How to Manage Camera Permissions on Samsung Phones

Samsung Galaxy phones run Android with Samsung's One UI on top, so camera access is controlled by Android's permission system. You can manage it per app, review it across all apps at once, and switch the camera off system-wide from the quick panel. Websites opened in a browser need two permissions: the browser app's own camera permission and a separate permission for each site.

Before you start

• Know which app or website needs the camera, for example a video call app, a scanner or a browser-based camera test.
• Check your One UI version under Settings, About phone, Software information. Menu names and their location differ between versions, so labels on your phone may not exactly match the ones below.
• If the phone is managed by work or school (Work profile, Secure Folder or device management), some camera settings may be locked or set separately for those apps.
• Close any other app that might be using the camera, because many apps cannot share it at the same time.

Changing a camera permission is a local setting on the phone and does not require an account or online service. What an app or website does with the camera feed once you grant access is a separate matter: whether video is processed on the device or sent to a server depends on that app or site, so check its own privacy information rather than assuming either way.

Step-by-step instructions

Change the camera permission for one app

• 1. Open Settings and tap Apps.
• 2. Find and tap the app you want to change.
• 3. Tap Permissions, then tap Camera.
• 4. Choose an option: allow only while the app is in use, ask every time, or don't allow.
• 5. Return to the app and reopen the screen that uses the camera.

Ask every time is useful for apps you rarely use, because the phone shows a prompt each time instead of keeping access granted. You can reverse any of these choices later on the same screen. A shortcut that often works: press and hold the app icon, tap the info icon, then open Permissions.

Review which apps can use the camera

To see every app with camera access in one list, open the Permission manager. On recent One UI versions it is usually under Settings, Security and privacy, Privacy, Permission manager; on older versions it may be under Settings, Privacy. Tap Camera to see apps grouped by whether access is allowed, set to ask, or denied, and tap any app to change it. Some versions also show a privacy dashboard listing which apps used the camera recently.

Turn camera access off or on for the whole phone

On Android 12 and later, the quick panel can include a Camera access toggle. Swipe down twice from the top of the screen and look for it; if it is missing, use the edit option in the quick panel to add it. Turning it off blocks the camera for all apps, even those with permission, until you switch it back on. While an app is using the camera, a green indicator appears at the top of the screen.

Allow a website to use the camera

• 1. Make sure the browser app itself (for example Samsung Internet or Chrome) has camera permission in Settings, Apps, then the browser, Permissions, Camera.
• 2. Open the website and start the feature that needs the camera.
• 3. When the browser asks, allow camera access for that site.
• 4. If you blocked it earlier, open the site settings from the icon next to the address bar or from the browser's settings, find the camera permission for that site and change it.
• 5. Reload the page.

Check the output

Open the app or web page and confirm a live preview appears instead of a black frame or an error message. Look for the green camera indicator at the top of the screen, which confirms the system has granted access to whatever is currently running.

Next, confirm the selected camera is the one you want. Many apps and browser pages default to the front camera; use the switch-camera button or the camera selection menu to change it. A browser-based camera test can report the active camera name, resolution and frame rate, but those values reflect what the browser and site requested, which may be lower than the phone's camera app can produce. Poor lighting can make the image noisy and can lower the frame rate the camera delivers, so test in reasonable light before judging quality.

Common problems and next steps

• The app says the camera is unavailable even though permission is allowed: check that the Camera access toggle in the quick panel is on, and close other apps that may be holding the camera.
• No permission prompt appears in the browser: the site may already be blocked in the browser's site settings, or the browser app itself may be denied camera access in Android settings. Fix both, then reload.
• Permission keeps reverting: Android can remove permissions from apps you have not used for a while. In the app's info page, turn off the option to remove permissions or pause activity if unused.
• The setting is greyed out: the device may be managed by an organisation, or the app may be in a work profile or Secure Folder with its own settings.
• The wrong camera opens: choose the camera inside the app or web page; the permission itself does not select a specific lens.
• Still no image after fixing permissions: restart the phone and test with the built-in Camera app. If that also fails, the problem is likely not a permission issue, and Samsung support or a service centre is the next step.