Top 7 Ways to Fix Facebook Messenger Camera Not Working on Android and iPhone
Whether you want to capture photos and videos for your Messenger story or connect with your favorite people over a video call, Messenger’s camera is an important part of the experience. This is why it can be quite annoying if the Messenger camera suddenly stops working on your Android or iPhone.
The Messenger camera can fail for various reasons. Maybe you’ve denied some important app permissions, or you have an old, buggy version of the app. Whatever the cause, this post contains solutions to get the Messenger camera working on your phones.
1. Enable camera permission for Messenger
Like other apps, Messenger needs permission to access your phone’s camera. So make sure you haven’t disabled this permission for the Messenger app on your Android or iPhone.
Android
Step 1: Long press the Messenger app icon and tap the ‘i’ App info icon from the menu that opens.
Step 2: Go to Permissions.
Step 3: Set the camera permission to ‘Only allow while using the app.’
iPhone
Step 1: Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and scroll down to tap on Messenger.
Step 2: Enable the switch next to the Camera option.
After enabling the camera permission, you need to force stop the Messenger app on your phone and open it again. Then try using the Messenger camera again.
2. Enable camera access from privacy settings (Android)
With Android 12, Google added a whole bunch of privacy options for phones. One of these features brought the ability to control camera and microphone permissions directly from the Privacy menu. If you’ve disabled camera access from this menu, none of your apps can use your phone’s camera, including Messenger. Here’s how you can change it.
Step 1: Open the Settings app on your phone and go to Privacy.
Step 2: Enable the switch for camera access under Controls and alerts.
Return to the Messenger app and try using its camera again.
3. Close background apps
Messenger may have trouble accessing your phone’s camera if another app is already using it. To avoid this, delete any apps that may be using your phone’s camera from the Recent Apps menu.
After this, the Messenger camera will work on your phone.
4. Check your internet connection
If the Messenger camera does not respond when you try to use any new effects or filters, there may be a problem with your Internet connection. You can verify the strength of your Internet connection by running a quick speed test. Alternatively, you can switch to a different network connection and see if that helps.
5. Clear Messenger Cache (Android)
This is a rudimentary step that can solve a variety of problems with almost any Android app. Clearing the Messenger app cache will get rid of any old temporary files and restore the app’s functionality. However, this is different from clearing app data on Android.
Use these steps to clear the Messenger cache on Android.
Step 1: Long press the Messenger app icon and tap the information icon in the menu that appears.
Step 2: Go to Storage and tap the Clear cache option at the bottom.
6. Update the application
You may experience problems while using Messenger if the app version on your phone is patchy or outdated. Facebook regularly releases newer updates to its Messenger app to address known bugs and improve app performance. If you haven’t updated the app on your phone, consider installing the latest updates right away.
Go to Play Store (Android) or App Store (iPhone), update the Messenger app.
7. Reinstall the application
If nothing works, you can reinstall the Messenger app on your phone. This will force the app to recreate all of its core files from scratch, fixing any problems along the way.
To remove Messenger from your Android, long press its app icon and select Uninstall. Then tap OK to confirm.
If you use Messenger on your iPhone, press and hold its app icon and select Remove App from the menu that follows. Select Delete App when prompted.
Go to Play Store or App Store to download the Messenger app. Then try using the app camera again.
Start using Messenger Camera
Despite years of improvements and frequent updates, Messenger is still prone to occasional hiccups and bugs. Fortunately, it’s not too difficult to fix the Messenger camera problem. Apply the above fixes and let us know which one works for you in the comments below.
