iPhone Flashlight Not Working? Here Are the 12 Best Ways to Fix it in 2026

The flashlight on iPhones has been a useful tool in dark/low-lit environments. Whether fumbling in a dark room or trekking in the wild, iPhone’s flashlight has always helped us find our way or spot something. So it must be pretty frustrating when the iPhone flashlight is not working and you see a greyed-out icon instead. But you need not worry as we’ve tried and tested several ways to get your iPhone’s torch working again. Let’s get started.

Method 1: Close Camera App to Fix Flashlight Not Working

Both the camera’s flash and the flashlight use the same LED light and you cannot use both of them at the same time. So, when you open the camera app, the flashlight icon in the Control Center will be greyed out. This is one of the most common reasons why your iPhone flashlight is disabled.

So, if the camera app is open, make sure you quit it to prevent any possible conflict with the flashlight. Here’s how to do it:

1. Launch the Recents screen by swiping up from the bottom of the home screen or any app and lifting up your finger until you see app previews. On iPhones with Touch ID, double-press the home button to get here.
2. If you see the Camera app inside Recents, swipe up the preview to close it.

This will instantly terminate the Camera app and you should now be able to activate the flashlight.

Method 2: Remove your iPhone’s Back Cover

Believe it or not, some iPhone cases, lens attachments, and even films tend to block the flash and prevent it from working normally. So, if the flashlight is not working on your iPhone, remove any case or attachments, and then try to use it again. If it starts working now, your case/attachment was at fault and not your iPhone.

Method 3: Disable Low Power Mode if Flashlight is not working

Low Power mode is a useful feature that helps save battery life on an iPhone. iOS automatically puts your iPhone in Low Power mode when the battery falls below 20%. You can also manually opt to put your iPhone in Low Power Mode at all times. While it limits some features on your iPhone, the flashlight should work even when Low Power mode is active.

But if flashlight is not working as intended, you can disable Low Power Mode by following these steps:

1. Open the Settings app and go to Battery.
2. Here, turn off the Low Power Mode toggle at the bottom.
3. Alternatively, the feature can also be disabled by tapping on the Low Power Mode tile inside the Control Center, in case you have it visible there in the first place.

Method 4: Charge your iPhone

If your iPhone flashlight suddenly stops working, you should check if your phone is charged properly. It might be possible that your phone doesn’t have enough battery to support a flashlight at the moment. As a result, your iPhone flashlight is disabled.

To verify, connect your iPhone to a power source and let it charge uninterruptedly for some time. In most cases, the flashlight should start working once your iPhone has sufficient battery. If you can’t charge your iPhone, you can check out these fixes for charging-related issues on an iPhone.

Method 5: Make sure your iPhone isn’t too hot

You would probably know how extreme temperatures can affect the functionality of an iPhone, in fact, any smartphone. When your iPhone gets too hot, several things can happen. The charging will be slowed down or stopped completely, the display may turn black, or your iPhone flashlight might get disabled. Besides, you might even see a Temperature warning on the screen. This is done to mitigate any internal damage.

When your iPhone exceeds a particular temperature threshold, it will eventually shut down until it gets to a normal temperature. Move your iPhone to a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight or other heat sources, and let it cool down on its own. Once your iPhone gets to a normal temperature, the flashlight should start working again.

Method 6: Adjust Flashlight brightness

If your iPhone’s flashlight is appearing dim or isn’t activated, you can try adjusting its brightness from its lock screen shortcut. Here’s how to do it:

1. Long-press the Flashlight shortcut from the lock screen.
2. When the Flashlight box appears at the top, slide your finger from the bottom of the box to the very top.

You’ll now notice that the intensity of the flashlight gradually increases. This method will be fruitful if your previous flashlight brightness was too low.

Method 7: Add and Activate Flashlight from Control Center

If your iPhone flashlight isn’t working on the lock screen, you can access it from the Control Center. But in case you don’t have it configured inside the Control Center, you’ll first have to add it in order to activate the same. Here’s how you can add the flashlight shortcut inside the iPhone Control Center:

1. Launch the Control Center by swiping down from the top right of any screen. On iPhones with Touch ID, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen.
2. Inside the Control Center, tap on + icon at the top left.
3. When the screen goes into edit mode, tap on Add a Control.
4. From the Controls menu that appears, select Torch. The flashlight will now be added to the Control Center and you can reposition it to a preferred locattion by dragging its tile around.
5. Once added, you can tap on the Torch tile inside the Control Center to toggle it on/off.
6. You can also adjust its brightness like we did on Method 6.

Method 8: Test Flashlight in Camera App

If you can’t turn on the iPhone flashlight in the Control Center, it’s time to check whether the flashlight itself is working or not. One easy way to do this is to activate the flashlight in the Camera app. Here’s what to do.

1. Open the Camera app on your iPhone and tap on the the 6-dots icon at the top right.
2. In the menu that appears, tap on Flash until it’s no longer highlighted in yellow. When flash is disabled, you will see a like that strikes diagonally across the Flash icon.
3. Alternatively, you can also tap on the Flash icon at the top right until you see the “Flash Off” warning at the top.

After this, try clicking a photo and see if the flash fires. If it does, then the issue is not with the hardware LED flash, rather it’s a software glitch.

Method 9: Ask Siri to Turn On Flashlight

If your iPhone’s torch and the camera flash aren’t working, there’s an alternative way to kick-start things. Unless your iPhone is low on battery, you can ask Siri to turn on the flashlight, even if the iPhone’s flashlight icon is greyed out in the Control Center. Here’s how to do it:

1. Say “Hey Siri” or simply “Siri” to invoke Apple’s Siri. Alternatively, you can long-press the Side button on your iPhone.
2. Now, say “Turn on the flashlight” and Siri should instantly turn on the flashlight for you.

Method 10: Restart iPhone to fix iPhone Flashlight

Another way to fix your iPhone torch that’s not working is to try a simple restart. When you reboot your iPhone, it will wipe off any software bugs and glitches that might be responsible for why the iPhone torch isn’t working properly. Besides, it will reset some temporary settings that cause some apps and features to malfunction. Here’s how to do it:

On iPhone without Home Button: Long-press the Volume up/down button and the Side button until the power off slider shows up. Then, drag the power off slider to shut down your device. Then, press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears.

On iPhone with home button: Long-press the Side button and then drag the power off slider to turn off your device. After that, press and hold the Side button to reboot your device.

Method 11: Update iOS If Flashlight Not Working

If the Apple flashlight is still not working on your iPhone, you should update iOS on your device. Apple releases its iOS updates with new features and bug fixes to improve the overall performance of an iPhone. Therefore, if a rare software bug is causing flashlight issues on your iPhone, updating iOS can resolve it.

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and go to General > Software Update.
2. iOS will now check for the latest update and if there’s one, you can tap on Update Now to upgrade to the new firmware.

Method 12: Backup and Restore your iPhone

This one has long been a nuclear solution for iPhones, especially when faced with a complex issue. So, if the above tricks didn’t help you fix the iPhone flashlight not working issue, try restoring your iPhone from a previous backup.

Note:

When you use this method, it will completely wipe out any new data that was added to your device after you made that backup. So, you should only proceed if you’ve fully backed up your data.

If you’re a beginner, here’s a definitive guide on how to back up any iPhone model. We’ve mentioned how to back up an iPhone using iCloud, Mac, Windows PC, and other third-party solutions. You can pick the one that best suits your requirements.

Once you have got the backup ready, check out our dedicated guide on how to restore iPhone data from a backup.

Method 13: Reset All Settings

If none of the above steps worked for you, a specific setting is likely to interfere with your iPhone’s flashlight. In such cases, you can attempt to reset all settings on your iPhone. Doing this will wipe off any iOS glitches and bugs, and also reset all your iPhone settings to their defaults. This method is particularly useful when your iPhone flashlight isn’t working after an update. Here’s how to reset all settings on an iPhone:

Note:

This method won’t delete your saved data so there’s no need to back up your iPhone. It will only reset any saved Bluetooth connections, Wi-Fi passwords, and other settings. Make sure you don’t hit the Erase All Content and Settings option from the menu. Otherwise, you’ll lose all your data.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and go to General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset.
2. Here, select Reset All Settings from the list.
3. Your iPhone will now prompt you to authenticate using Face ID or your device passcode.

If you’re still out of luck, you should contact Apple support. There might be some complex bug or hardware issue that can’t be fixed at your end. To avoid any further issues or damages, you should visit the nearest Apple service center to get your iPhone examined by experts.

Those were the 12 effective ways to fix flashlight issues on an iPhone. Hopefully, you found this article useful and your iPhone flashlight is back to normal. Let us know the hack that has fixed your iPhone flashlight. And if you know any other reliable solution to resolve this issue, tip us about that as well.