Troubleshooting
Camera Not Working in Safari on iPhone? Fixes That Stick
Most cases of a camera not working in Safari on iPhone come down to one setting: open Settings → Apps → Safari → Camera (Settings → Safari → Camera on iOS 17 and earlier) and make sure it says Ask or Allow, not Deny. Then check the website's own setting in Safari's page menu and reload the page.
iPhones add a few twists that computers don't have. Screen Time can switch the camera off everywhere, only one app gets the camera at a time, and a web app saved to your Home Screen keeps its own permissions. The fixes below run from most to least likely.
Start with a 20-second test in the Camera app
Open the Camera app and flip to the front camera. What you see tells you where to look.
- You see yourself: the camera is fine, and the problem is a Safari or website setting. Carry on with fix 1.
- The Camera app is missing from your Home Screen and App Library: Screen Time is blocking the camera. Jump to fix 3.
- The Camera app is black too: restart the iPhone. If it's still black, see the last section.
Watch for the green dot at the top of the screen. It appears whenever an app or website is using the camera, so it tells you instantly whether the camera actually started.
Fix 1: Set Safari's camera access to Ask or Allow
Safari has one camera setting that applies to every website. If it's on Deny, no site can even ask.
- Open Settings → Apps → Safari (on iOS 17 and earlier, Settings → Safari).
- Scroll down to Settings for Websites and tap Camera.
- Choose Ask or Allow. Do the same for Microphone so people can hear you.
- Go back to Safari and reload the page.
How to tell it worked: Safari now shows a pop-up asking whether the site may use your camera. Tap Allow and the green dot appears.
Fix 2: Reset the permission for one website
Safari also remembers your answer site by site. Tap Don't Allow once and that site can stay blocked even when the overall setting is Ask.
- With the site open, tap the page menu button at the left of the address bar. On many iOS versions it looks like aA; newer designs use a small page icon or tuck the menu behind the ⋯ button.
- Tap Website Settings.
- Set Camera and Microphone to Ask or Allow, tap Done, and reload.
How to tell it worked: your own preview appears on the page. The same steps for iPad and Mac are in how to allow camera access in Safari.
Fix 3: Check Screen Time restrictions
Screen Time can switch off the camera for every app and website at once. It's easy to miss on a second-hand iPhone or one that someone else set up.
- Open Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Tap Allowed Apps & Features (just Allowed Apps on older versions).
- Make sure Camera is switched on. You may need the Screen Time passcode.
How to tell it worked: the Camera app reappears on your Home Screen. On a phone managed by an employer, a device profile can also block the camera; look under Settings → General → VPN & Device Management and ask whoever manages it.
Fix 4: Safari camera black screen? Close competing apps
iOS gives the camera to one app at a time. If you're on a FaceTime or WhatsApp call, recording a video, or another Safari tab has used the camera since, the page you're looking at can lose it and show black.
- End any call, then close camera apps: swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or double-press the Home button) and swipe them away.
- Close other Safari tabs that use the camera, then reload the one you want.
- Switching apps or locking the screen pauses a website's camera. When you come back, reload if the preview stays black.
If video keeps cutting out whenever the display dims, see how to stop your phone screen turning off during calls.
Fix 5: Home Screen web apps and other iPhone browsers
A site you added with Share → Add to Home Screen opens as its own web app, separate from Safari. It asks for camera access on its own, and depending on your iOS version it may ask again each time you open it. Tap Allow when it does.
If the Home Screen version keeps failing while Safari works, remove the icon and add it again from Safari. Installing a web app on iPhone shows the steps.
Chrome, Firefox and Edge on iPhone use the same engine as Safari but have their own switches. Go to Settings → Apps → your browser and turn on Camera and Microphone. The switches appear once that browser has asked for access.
Fix 6: Update iOS and restart
Safari is updated along with iOS, so camera bugs in websites are sometimes fixed by a system update. Go to Settings → General → Software Update, install anything waiting, then restart the iPhone. A restart on its own also frees a camera that got stuck after an app crashed.
| What happens | Probable cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No permission pop-up ever appears | Safari's camera setting is Deny, or the site is blocked | Fixes 1 and 2 |
| Camera app missing from the Home Screen | Screen Time restriction | Fix 3 |
| Preview goes black after a call or another tab | Another app or tab took the camera | Fix 4 |
| Video stops when you switch apps | iOS pauses website cameras in the background | Come back and reload |
| Works in Safari, not from the Home Screen icon | The web app has its own permission | Fix 5 |
| Works in Safari, not in Chrome for iPhone | Chrome's switch in Settings is off | Fix 5 |
If the front camera itself has failed
When the Camera app shows black on both cameras after a restart and an update, the problem is likely hardware. Apple Support can check repair options.
You can keep talking in the meantime. Our guide to random video chat on iPhone without an app shows how Omlet works in Safari; with your camera off you can still chat by text, and people can hear you if your microphone works.
Using an Android phone or a computer as well? Android handles permissions differently, so see camera not working on Android, and on a desktop start with Chrome camera fixes.