In this guide, we go over three things that you can do to reset your iPhone camera to its default settings. Except for these, there is no other way to reset the Camera app on your iOS device.
While there is rarely a need to reset your iPhone or iPad camera to the default, you may want to consider doing this if you’ve tweaked a lot of things in the camera settings and now just want to go back to how things were before.
Secondly, if you’re having camera issues, like seeing a black screen, the app getting stuck, or the shutter button refusing to work, you may think that resetting camera settings to default will help. But that’s not really true. You can typically resolve most non-hardware-related camera problems by restarting your iPhone or updating to the latest iOS version.
And finally, just to be clear for all non-technical iPhone users out there, please note that if you don’t like the new iOS 26 Camera app design, then resetting it won’t bring back the old interface. Your only option in this case is to switch to a third-party camera app or downgrade from iOS 26 to iOS 18.
That said, if you still want to reset your iPhone camera and start over, here are three key considerations to keep in mind.
First, tweak the camera settings manually
Before you get to the resetting part, I recommend going to iPhone Settings > Camera and manually adjusting the settings to suit your needs.
I reset the camera on my iPhone 11 running iOS 26 and have listed the default settings below. See it and do the same on your iPhone to restore to the original camera settings:
- Record Video: 1080p at 30 fps
- Record Slo-mo: 1080p at 240 fps
- Record Sound: Stereo
- Formats: High Efficiency
- Preserve Settings: Everything is off except for Live Photo.
- Use Volume Up for Burst: Off
- Scan QR Codes: On
- Show Detected Text: On
- Grid: Off
- Level: Off
- Mirror Front Camera: Off
- View Outside the Frame: On
- Indicators: Flash: On, Live Photo: Off
- Prioritize Faster Shooting: On
- Smart HDR: On
- Save Captures to Photo Library: On
Note that newer iPhone models offer more camera options, and some features may vary.
Reset iPhone camera
If you’ve made up your mind to reset the iPhone camera, you can do that by resetting all device settings, as there is no separate toggle to erase just the camera settings.
Even though resetting all settings doesn’t delete your apps, photos, videos, or personal files, it will, as the name suggests, force all your custom device settings to the default. It will also:
- Remove the device passcode
- Delete Face ID or Touch ID fingerprints
- Forget all saved Wi-Fi networks
- Remove Apple Pay cards, keys, and passes from this device
- Turn off Location Services
- Reset all app permissions, and you’ll have to allow or block them again upon opening an app
So, all things considered, I don’t recommend resetting all iPhone settings just to reset your stock Camera app. But if you are the technical kind and don’t mind taking some time to set things up again, you can follow these steps to erase all settings, and in the process, restore the Camera app to its default state:
1) Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and tap General.
2) Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone from the bottom.
3) Tap Reset and select Reset All Settings.
4) Enter your iPhone passcode, and tap Reset All Settings twice to confirm.
In a minute or two, your iPhone will reset its settings, including restoring all camera settings to their default values.
Erase and set up your iPhone as new
The last obvious option to restore the iPhone camera to its default settings is to erase the device and set it up as new. Once again, you shouldn’t take this aggressive step just to reset the Camera app, but if you’re determined to proceed, this is also a way to do that.
If you use third-party camera apps
The quickest way to reset a third-party camera app to its default settings is to delete and reinstall it. Even if it’s a paid app, you won’t have to purchase it again, and you can re-download it easily from the App Store. Secondly, if the camera app has an in-app subscription, you can re-activate it by restoring the purchase or signing in with your account, as applicable.
Note that even though you can delete several pre-installed Apple apps from your iPhone, you cannot delete the stock Camera app, as it’s considered a core application.
What are your reasons for resetting the camera settings to the default?
On a related note: How to completely block the camera on iPhone, iPad, or Mac