Before you begin: Stop if you see battery swelling, smoke, liquid inside the device, burning smells, exposed electrical parts or severe physical damage.
Work through these checks in order
1. Try another camera app
This separates an app-specific issue from a device-wide camera issue.
2. Check permissions
Confirm the app has camera access and that privacy restrictions are not blocking it.
3. Restart the device
A restart can release a camera service held by another app.
4. Check storage
Some camera apps cannot save photos or video when storage is full.
5. Look for physical clues
Impact, liquid, focus vibration or a permanently black preview can indicate hardware trouble.
Before an erase, restore or repair decision
Confirm what data is backed up, what a reset or restore will remove, and whether you still need access to account credentials or authentication methods stored on the device.
When professional service makes sense
Hardware damage, repeated power failure, liquid exposure, battery swelling, damaged ports, broken displays and problems that persist after low-risk software checks can require qualified inspection.