I’ve recently visited a pristine beach paradise when I got entangled in a camera issue. I desperately wanted to take pictures of the place, but unfortunately, my cutting-edge S20 cam failed to focus—so all my supposed IG-worthy shots went down the drain.
Fortunately, I found out (after extensive research) that it’s really not something to worry about. Though it may be a bit too late for me, I’m glad that I’ve run into cool tricks and proven workarounds to bring the camera back to life.
Let’s start with the cause of the camera issue an the best quick fix that can rescue you in a jiffy:
The Samsung Galaxy S20’s camera may not work because the app is buggy or glitchy. To fix this issue, close the camera app from your phone’s recent apps tab so you can re-open it and restart its running instance.
There are other proven fixes you can try if this one didn’t work, though! In this post, I’ll show you eight quick and easy ways to troubleshoot your Samsung Galaxy S20’s faulty camera app so you can capture every moment wherever you are on the planet.
FIX 1. Close and restart your phone’s camera app
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 10 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 |
Whenever a Samsung Galaxy S20 series camera goes rogue, we suggest closing and restarting the app. Since minor system errors often cause your Galaxy S20’s camera app to stop working, a restart is usually enough to fix the problem.
This action lets your Samsung Galaxy S20 refresh the camera app’s cached memory and reset its running instance. Consequently, this should renew the camera app once you reopen it on your Samsung phone.
Step 1: Go to your Galaxy S20’s recent apps tab. |
| Step 2: Swipe the camera app upward to close it or click the Close All button to include all background apps.  |
| Step 3: Open the camera app to confirm whether it works.  |
FIX 2. Restart your phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 3 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 |
Similarly, restarting your Samsung Galaxy S20 is excellent for correcting minor system errors. With this, you can address bugs and glitches plaguing your Samsung phone that the camera app restart can’t fix.
After all, the camera app is also prone to other system errors, not only the ones directly related to it. Therefore, restarting your phone should help fix the issue with your smartphone camera that’s acting up.
The method below is helpful for phones that are frozen or unresponsive. If your Samsung phone works as intended, you can restart it by holding its power button and selecting the restart option from the power control menu.
| Step 1: Tap and hold the Samsung Galaxy S20’s volume down and power buttons simultaneously.  |
| Step 2: Release the buttons when your phone’s Samsung Galaxy logo appears on the screen.  |
Step 3: Wait for your Samsung Galaxy S20 to finish the restart sequence. |
FIX 3. Clear the cache and data of your Galaxy S20’s camera
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 20 minutes |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 A working internet connection |
Aside from minor errors, your S20’s camera may not work if its cache and data files are corrupt. Unfortunately, it’s normal for app data files to become corrupt over time, so there’s no way to preempt its occurrence.
Your only option is to delete your camera app’s problematic cache and data files to restore it to working condition. Therefore, you might need to continue using this method whenever your Samsung Galaxy S20’s built-in camera app acts up.
Step 1: Tap and hold your Galaxy S20’s Camera app. |
Step 2: Open the app info menu. |
Step 3: Go to Storage. |
Step 4: Click the Clear Data and Clear Cache options. |
FIX 4. Update your camera app
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 A working internet connection |
Believe it or not, your Samsung phone’s built-in camera app receives constant updates. Downloading these updates will improve its performance, adding all the quality-of-life changes that Samsung develops for its system apps.
The update may even include bug fixes for recurring issues on the camera app. Therefore, it’s one of the best ways to address the Samsung Galaxy S20 series’ camera issues.
However, you can install third-party camera apps on your Samsung phone through the Google Play Store and other outside sources. In such cases, you must download the camera app’s update directly from its source.
Step 1: Open your Galaxy S20’s Galaxy Store app. |
Step 2: Open the burger menu in the upper-left corner. |
Step 3: Go to the Updates menu. |
| Step 4: Click the Update icon next to a Samsung app or the Update All option to install all available updates.  Note: If your Samsung’s built-in camera app isn’t on the list, you already have its latest version. If you use a third-party camera app, update it from the Google Play Store. |
FIX 5. Update your phone
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 6 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 5 minutes |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 A working internet connection |
Although your S20’s camera app receives a separate update, updating your phone is also essential. After all, your camera app’s performance may sometimes depend on your Samsung phone’s condition.
For instance, all your apps may malfunction on a problematic Galaxy S20 series device.
Therefore, you must continually update your phone’s software to its latest version whenever available to ensure it works optimally.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
| Step 2: Scroll down and open the Software Update menu.  |
Step 3: Click “Download and Install.” |
| Step 4: Click Download to receive the latest update. Note: You can skip Step 4 if “Auto-download over WiFi” is on under the software update menu. It means your phone likely downloaded the update in the background. |
Step 5: Click Install Now to update your Samsung Galaxy S20. |
| Step 6: Wait for the Samsung Galaxy S20 to install the newest update and reboot. |
FIX 6. Wipe your phone’s system cache partition
| Difficulty | Easy ● ● ○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 9 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 1 minute and 40 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 A compatible USB cable A PC |
Like your phone’s individual apps, its system has temporary storage for cached data files. Similarly, your Samsung Galaxy S20’s cache partition may store corrupt temporary data over time, causing the device and its apps to malfunction.
As such, this may be why your Samsung Galaxy S20’s camera isn’t working. Since you can’t preempt the corruption of data files on your Samsung phone’s cache partition, you may only delete it whenever the device is acting up.
| Step 1: Go to your Samsung Galaxy S20’s notification bar and click the power icon.  Note: Plug a USB cable into your Galaxy S20 and connect it to a PC. The USB cable is essential for Samsung phones with OneUI 3.0 or higher. |
Step 2: Click Power Off. |
Step 3: Click Power Off to turn off your Galaxy S20. |
| Step 4: Tap and hold your Samsung Galaxy S20’s volume up and power buttons simultaneously.  |
| Step 5: Release the buttons when your phone’s Samsung Galaxy logo appears on the screen.  Note: Wait for Android Recovery to load. |
Step 6: Select “Wipe cache partition.” |
Step 7: Select Yes. |
| Step 8: Wait for the “Cache wipe complete” confirmation to appear at the bottom-left dialogue box.  |
| Step 9: Select “Reboot system now” to restart your Samsung Galaxy S20 and wait for its system to boot.  |
FIX 7. Reset your camera app’s settings
| Difficulty | Very Easy ●○○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 4 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 30 seconds |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 |
Faulty app settings could also be why your Galaxy S20’s camera has issues. In particular, this can happen after changing the configuration on your Samsung phone’s built-in camera app.
Therefore, changing the app’s settings to its initial state or value should fix the problem. Unfortunately, this can be tricky if you’re unaware of the changes to your camera app’s settings menu.
Luckily, you can reset your camera app to its default settings. Since this is a dedicated reset option under the camera app’s settings menu, this action won’t affect your phone’s system settings or user data.
Step 1: Open your Galaxy S20’s Camera app. |
Step 2: Click the camera app’s cog icon. |
Step 3: Scroll down and click Reset Settings. |
Step 4: Click Reset. |
FIX 8. Reset your phone
| Difficulty | Easy ●●○○○ |
| Number of Steps | 7 |
| Time to Perform Fix | 3 minutes |
| Things Needed | A Samsung Galaxy S20 |
Unlike the previous solution, factory resetting your Samsung phone will restore the device’s default settings and delete user data. Fortunately, this solution is effective in fixing various phone errors, so losing your essential files is often worth it.
Moreover, Samsung offers a cloud service that lets you backup your user data, reducing the factory reset’s drawback. It means you only have to worry about redownloading your third-party apps after you finish the factory reset.
WARNING:
A factory reset deletes all your stored files, apps, and phone preferences. Retaining a copy of these data is wise.
Since this action will fix your Samsung Galaxy S20’s camera issue, losing some apps doesn’t seem like a significant consequence.
Step 1: Go to Settings. |
Step 2: Open General Management. |
Step 3: Go to Reset. Note: The backup and restore option lets you store user data on Samsung’s cloud service. You can recover this data after the reset. |
Step 4: Click “Factory data reset.” |
Step 5: Click Reset. |
Step 6: Enter your pin. |
| Step 7: Click “Delete All” to revert your phone’s default settings.  |
