear data

Fix 06: Do a Software Update

As we said earlier, software updates are the other reason why the QR scanner doesn’t work on your Galaxy S21. Since we cannot reverse once the update is installed, we have to do it again and see if the next update has a fix to the issue.

To update your Galaxy S21, do as follows;

1. Open Settings
2. Tap on Software update
3. Tap on “Download and install”

Fix 07: Update the Camera App

You can also update the camera app and see if Samsung has released a patch for this problem. Here you have to use the Galaxy Store to update the system camera app.

1. Open Galaxy Store
2. Tap on the menu icon
3. Tap on updates
4. See if the Camera app is listed. If so, tap on it
5. Then, tap on the update icon to download and install the app update

Once the Camera app is updated, restart it and see if the QR scanner now works.

Fix 08: Use a Third-Party App to Scan QR Codes

If you still face issues with the QR scanner and it is not working, you can install a third-party QR code scanner app.

There are many QR code scanners available on Google Play Store and from such apps, the “QR & Barcode Scanner” app has a lot of downloads and reviews. So you can try that app to scan the QR codes you want.

To download and install the QR & Barcode Scanner, follow the steps below;

1. First, visit Google Play Store
2. Tap on the search bar and search for “QR & Barcode Scanner” or you can use this link to directly go to the app
3. Tap on the install button

Once downloaded, open the app and allow camera access. Then try to scan a QR code to see if the app works perfectly.

Conclusion

We hope this guide helped to fix the QR code scanning issue on your Samsung Galaxy S21. However, you may still have questions and need help. If so, leave a comment below. We will be there to answer your question.

Have a nice day!