Real fix for Galaxy S10 camera not working | troubleshooting steps for camera bugs and other issues

Are you having camera trouble on your Galaxy S10? Learn how to fix Galaxy S10 camera not working issue by following our solutions below.

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Real fix for Galaxy S10 camera not working | troubleshooting steps for camera bugs and other issues

If your find that camera is not working on your Galaxy S10, there can be a number of factors to consider. Below are the troubleshooting steps that you must do to fix the problem.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #1: Install updates

Your Galaxy S10 is not a finished product, at least not from a software standpoint. Software features like its camera and apps are a constant work-in-progress. In the case of the camera, Samsung regularly provides updates to keep it running smoothly. If you’ve been having camera issues lately, make sure that the first thing that you do is to ensure that Android OS is fully updated. System updates sometimes include improvements for other default apps like the camera so be sure not to skip them. Check for system update under Settings > Software update.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #2: Restart camera app

If Galaxy S10 camera is not working, it’s not a bad idea to force quit the camera app. This is a basic app troubleshooting step and is usually effective in fixing minor, temporary bugs. Here’s how:

1. On your screen, tap the Recent Apps soft key (the one with three vertical lines on the left of the Home button).
2. Once the Recent Apps screen is shown, swipe left or right to look for the Instagram app. It should be here if you managed to run it previously. Then, swipe up on the app to close it. This should force close it. If it’s not there, simply tap the Close All app to also restart all apps.

Another way to force close an app is this:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap the More settings icon (three-dot icon, upper right).
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find and tap the camera app.
6. Tap Force Stop.

If both of these procedures won’t help in fixing the bug, proceed to the rest of the troubleshooting below.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #3: Learn how to focus the camera

Your Galaxy S10 is an amazing mini computer and it generally manages the camera very well in most cases. But just like any computer, it can’t always anticipate everything such as movement when taking a picture. Although your phone’s autofocus is amazing, it may lose focus from time to time if it detects movement inside and outside the viewfinder (screen). The Galaxy S10 camera sees more widely than the view that it displays in the screen. While this works fine in most cases, it can also distract the system when there’s movement on the edges or on the sides. If you notice that the phone loses focus and camera is still blurry when trying to make a picture or video, simply tap the part of the screen where you want the phone to focus on. This should tell the phone to refocus in that area. If that won’t fix it, proceed to the next steps below.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #4: Update apps

Updating Android OS does not necessarily mean all apps are updated too. By default, your Galaxy S10 should update apps on its own but if you change this sometime before, then you’ll have to manually check for app updates. Sometimes, poorly coded apps may interfere with other apps so make sure to keep all apps up-to-date to keeps bugs at a minimum.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #5: Perform soft reset

This is one of the basic troubleshooting steps that you need to do when troubleshooting any Android issue. It’s simple and often effective in dealing with minor bugs and fixes. In most instances, camera troubles are temporary and caused by an app or software bug. Make sure to perform this troubleshooting step in this case. Here’s how: press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power key at the same time for 10 seconds.

If doing the regular restart won’t help, then try this:

1. Press and hold the Volume Down button first and don’t release it.
2. While holding it down, press and hold the Power key.
3. Keep both keys held down for 10 seconds or more.
4. The second restart procedure tries to simulate the effects of removing the battery pack. On older devices, disconnecting the battery is often an effective way in fixing unresponsive devices. Hopefully, your wifi troubles will get fixed by this procedure. If nothing changed though, proceed to the next suggestions.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #6: Refresh system cache

If your Galaxy S10 camera is still not working, the next thing that you want to do is clear the system cache. This cache can become corrupted after a system update. Sometimes, this happens and cause a device to develop bugs or slow performance troubles. To ensure that you have a good system cache:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #7: Clear camera app cache

Sometimes, clearing an app’s cache can fix bugs. Try to do so for the camera app and see if it works. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap the More settings icon (three-dot icon, upper right).
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find and tap the Camera app.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear cache button.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #8: Reset camera app

Another troubleshooting step that you can directly do for the camera app is to clear its data. This will return the app to its factory form, which can be more stable than the current state it is in. Here are the steps to clear the data of your camera app:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap the More settings icon (three-dot icon, upper right).
4. Tap Show system apps.
5. Find and tap the Camera app.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear data button.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #9: Restart to safe mode

Safe Mode is a software environment used by Samsung technicians to diagnose app problems. You can use this tool to check if a third party app interferes with Android and causes camera app to crash. Only pre-installed apps will be allowed to run on safe mode so if Galaxy S10 camera not working, that’s an indication of bad app problem.

Here are the steps to reboot your phone to safe mode:

1. Press and hold the Power button until the Power off window appears then release.
2. Touch and hold Power off until the Safe mode prompt appears then release.
3. To confirm, tap Safe mode.
4. The process may take up to 30 seconds to complete.
5. Upon reboot, “Safe mode” appears in the lower-left of the home screen.
6. Use your camera and check how the camera works.

Remember that third-party applications are disabled in this mode so what you can use are pre-installed apps. If the camera issue won’t appear on safe mode, that means that the problem is due to a bad app. Uninstall the app you recently installed and see if that will fix it. If the problem remains, use the process of elimination to identify the rogue app. Here’s how:

1. Boot to safe mode.
2. Check for the problem.
3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
5. If your S10 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #10: Take note of errors

In case there’s an error that shows up when you try to use the camera app, take note of it. Then, do a quick Google search about it. Make sure that you type in the exact error. If you’re lucky and the error is common, you may have a solution waiting for you online.

Galaxy S10 camera not working fix #11: Factory reset

The final troubleshooting step that you can perform in this situation is factory reset. Since the most likely reason for the problem is software in nature, factory reset will most probably help. Be sure to create a backup of your personal data such as photos, videos, documents, etc. before you do it. Below are the two ways to factory reset your Galaxy S10.

Method 1: How to hard reset on Samsung Galaxy S10 via Settings Menu

This is the easiest way to wipe your Galaxy S10. all you have to do is to go under Settings menu and follow the steps below. We recommend this method if you have no trouble going under Settings.

1. Create a backup of your personal data and remove your Google account.
2. Open Settings app.
3. Scroll to and tap General management.
4. Tap Reset.
5. Select Factory data reset from the given options.
6. Read the information then tap Reset to continue.
7. Tap Delete All to confirm action.

Method 2: How to hard reset on Samsung Galaxy S10 using hardware buttons

If your case is that the phone is not booting up, or it boots but Settings menu is inaccessible, this method can be helpful. First, you need to boot the device to Recovery Mode. Once you successfully access Recovery, that’s the time that you begin proper master reset procedure. It may take some tries for you before you can access Recovery so be patient and simply try again.

1. If possible, create a backup of your personal data ahead of time. If your problem prevents you from doing that, then simply skip this step.
2. Also, you want to make sure that you remove your Google account. If your problem prevents you from doing that, then simply skip this step.
3. Turn off the device. This is important. If you can’t turn it off, you’ll never be able to boot to Recovery Mode. If you are not able to shut the device off regularly via the Power button, wait until the phone’s battery is drained. Then, charge the phone for 30 minutes before booting to Recovery Mode.
4. Press and hold the Volume Up button and the Bixby button at the same time.
5. While still holding the Volume Up and Bixby keys, press and hold the Power button.
6. The Recovery screen menu will now appear. When you see this, release the buttons.
7. Use the Volume Down button until you are highlighting ‘Wipe data/factory reset.’
8. Press the Power button to select ‘Wipe data/factory reset.’
9. Use Volume Down to highlight Yes.
10. Press the Power button to confirm factory reset.

 

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