What to do with your Samsung Galaxy A7 with "Camera failed" error (easy steps)

There are two most common errors you may encounter if your phone’s camera doesn’t work properly. The first is “Unfortunately, Camera has stopped” and the other “Camera failed.” This may happen to any Android user but I’ve seen a lot of Samsung device owners being plagued by this problem. In this post, I will tackle this issue with the Samsung Galaxy A7 being the subject of the troubleshooting for the benefit of our readers who contacted us and asked for our help since they could no longer take pictures or record videos due to the problem

I will address the “Camera failed” error in this article since we’ve already published several posts tackling the other. Unlike the “Camera has stopped” error, the “Camera failed” error or warning has a higher possibility that the problem is with the hardware. So, we will have to rule out all possibilities that point to the app or firmware being the culprit. After that and the problem remains, then it’s confirmed the issue is the hardware and in such case, you need to bring your device to the shop or back to the store where you bought it since there’s only so much you can do about hardware problems.

Before going further, if you found this post because you were trying to find a solution to your problem, then try to visit our troubleshooting page as we’ve already addressed most of the commonly reported issues with the phone. We’ve already provided solutions to some of the problems reported by our readers so try to find issues that are similar with yours and use the solutions we suggested. If they don’t work for you and if you need further assistance, fill up our Android issues questionnaire and hit submit.

How to troubleshoot Galaxy A7 with “Camera failed” error

When the sensor fails to initialize the moment you open the Camera app, this error may occur but it could also be possible that it’s just an issue with the app itself that’s why you still need to troubleshoot your phone as you may be able to fix the problem without bringing the device to the shop. Here’s what you should do…

First solution: Reboot your phone

Glitches happen all the time and when they do, a lot of things in your phone will be affected. Among the most common results are app crashes and some services may also stop working. The thing is that glitches are often fixed by a normal reboot so before doing anything complicated, try to restart your Galaxy A7 first.

After the reboot, open the camera to know if the error remained and if it does, then try doing the forced restart to further refresh your phone’s memory and reload all its applications, services and core functions. To do this, press both the volume down and power keys and hold them down together for 10 seconds or more. Should the problem continue to bug you after this, then move on to the next solution.

Second solution: Reset the camera

We will now try to rule out the possibility that it’s just an issue with the camera app. By reset I mean to clear its cache and data so that it will be brought back to its default settings and configuration. If the problem is with the app, then this procedure is more than enough to fix it…

From any Home screen, tap the Apps icon.
Tap Settings.
Tap Apps.
Tap Camera.
Tap Storage.
Tap Clear data and then tap OK.
Tap Clear cache.

If you’re still getting the same error after doing this step, then try the next one.

Third solution: Run your phone in safe mode

Running your device in safe mode won’t fix the problem but it will immediately give you an idea if the problem is caused by a third-party application. Being an Android user for years and having been able to address thousands of problems sent by our readers, I’ve already encountered this kind of issue several times and the most recent of all was just last week when I was trying record my gameplay.

I was using the DU Recorder which allows users to use the camera while recording the screen. Pressing the home screen won’t close the app, it will just minimize it so it continues to run in the background while using the camera. You can’t have multiple sessions with the camera in your phone so when tap on the default camera app, you will get the “Camera failed” error because the camera is already being used by a third-party app.

I don’t have a clue as to the apps you’re using so you need to run your phone in safe mode temporarily disable all third-party apps. While in safe mode, try to open the camera to know if the error still pops up or not. Here’s how to run your phone in safe mode:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key.
When the Samsung Galaxy A7 logo appears, release the Power key, then immediately press and hold the Volume down key.
Hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
When ‘Safe mode’ appears in the bottom left, release the Volume down key.

If the problem is fixed in safe mode, then that makes the problem a lot easier to fix. In fact, if the problem doesn’t occur in safe mode, you can just reboot your phone normally and the camera will work perfectly after that. If not, then just close all apps running in the background by tapping the Recent button.

However, if the problem occurs even in safe mode, then we’ll have to troubleshoot the firmware.

Fourth solution: Wipe the cache partition

It is important you do this because it will rule out the possibility that the problem is caused by some corrupt system caches. Those small files will also be replaced with new ones after you’ve successfully wiped off the contents of the cache partition.

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume up, Home, and Power keys together.
When the Samsung Galaxy A7 logo screen displays, release only the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release the Volume up and Home keys. ‘Installing system update’ appears for 30 – 60 seconds, followed by the Android system recovery menu.
Press the Volume down key until ‘wipe cache partition’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to select.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Proceed to the next solution if the problem continues to bug you after this.

Fifth solution: Reset your phone

A reset is necessary at this point wherein all the previous procedures failed to fix the problem. This will rule out the possibility that the issue is with the firmware. But before the reset, make sure you backup your files and data as they will be deleted.

Back up data on the internal memory.
If you signed into a Google account on the device, you have activated Anti-theft. You will need your Google username and password.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up and Home keys, then press and hold the Power key.
When the Samsung Galaxy logo displays, release only the Power key.
When the Android logo displays, release the Volume Up and Home keys. ‘Installing system update’ appears for 30 – 60 seconds, followed by the Android system recovery menu.
Press the Volume down key until ‘wipe data / factory reset’ is highlighted, then press the Power key.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted, then press the Power key.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the phone.

If the Camera still fails after this, then it’s possible that it’s a hardware problem. Bring your phone to the shop and let the tech handle the problem for you.

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What to do with your Samsung Galaxy A7 with “Camera failed” error (easy steps)