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Tapping the camera icon and having the app immediately close, freeze, or display an error is more disruptive than most phone faults — you cannot capture moments while troubleshooting. Fortunately, camera app crashes are almost always software-related and resolvable without hardware intervention.
Start With the Cache
Clear the camera app's cache. Go to Settings > Apps > Camera > Storage > Clear Cache. This removes temporary files that accumulate and corrupt the app's normal launch sequence. It does not delete any photos. After clearing the cache, open the camera and test.
Clear the camera app's data. If clearing the cache alone does not work, clear the data as well (same path, tap Clear Data). This resets the camera app to its default settings — preferences and settings will reset, but no photos are deleted since those are stored separately in the Gallery.
System-Level Fixes
Restart the phone. A camera crash immediately after a system update, or after the phone has been running for several days without a restart, is often resolved by a clean reboot.
Free up storage. A camera app will crash on launch if it cannot create a temporary file for the photo it is about to take. If internal storage is at or near capacity, the app has nowhere to write to. Delete files until at least 500MB is free, then test.
Check for a pending camera app or OS update. Camera app crashes frequently follow OS updates that temporarily break compatibility. Check the Play Store for a camera app update, and check Settings > Software Update for a system patch.
Test third-party camera apps. Install Open Camera or a similar third-party app from the Play Store. If it opens and works normally, the fault is with the manufacturer's camera app specifically — a software issue. If third-party apps also crash, the underlying camera hardware or driver is the problem.
Permissions
Go to Settings > Apps > Camera > Permissions and ensure the camera app has access to the camera, microphone, storage, and location (if you use geotagging). A permission reset after an OS update is a common but easily overlooked cause of sudden camera crashes.
Hardware Causes
If the camera crashes across all apps, after clearing data, and with adequate storage, the camera module itself may be physically damaged. A dropped phone can dislodge the camera's ribbon cable, causing the system to throw an error on launch. A technician can reseat or replace the module.
Clear the cache, free up storage, and check permissions. These three steps resolve the vast majority of camera app crashes without any hardware involvement.
