Some users (prominently Samsung and ZTE users) report that the “Camera has been disabled because of security policies” prompt appears whenever they enter the Camera app. If you have the same or similar problem, check the steps we provided below to fix it as soon as possible.
Table of contents:
- Restart your phone
- Check the Sensors Toggle
- Check Security policies
- Reset the Camera app
- Reset your device to factory settings
Security policy prevents use of camera on Android
Primarily you’ll want to restart your Android. If that doesn’t help, check the Sensors Tile in the Quick Access menu and Security Policies.
If that fails and the Camera is still not working, reset the app or try with the factory settings reset.
1. Restart your phone
The first thing you should do is restart your device. If the issue persists, try and boot your device into safe mode, which we already explained. If the camera is working without issues, uninstall all third-party apps that you’ve installed recently.
On the other hand, if you still see the “Camera has been disabled because of security policies” prompt, make sure to continue with the next step.
2. Check the Sensors toggle
There are some hidden toggles that usually don’t appear in the Quick Access menu before you enable them in the Developer options. One of them is the Sensors toggle which allows users to disable all sensors with a single tap. Some users reported that the problem was gone when they toggled this tile off.
You can find it in the Quick Access menu and it looks like a pulse reading. If you don’t see it, in all tiles (including the ones not added), then you can immediately skip to the next step.
3. Check Security policies
Some users suggest checking security policies. You should disable Security policies for everything in System settings. You can re-enable Find My Device later. If you are not sure how to do it, follow these steps:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Security or Biometrics and security.
- Open Device admin apps (Other security settings > Device admin apps).
- Disable all apps with device admin access and check for improvements.
In addition, we recommend removing all your fingerprints and faces from face recognition and adding them again. For some, the issues started the moment they added a new fingerprint. Navigate to Settings > Security > Fingerprints and erase all fingerprints. Add them again, open the Camera app, and check for improvements.
4. Reset the Camera app
If the previous step failed, try to reset the camera by uninstalling its updates. Maybe the current version of the app doesn’t work as intended or the cached local data got corrupted. Uninstalling updates will restore all in-app settings so you’ll need to set up the Camera app once you update it again.
Here’s how to uninstall Camera updates on your Android:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps.
- Select Camera.
- Tap on the 3-dots menu and select Uninstall updates.
- On Samsung devices, open Camera Settings, swipe down and tap Reset settings.
5. Reset your device to factory settings
Finally, if you still get the “Camera has been disabled because of security policies” prompt whenever you open the Camera, we can only recommend the factory reset. We are well aware that this is an unwelcome scenario for many users, but based on reports on the Samsung Official Support forum, this is the definitive solution for Samsung devices.
This leads us to believe that’s the case for other Android handsets, not just Samsungs. If you were wondering how to reset your device to factory settings, follow the instructions we provided below:
- Back up your data from the internal storage (photos can be saved to Google Photos, and other media can be saved to an external storage or a PC).
- Navigate to Settings > General management > Reset.
- Select Factory data reset.
- Follow the instructions to reset your device to factory values.
- Once your Android restarts, follow the instructions to restore it.
And, on that note, we can conclude this article. Thank you for reading and make sure to share your thoughts or alternative solutions in the comments section below. You can also reach us on Twitter or Facebook.
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in December 2021. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
