Snapchat Won’t Record Video? (Do This To FIX It Now!) in 2024

Snapchat’s super popular – like, seriously, millions of folks worldwide use it, and it’s been downloaded billions of times via the App Store and Play Store.

It’s awesome for staying connected with your buddies and family, whether you’re on your phone or computer. But, you know, sometimes these social media apps act up, and Snapchat isn’t immune to that. If it’s acting funny and won’t let you record videos, it’s a bummer—you could miss out on stuff.

Snapchat Won’t Record Video? No worries, though! We’ve got some troubleshooting tricks to help you fix those hiccups and get you back to snapping, so your crew doesn’t miss a beat.

Snapchat Won’t Record Video – How to Fix?

Exit and Relaunch Snapchat

The first thing to do when Snapchat won’t record videos is close the app and re-open it. A fresh start usually does the trick and gets everything running smoothly again. Perform the following if you have an Android device:

• Bring up the Recents menu by swiping up from the bottom. Provided you use button-based navigation, tap the App Overview
• With the Snapchat app highlighted, swipe up on the card to close it.

Similarly, if you’re using an iPhone:

• Use the swipe-up gesture from the bottom of the screen to open the App Switcher.
• With the Snapchat app in focus, swipe it all the way up.

Now launch Snapchat from your device’s home screen or app drawer; see whether you can shoot video Snaps again.

Related: Restart Your Device

Most tech-related problems often have a straightforward fix: just restart the device. When Snapchat’s acting wonky, it’s the same deal. Give your phone a reboot, and it might sort out your Snapchat video recording troubles.

To restart your Android device, press and hold the Power button (select devices require holding down the Volume Up button simultaneously) until the Power menu pops up, then choose Restart.

For those using an iPhone, simultaneously long-press the side button and either volume keys, use the “power off” slider to turn your iPhone off, and then hold down the side button again until the Apple logo appears.

With your phone successfully restarted and connected to the internet, launch Snapchat to check if it lets you record videos again.

Check Snapchat App Permissions

For Snapchat to work smoothly, it needs access to your device’s camera, microphone, location, media, etc. In case of missing permissions, especially for the camera, it messes with your ability to capture photos and videos. Here’s how to enable these permissions for Snapchat on Android:

• Navigate to Settings > Apps > See all apps, then find and select Snapchat from your list of installed applications.
  • Or, long-press the Snapchat icon in your app drawer, followed by tapping the App info ⓘ
• Now, head to the Permissions menu and see if all the necessary permissions are showing under “Allowed,” especially Camera and Files and media.
  • If you find them under “Not allowed,” tap the required permission, followed by the radio 🔘 button next to “Allow only while using the app.”

Conversely, those using an iPhone must follow the instructions below:

• Go to your iPhone’s Settings
• Scroll down to the bottom and tap on Snapchat.
• Ensure all the necessary permissions found below the “Allow Snapchat to Access” section, including Camera and Photos, are toggled ON.

With the required permissions given to Snapchat, open the app and try recording a video again.

Wipe the Snapchat App Cache

Modern apps store frequently used data and media on your device as “cache” for faster app performance. If those files get corrupted, Snapchat might throw a fit and hinder the app’s basic functions, such as taking Snaps. Wiping the cache manually should resolve such problems. Don’t stress though—clearing it out won’t delete any of your snaps or other data.

On Android, perform the following:

• Navigate to the “App info” menu for Snapchat (refer to the instructions in the above section).
• Choose Storage & cache, then tap the Clear cache button in the following menu.

iOS doesn’t allow clearing app cache from the system, but you can follow these steps to do so directly within the Snapchat app:

• Tap your Profile icon in the top-left corner of the Snapchat app.
• Next, tap the Settings (cog) icon in the top-right corner.
• Scroll down to “Account Actions” and choose Clear Cache.
• Choose Clear All and confirm your selection.
  • You also have the option to clear specific caches individually, instead of wiping out the entire cache altogether.

With the app cache reset, relaunch Snapchat and check whether you can once again shoot videos in the app.

Sign Out of Snapchat and Log Back In

If the video recording issue persists, try signing out of Snapchat temporarily and logging back in. It’s an odd fix for sure, but many users have found it effective at resolving various in-app technical problems.

• Tap your Profile/Avatar icon in the upper-left section of the Snapchat app.
• Select the Settings (cog) icon in the top-right corner.
• Scroll down to the bottom, tap Log Out, and confirm your choice.

Once Snapchat sends you back to the log-in screen, sign back in with your account credentials. After that, try taking a Snap again.

Check For Snapchat Updates

Usually, using an old app version is fine, but sometimes it can cause trouble, especially when big changes happen on the backend. Snapchat keeps dropping new updates to squash bugs and adds cool stuff, so it’s smart to double-check you’ve got the latest version. On Android, go to the Play Store and do the following:

• Tap your Profile icon at the top and choose Manage apps & device.
• Tap “Updates available” and see if there’s an update pending for Snapchat, in which case you tap the Update button next to it.
  • Or tap Update all at the top to ensure all your Android apps are up to date.

On your iPhone, head to the App Store from your Home Screen and perform these steps:

• Tap your Profile icon at the top of the App Store screen.
• Scroll down a bit until you see pending updates. Assuming a new version of the Snapchat app is available, tap the Update button next to it.
  • Alternatively, tap Update All to download all the pending updates for your apps.

With Snapchat up to date, hopefully, you won’t experience the same trouble recording Snaps within the app.

Reinstall Snapchat

Whether you’re already running the latest app version or have tried all the troubleshooting steps we’ve discussed so far, provided Snapchat still won’t let you record videos, the only viable thing left to do is reinstall the app. Here’s what you need to do on Android:

• Go to Settings > Apps > See all apps and choose Snapchat from your apps list.
• Tap Uninstall and then OK to confirm.
  • You can also long-tap the Snapchat icon in your app drawer and choose to Uninstall
• Head to the Play Store, search for the Snapchat app, and select Install.

For iOS users, the steps go as follows:

• Find Snapchat on your Home Screen and long-tap the app icon until the context menu appears.
• Tap Remove App, followed by the Delete App
• Go to the App Store, enter “Snapchat” in the search field, and tap the Download

With a fresh new installation of Snapchat, sign back into the app with your account details. If everything goes accordingly, you should now successfully be able to take video Snaps and share them with your contacts.

Final Snap

That’s pretty much it for our troubleshooting guide on what to do when Snapchat won’t record video. If none of the outlined fixes resolve the issue, another thing you can try is to switch between Wi-Fi or cellular data (or vice versa) to rule out any network-related problem that might be affecting the Snapchat Camera experience.

The same goes when you can record Snaps but can’t send them to your friends or families or when the Snapchat filters and lenses you use fail to load. Assuming you didn’t find our tutorial helpful in solving your problem, we suggest taking it directly to the official Snapchat Support for a quick resolution.