iPhone Problems

Flash Is Disabled on iPhone 16/15/14, Here Is the Fix

by Sophie Green   Updated on 2024-09-13 / Update for  iPhone Fix

My iPhone 14 camera will not allow me to take pictures with flash and gives me a message saying Flash is disabled. The iPhone battery is low and needs to be charged before you can use the flash regardless of how charged it is."

If flash is disabled on your iPhone, there are multiple reasons why that happens. However, when it occurs, you cannot use the flashlight on your iPhone. You cannot use the flash to take pictures because the flash mode will not work no matter what you do.

If you have found yourself in this situation, this guide can be of tremendous help to you. The guide tells you why your iPhone has disabled the flash feature, and most importantly, how you can re-enable it on your phone.

Part 1. Common "iPhone Flash is Disabled" Errors

There are mainly two reasons why the flash gets disabled on an iPhone. The following are those two reasons.

1. "Flash is disabled. The iPhone battery is low and needs to be charged before you can use the flash."

flash is disabled iphone needs to be charged

If your iPhone is running low on battery and there is not much battery juice left on the phone, your iPhone will disable the flash to save the battery charge. Until and unless your phone is charged to a certain extent, the flash will remain disabled.

2. "Flash is Disabled. The iPhone needs to cool down before you can use the flash."

flash is disabled iphone needs to cool down

When your iPhone’s temperature goes above a certain point, flash is disabled iPhone needs to cool down. The flash will remain turned off for as long as your iPhone has not cooled down and back to the normal temperature.

Part 2. How to Fix Flash Is Disabled Error on iPhone 16/15/14

You should not feel hopeless as there are indeed some of the methods you can perform to re-enable flash on your iPhone. Those methods are as follows.

Fix 1. Restart Your iPhone

One of the things you can do to fix it when your flash is disabled iPhone 5S is to reboot your iPhone. Rebooting an iPhone resolves many minor issues on the phone, and there is no harm in giving it a try.

Here are the generic steps to reboot your iPhone.

  • Press and hold down the Power key on your iPhone.
  • Drag the slider to power off your iPhone.

    reboot iphone to fix flash is disabled
  • Press and hold down the Power key again to turn on your iPhone.

Fix 2. Cool Down Your iPhone

If the flash is disabled because your iPhone is heated, you will need to wait until the temperature of your iPhone goes down. Bring your device into a cold room where there is not much heat and wait for your iPhone to cool down.

Once your iPhone’s temperature goes down a certain point, the flash will be enabled.

Fix 3. Turn on and off Low Power Mode

Low Power Mode is a feature on your iPhone that helps you extend your phone’s battery when you are running low on battery charge. This feature actually disables certain items on your iPhone, and you should try turning this feature on and off to see if that fixes your flash problem.

  • Head to Settings > Battery on your iPhone and turn on Low Power Mode.

    toggle low power mode to fix flash is disabled
  • Turn the feature off after a minute.

Fix 4. Turn on and off Optimize Battery Charging

Optimize Battery Charging is a feature released with iOS 13 that aims to make your iPhone’s battery last longer. You can try toggling this option on and off to see if it fixes your issue.

  • Head to Settings > Battery > Battery Health on your iPhone and enable Optimized Battery Charging.

    flash is disabled
  • Disable the feature after about a minute.

Fix 5. Update to the Latest iOS

One of the reasons why the flash is not working is that there is a bug in your operating system. This usually happens when you use a really obsolete version of iOS on your device. If this is indeed the case, updating to the latest iOS version should fix your issue.

  • Go to Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone.

    update iphone to fix flash is disabled
  • Let it check for updates. Then, tap Download and Install to update your iPhone.

Part 3. All Failed? Try to Repair iOS to Fix iPhone Flash Is Disabled (RECOMMENDED)

If you still cannot get the flash to work on your iPhone, there is probably an issue with your iPhone’s system. Sometimes, these system issues cause your devices not to operate certain functions the way they are supposed to.

Luckily, you have an easy to use tool to repair your device. The tool is known as Tenorshare ReiBoot and it helps you to repair the very core system of your iOS device. You only need to make a few clicks in this program, and it will remove all the issues that are sitting on your iPhone’s system. The following shows how to use this program to repair your device.

  • Install the software on your computer and then run it.
  • Connect your iPhone to your computer if you have not already done that. Select the Repair Operating System option in the program.

    repair iphone to resolve flash is disabled issue
  • Click on Fix Now to begin fixing your device.

    fix flash is disabled
  • Download the iPhone firmware by clicking on Download.

    flash is disabled iphone 5s
  • Wait for the program to repair your iPhone. This should not take too long. Once your iPhone is repaired, you will see the following message.

    iphone flash is disabled

The flash should now work on your iPhone.

Summary

If your iPhone flash is disabled and you are not sure why that has happened and how to fix it, the above guide will help you out. It provides you with the possible reasons why your iPhone’s flash is enabled, and then teaches some of the ways to bring back the flash feature on your iPhone. You can read further for other Camera roll not working on iPhone issues.