How to fix Samsung Galaxy J5 (2017) that shows “Camera failed” error [Troubleshooting Guide]

Some of our readers who own the Samsung Galaxy J5 have been contacting us seeking assistance about the error message “Camera failed.” The error is pretty straightforward and tells you immediately that the camera isn’t working but it’s not clear if the problem is with the hardware, firmware or just the app. That’s the reason why we need to troubleshoot so that we would know what the problem really is and what needs to be done to fix it.

So, in this post, I will guide you through in troubleshooting your Galaxy J5 whose camera has some problem. Let us consider every possibility and rule them out one by one until we can easily determine the cause and hopefully be able to formulate a solution that will fix it for good and even prevent it from happening again in the future. If you own a phone like this and are currently bothered by a similar concern, continue reading as this post can help you.

Before anything else though, if you have other issues with your device, then visit our Galaxy J5 troubleshooting page for we have already addressed several common problems with this phone. Odds are that there are already existing solutions to your problems so just take time finding issues that are similar with yours. If you can’t find one or if you need further assistance, feel free to contact us by completing our Android issues questionnaire. Please provide us with as much information as possible so that it would also be easier for us to troubleshoot the problem. Don’t worry as we offer this service for free, so all you have to do is give us sufficient information about the problem.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy J5 with “Camera failed” error

Problems characterized by error messages are often minor ones as they’re a sign of app crashes, which can easily be fixed. But this error is different but it could also be a sign that the camera sensor itself is damaged and has to be replaced. So the course of our troubleshooting will be to rule out the problem from the app level up to the firmware level. If the problem still occurs after that, then the problem must be with the hardware and you need a technician for that who can do more tests on your device. With all that being said, here’s what I suggest you do about your phone…

Step 1: Clear the cache and data of your Camera

This will reset the camera app and all its services back to their original configuration. If the problem is at the app level only, then this should be enough to fix it and it’s very easy to do…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap Camera.
  5. Tap Storage.
  6. Tap Clear cache.
  7. Tap Clear data and then tap OK.

Open the camera app after doing this step and if the error still shows up, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Start your phone up in Safe mode and try again

We will now try to determine if this error is triggered by one of the apps you installed. Third-party apps have the tendency to cause built-in apps to crash. Since we don’t have an idea which of the app is causing the problem, we need to disable all third-party apps at once to immediately isolate the problem and you can do that by running your phone up in Safe mode…

  1. Turn the device off.
  2. Press and hold the Power key past the screen with the device name.
  3. When ‘SAMSUNG’ appears on the screen, release the Power key.
  4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
  5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
  6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
  7. Release the Volume down key when you see ‘Safe Mode’.

If the error doesn’t shows up in this mode, then it’s clear that the problem is caused by one of the apps you installed. If you don’t have a clue which of the app is causing it, continue with your troubleshooting by updating all apps that need to be updated. Here’s how you do that…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Play Store.
  3. Tap the Menu key and then tap My Apps. To keep your apps automatically updated, tap the Menu key, tap Settings, and then tap Auto-update apps to select the check box.
  4. Choose one of the following options:
    • Tap Update [xx] to update all applications with updates available.
    • Tap an individual application and then tap Update to update a single application.

In case you’re already suspecting an app or two, clear the cache and data of the app in question and if it’s not enough to fix the problem, then uninstall it…

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Applications.
  4. Tap the desired application in the default list or tap Menu icon > Show system apps to display pre-installed apps.
  5. Tap Uninstall.
  6. Tap Uninstall again to confirm.

On the other hand, if the error still shows up even in safe mode, then move on to the next step.

Step 3: Delete all system caches as some of them might be corrupt

System caches get corrupted or become obsolete especially after firmware updates and most of the time, corrupt caches cause performance issues and cause some apps to crash. It’s necessary to delete those caches so that the system can replace them and you can only do that by running your phone in recovery mode and wiping the cache partition:

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

If the problem still continues after this, then you have to do the next step.

Step 4: Backup your files and reset your phone

Errors like this can always be fixed by a reset for as long as the problem isn’t with the hardware. So, you are now at a point wherein you have to reset your phone to rule out the possibility that this is just one of those firmware problems. So, backup all your important files and data as they will be deleted during the reset, then before you actually do the reset, make sure to disable the Factory Reset Protection so that you won’t be locked out of your device.

How to disable Factory Reset Protection on Galaxy J5

  1. From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
  2. Tap Settings.
  3. Tap Cloud and accounts.
  4. Tap Accounts.
  5. Tap Google.
  6. Tap your Google ID email address. If you have multiple accounts setup, you will need to repeat these steps for each account.
  7. Tap Menu.
  8. Tap Remove account.
  9. Tap REMOVE ACCOUNT.

How to do the Master Reset on Galaxy J5

  1. Turn off the device.
  2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
  3. When the device logo screen displays, release only the Power key
  4. When the Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
  5. Press the Volume down key several times key to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset.’
  6. Press Power button to select.
  7. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
  8. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
  9. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
  10. Press the Power key to restart the device.

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