How to Turn On the Flash for Your iPhone Camera

As iPhone cameras get more feature-packed, the increasing icons and buttons inside the Camera app might confuse some. You may want to use the camera flash instead of Night Mode in surroundings with insufficient light. And since the icons don’t have labels anymore, it’s tough to figure out how to turn on the iPhone flash.

To help, we’ll look at what the different flash icons mean and the steps you can take to switch on the iPhone flash in a flash.

What Do the iPhone’s Camera Flash Icons Mean?

You’ll see various circular icons with a lightning bolt in the Camera app on your iPhone. In general, they follow the following rules:

• When there is a slash through the flash icon, it means the flash is off.
• When there is no slash, and the flash icon is white, it means the camera flash is set to auto. In good light, it won’t flash, and in dim light, it will.
• When the iPhone’s camera flash icon is highlighted in yellow, it means the camera will always flash when you take a picture. This may be because it is set to always-on, or it’s in auto mode and your iPhone thinks it needs to use the flash.

How to Turn On the Flash on a Newer iPhone

The instructions to turn on the iPhone camera flash vary depending on your model. Here’s how to enable camera flash on an iPhone 11, 12, SE (2nd generation), 13, and so on:

1. Open the Camera app and swipe up or tap the arrow button on the top.
2. Tap the flash icon.
3. Tap On to set the iPhone camera flash to always-on.

Please note that you can also follow the above steps to turn on the front screen flash while taking selfies.

How to Turn On the iPhone Flash for Video

When you’re in the iPhone Camera app’s Video, Slo-Mo, or Cinematic mode, swipe up from the record button and tap on the flash icon to enable it. It’ll switch on instantly, even when you aren’t recording. Whenever ready, tap the record button to start the videography with the camera flash enabled.

The above steps show you how to set the iPhone camera flash to stay on and not be taken over by Night mode. If you change your mind and enable Night mode, it will disable the flash.

How to Enable Camera Flash on Older iPhones

If you have an older iPhone with a Home button, like an iPhone 6S, iPhone 8, or iPhone SE (1st generation), open the Camera app, tap the flash icon at the top-left corner and choose On. Follow these same steps to turn on the flash for Video or Slo-Mo modes.

On the iPhone 6S and later, this also enables the screen to flash when you switch on the front camera to take selfies.

Camera Flash Not Working on iPhone

If the flash isn’t working, ensure your iPhone isn’t too hot. But if it is, wait for the device to cool down.

Often, restarting your iPhone should also help fix the grayed-out camera flash. So, power off your iPhone and turn it back on before retrying to take a photo with flash. But if these solutions fail to work, learn how to fix an iPhone flashlight that isn’t working.

iPhone Camera With Flash, Light, and Action!

By now, you know how to set the iPhone camera flash to always-on instead of flashing automatically. In low-light environments, newer iPhones automatically start shooting in Night mode, during which flash and Live Photos are off. But now you know how to force the camera to flash instead of shooting in Night mode.