iPhone camera keeps resetting settings? 6 fixes to make it remember

You set the camera up the way you like it. You pick Portrait mode, turn off Live Photo, or choose a filter. Then you close the app, open it later, and everything is back to normal. It feels like a bug, and many people reset the same setting every day. In most cases it is not a bug at all. The iPhone camera is designed to return to its defaults unless you tell it to remember your choices. That choice lives in one place in Settings, and it is easy to miss. Here is where it is, what each switch keeps, what Apple does not let the camera remember, and six fixes in the order that works most often.

Why does the iPhone camera keep resetting your settings?

When you close the Camera app, it normally forgets your last choices and starts fresh the next time. Apple gives you a way to change that. It is called Preserve Settings, and it sits under the Camera settings, not inside the Camera app itself. Each switch there covers one kind of choice. If a switch is off, the camera resets that choice every time, which is exactly what you are seeing.

Apple's iPhone User Guide describes Preserve Settings as a way to save your camera settings so they do not reset when you open the app again. The exact list of switches changes with your iPhone model and iOS version. Newer iPhones show more of them, so your screen may look a little different from a friend's.

What does Preserve Settings keep?

The names below come from Apple's guide and its search summaries. Your list may be shorter or longer, because Apple adds options for newer cameras.

• Camera Mode: remembers the last mode you used, such as Portrait, Video or Pano. Without it, the app always opens in Photo mode.
• Creative Controls: remembers the last light setting, depth and filter you used.
• Live Photo: remembers whether Live Photo was on or off. Apple's newer pages describe this setting as on by default.
• Other options on newer models: Apple's pages also list controls such as Macro Control, Night Mode, Portrait Zoom, Action Mode and ProRAW, depending on the iPhone.

If a setting you care about is not on your list, the camera will not remember it, however you set things up. That is a limit of the iPhone, not of your phone. We say more about this near the end.

Fix 1: Turn on Preserve Settings

This one change fixes most cases. If the switch was already on, move to the next fix.

Fix 2: Test it the right way

People often turn a switch on and then judge it too quickly. Test it properly. Open the Camera app and change one thing, for example switch to Portrait mode and turn Live Photo off. Then close the app fully. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause to open the app switcher, then swipe the Camera card up and away. Open the camera again from the Lock Screen or the Home Screen. Check whether your choices are still there. Test one setting at a time, so you know which switch does what.

Fix 3: Check that you are changing the setting in the right place

Some camera options look like they are the same thing but are not. For example, the aspect ratio, the photo format and the flash have their own buttons in the Camera app, and they are not always in the Preserve Settings list. If one of these keeps changing, look at the controls in the app first. Our guide on changing the aspect ratio shows where that control is. Also remember that the camera can switch to a mode on its own. For example, it may turn on Night mode in low light. That is the camera adapting to the scene and not a reset.

Fix 4: Restart the iPhone and update iOS

If Preserve Settings is on and the camera still forgets, a temporary glitch may be the cause. Restart the iPhone. Hold the side button and either volume button, slide to power off, wait a few seconds and turn it back on. Then open Settings, tap General, tap Software Update and install any update. Updates can change what the camera offers and fix bugs in how it saves choices. If you are not sure how, see how to update an iPhone.

Fix 5: Check what changed recently

Settings can go back to defaults after certain events. A software update can add new options that start off, and a restore from a backup or a Reset All Settings can set the camera options back too. Users report all of these on forums. If the problem began after one of them, go back to Settings, Camera, Preserve Settings and turn your switches on again. Check Live Photo and Camera Mode first, because they are the ones most often found switched off after an update.

Fix 6: Reset all settings as a last step

If nothing else works, you can reset the iPhone's settings. This does not erase your photos, apps or data, but it does reset settings such as Wi-Fi networks, wallpaper and privacy choices, so use it last. Open Settings, tap General, tap Transfer or Reset iPhone, tap Reset, then tap Reset All Settings. Enter your passcode. Afterward, go back to Settings, Camera, Preserve Settings and turn on what you want. Menu names can differ slightly between iOS versions.

Which camera choices will always reset?

Apple's list is the limit. Anything not in Preserve Settings returns to its default. That can include things like the zoom level or a one-time choice you make for a single shot. It can also differ by model, because an iPhone without Macro Control or Action Mode simply does not show those switches. If a choice you want is not on your list, there is no setting that will keep it. In that case, the quickest habit is to set it as the first thing you do when you open the app, or to open the camera in the mode you want from the Lock Screen shortcut or Control Center.

Does Preserve Settings affect battery or storage?

Not in any way you will notice. It only tells the camera app to remember choices, so it uses no extra storage worth mentioning. One thing to think about is Live Photo. A Live Photo records a short moment around the shot, so photos take more space than a normal one. If you switch Live Photo off and keep it off, you save space over time. If you are short of storage, see how to free up iPhone storage.

Why does the iPhone camera open in the wrong mode from the Lock Screen?

The Lock Screen shortcut and the Camera app share the same settings. If Camera Mode is not preserved, the camera opens in Photo mode from every entry point. Once you turn on Camera Mode in Preserve Settings, the shortcut should open in the last mode you used. Some models also let you pick a different Action button or Control Center shortcut for the camera, which can open a specific mode, so check those if the mode seems to change depending on how you open the app.

Still resetting after all these fixes?

Check that you are on the latest iOS, that Preserve Settings really shows your switches turned on, and that you test with a full close of the app. If a setting still resets, it may not be on Apple's list for your model. If the camera itself is misbehaving, for example a black screen or a freeze, our guide on a camera that will not work covers that, and Apple Support can check the phone if it keeps acting up.