How to Use the Flashlight (Torch) on Your Samsung Galaxy

Karim is 70 years old. One evening, the lights in his house go out. It is dark in the hallway. He needs to find the front door key. The key is in a small bowl near the door, but he cannot see the bowl. He feels along the wall with one hand. He holds his phone in the other hand. The screen is bright, but the screen light only lights up a small space in front of him. It does not reach the bowl. He wishes he had a torch. He does not know that his phone already has one. It has had one all along.

If that sounds like you, this guide is for you. Your Samsung Galaxy phone has a built-in flashlight. Some people call it a torch. It is the same thing. It is a bright light on the back of your phone. You can turn it on in a few seconds. You can turn it off just as fast. You do not need to buy a torch. You do not need to download an app. You do not need to change any big setting. The light is already there, waiting in a small panel at the top of your screen.

The flashlight uses the same small light that your camera uses as a flash when you take a photo in the dark. That is why there is no separate lamp on your phone. When you turn on the torch, that small light on the back stays on, steady and bright, until you turn it off. It is strong enough to help you find keys, read a label, look under a chair, or walk safely to the door in the dark. It is not as strong as a big camping lamp, but for everyday jobs around the house, it is more than enough. Many people use it every week, sometimes every day, once they know where the button is.

Before you start, you do not need to prepare much. You need your phone, charged enough to turn on. You do not need Wi-Fi. You do not need mobile data. The torch works without the internet. It works when the power is out in your house, because the light comes from your phone battery, not from the wall. Sit or stand somewhere safe. Do not walk around in the dark while you are learning the steps for the first time. Learn the steps in a lit room first. Turn the light on, look at it, turn it off. Then you will know what to do when you really need it in the dark.

One safety note before we begin: do not shine the torch straight into your own eyes, or into someone else's eyes, and do not stare into the light. It is bright. Point it at the floor, at a wall, or at the thing you want to see. And always turn it off when you are done. A torch left on in a pocket or a bag can get warm, and it will use up your battery for no reason. Turning it off is part of using it well. We will practise that too.

Turn the torch on and off, step by step

Follow these steps in order. Take your time. Look at the words and pictures on your screen as you go.

1. Hold your phone in one hand, with the screen facing you. You do not need to open any app. You can start from your home screen, the screen you see when you first unlock your phone.
2. Put one finger at the very top of the screen. Swipe down. That means: place your finger on the top edge and drag it down, like pulling a blind down. A panel will slide down from the top. This is called the Quick settings panel. It is a row of small round buttons, called icons. Each icon stands for one quick job, such as Wi-Fi, sound, or the torch.
3. Look at the icons in the panel. Look for one that looks like a small torch, or a small flashlight. On many Galaxy phones, the word under the icon says Torch. On other phones, the word may say Flashlight. Both words mean the same button. Do not worry if your word is different from the word in this guide. Look for the picture of the torch, and for the word Torch or Flashlight under it.
4. If you cannot see the torch icon, do not give up. The panel may have more icons than fit on one screen. Swipe left on the panel with one finger, like turning a page, to see the next set of icons. The torch icon may be there. On some phones, you may need to swipe down a second time, with two fingers, to open the full panel with all the icons. Try the second swipe down if the first panel looks small. Look again for the torch picture.
5. When you find the torch icon, tap it once. Tap means a quick, light touch with one finger. The icon should change colour, or light up, to show that it is on. At the same moment, the bright light on the back of your phone should come on. Turn the phone over carefully and look. The light is on the back, near the camera. Point the back of the phone at the floor, away from your eyes, and you will see a bright circle of light.
6. Now turn it off the same way. Swipe down from the top of the screen again to open the Quick settings panel. Find the torch icon again. Tap it once more. The icon should go back to its normal colour. The light on the back should go out. Look at the back of the phone to be sure. The light must be fully off before you put the phone in your pocket or your bag. This check takes two seconds, and it saves your battery.

That is all there is to the main job. Swipe down, tap the torch, and the light comes on. Swipe down, tap it again, and the light goes off. Once you have done it twice, your fingers will remember it. Most people find that after a few days, they can turn the torch on without thinking, even in the dark. The hard part is only the first time, when you do not yet know where the button lives. Now you know. It lives in the Quick settings panel, at the top of your screen.

If the torch icon is not in the panel at all, even after you swipe left and swipe down a second time, it may simply be hidden. It is not gone. You can add it back. Look in the panel for a small pencil picture, or the word Edit, or three small dots in a corner. The exact word and place change from phone to phone, so look for a pencil or an Edit word rather than one exact spot. Tap it. You should see a list of buttons you can add to the panel, or a screen where you can drag buttons into the panel. Find the torch or flashlight button in that list. Drag it into the panel, or tap it to add it, following the words on your screen. Then look for a word like Done or Save, and tap it. Go back to the Quick settings panel. The torch icon should now be there. If you cannot find the pencil or Edit word, ask a family member to help you once. After it is added, it will stay there, and you will not need to do this step again.

Make the torch brighter or dimmer

On many Galaxy phones, you can also change how bright the torch is. You do not need this for most jobs. The normal brightness is fine for finding keys or reading a label. But if the light feels too dim in a big dark room, or too bright when you only need a little light, the brightness control can help. The way to reach it is a little different on different phones, so this section gives you two ways to look for it. Try the first way. If it does not work on your phone, try the second way.

The first way is to press and hold the torch icon. Press and hold means: put your finger on the icon and keep it there, without lifting, for about two seconds. A small screen should open for the torch. On that screen, look for a switch to turn the torch on, and a slider. A slider is a line with a small circle on it. Drag the circle to the right to make the light brighter. Drag it to the left to make it dimmer. When the brightness feels right, look for a word like Done and tap it. The torch will stay at that brightness the next time you turn it on, until you change it again.

The second way is to tap the word under the icon, not the icon itself. Open the Quick settings panel. Find the torch icon. Instead of tapping the picture, tap the word Torch or Flashlight written under the picture. On some phones, this opens the same torch screen, with a switch and a brightness slider. Use the slider the same way: right for brighter, left for dimmer, then tap Done. If tapping the word only turns the light on and off, like tapping the icon, then your phone uses the press-and-hold way instead. Neither way is wrong. They are just two doors into the same small screen, and different phones use different doors.

If you cannot find a brightness slider on your phone, do not worry. Some Galaxy models do not offer a brightness slider for the torch. The light will simply be one brightness, and that brightness is fine for everyday use. Do not download an app to get a slider. The built-in torch is enough, and extra torch apps are not needed. You will read more about that in the common mistakes section below.

Try it slowly: find the keys with Karim

Let us practise with Karim. It is evening. The lights have gone out. Karim is standing in his hallway. He needs his front door key. The key is in a small bowl near the door, but the hallway is dark. Karim does not run around in the dark. He stands still. He holds his phone in one hand. He puts one finger at the top of the screen and swipes down. The Quick settings panel slides down. He looks for the torch picture. It is on the second set of icons, so he swipes left once. There it is. The word under it says Torch. He taps it once.

The light on the back of his phone comes on. Karim points the back of the phone at the floor, near the door. A bright circle of light appears on the floor. He moves the phone slowly to the left. The light moves with it. He sees the small bowl. He sees the key inside the bowl. He picks up the key with his free hand. He smiles. He did not need to ask anyone for help. He did not need to feel along the wall in the dark. The whole job took less than a minute, once he knew where the button was.

Now Karim turns the torch off. He swipes down from the top again. He taps the torch icon once more. The light goes out. He turns the phone over and checks the back. The light is off. Only then does he put the phone in his pocket. That last check matters. If he had put the phone away with the light still on, the light would have stayed on in his pocket. It would have used his battery. It could have felt warm. The check takes two seconds. Karim does it every time, and you should too.

Now try the same practice yourself, in a lit room, so you are safe while you learn. Pick a small thing in your room, such as a key, a pen, or a coin. Put it on the floor, a few steps away. Stand where you are. Swipe down. Tap the torch icon. Point the back of your phone at the floor and move the light slowly until you can see the small thing. Walk to it and pick it up. Then turn the torch off, using the same steps, and check the back of the phone. Do this three times. The first time, go slowly and read each step. The second time, try without reading. The third time, try with the room lights dimmed, if you feel safe. By the third time, your fingers will know the way. That is the goal. When the real power cut comes, you will not need to think. You will just swipe, tap, and see.

Try one more practice in a different place. Go to a cupboard or a drawer that is hard to see into. Open it. Turn on the torch. Point the light inside. Can you read the labels on the boxes? Can you see the thing at the back? Turn the torch off. Now try reading a small label, such as the label on a medicine bottle, in dim light. Hold the phone in one hand, with the light pointing at the label, and the bottle in the other hand. Keep the light steady. Do not shine it in your eyes. Read the label slowly. If the words are still hard to read, the problem may be the size of the words, not the light. Making the text bigger on your phone will not make printed labels bigger, but a steady torch and good glasses will help you read them. Take your time. There is no rush.

When the torch does not turn on

Sometimes the torch does not turn on the first time you tap it. This is usually a small, simple reason. Work through this short list, one item at a time. Do not skip to the end. Most problems are solved by the first two items.

First, check that the Camera app is not open. The torch and the camera flash use the same small light on the back of your phone. The phone cannot use that light for two jobs at once. If the Camera app is open, or another app is using the camera, the torch may refuse to turn on. Close the Camera app. To close it, go back to your home screen, or swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see your open apps, and close the Camera app. Then try the torch again from the Quick settings panel.

Second, check your battery. If your battery is very low, the phone may save power by keeping the torch off, or the light may look dim. Charge your phone for a while, then try again. You can check how much battery you have left in the guide called How to Check How Much Battery and Storage You Have Left on Your Galaxy. A torch uses battery while it is on, so it is a good habit to turn it off as soon as you are done, and to charge your phone before a long evening when you think you may need the light.

Third, restart your phone. A restart can clear a small software hiccup. Turning a Galaxy phone off and on again is explained, step by step, in the guide called How to Turn Your Samsung Galaxy On, Off, and Restart It. After the restart, try the torch again. If the torch still does not turn on after you have closed the Camera app, charged the phone, and restarted it, the light itself may have a fault. In that case, do not keep tapping the button again and again. Ask a family member to look at it with you, or take the phone to a Samsung service centre or a trusted repair shop. Tell them exactly what you tried. That will help them help you faster.

Common mistakes

• Putting the phone away without checking that the light is off. The torch stays on until you turn it off. In a pocket or a bag, it will use battery and can feel warm. Always turn the phone over and look at the back after you tap the icon off. The light must be fully out.
• Downloading a flashlight app from an app store. You do not need one. Your Galaxy phone already has a torch built in. Extra torch apps are not needed, and some of them ask for too many permissions or show too many adverts. If a message or an advert tells you to install a torch app, ignore it. Use the built-in button in the Quick settings panel. If you are unsure whether a message about your phone is real, read How to Spot a Scam Call or Message on Your Galaxy before you tap anything.
• Thinking the bright screen is the torch. The screen light and the torch are different. The screen lights up the front of the phone. The torch is a bright light on the back, near the camera. If you are holding the screen towards the thing you want to see, you are using the wrong light. Turn the phone around, so the back faces the dark place, and the light will reach much further.
• Shining the torch into eyes. The light is bright and can hurt eyes for a moment, especially in the dark. Always point it at the floor, a wall, or the thing you need to see. Never point it at your own face, a child's face, or a pet's face. Hold it steady and low.
• Leaving the torch on as a night light all night. The torch is made for short jobs, not for all-night use. Left on for hours, it will drain the battery and the phone may feel warm. If you need light during the night, use a small plug-in night light or a bedside lamp. Use the phone torch only for a few minutes at a time, to find something or to walk safely to the door.
• Trying the torch while the Camera app is open. The torch and the camera flash share the same light. While the camera is using it, the torch button may do nothing. Close the Camera app first, then try again. This is not a fault. It is how the phone is made.
• Pressing too hard on the screen. A light tap is enough. Pressing hard does not make the button work better. It can make your finger slip and tap the wrong icon. Use a light, quick tap, and wait one second for the light to come on.

Frequently asked questions

Does the torch work when my phone screen is locked?

On many Galaxy phones, you can swipe down to open the Quick settings panel even when the screen is locked, and tap the torch icon from there. On other phones, the phone may ask for your PIN, pattern, or fingerprint first, before it lets you use the panel. Both ways are normal. If your phone asks you to unlock first, unlock it, then swipe down and tap the torch. Do not change your lock settings just to reach the torch faster. Keeping your lock is more important. Practise the unlock-then-swipe steps once, so you know them in the dark.

Will the torch drain my battery very fast?

The torch does use battery, but for a few minutes it uses only a small amount. It is the hours that drain the battery, not the minutes. If you use the torch for two or three minutes to find something, you will hardly notice the difference. If you leave it on for an hour, you will notice. Turn it off as soon as you are done, and your battery will be fine. For more simple ways to make your battery last, read How to Make Your Galaxy Battery Last Longer (simple settings).

Can I use the torch and the camera at the same time?

No, not with the same light. The torch and the camera flash share one small LED light on the back of your phone. If the camera is using the flash, the torch cannot turn on, and if the torch is on, the camera flash may not work as you expect. Use one job at a time. Turn the torch off before you open the Camera app, and close the Camera app before you turn the torch on.

Why can I not find the torch icon in my panel?

It is usually one of three reasons. First, it may be on the second set of icons, so swipe left on the panel to see more icons. Second, the panel may be small, so swipe down a second time to open the full panel. Third, the icon may be hidden and need to be added, using the pencil or Edit option in the panel. Read the step about adding a hidden icon earlier in this guide. After it is added once, it will stay in the panel.

Is it safe to use the torch every day?

Yes, for short everyday jobs it is safe. The torch is made to be used. Use it for a few minutes at a time, point it away from eyes, and turn it off when you are done. If the phone feels hot, turn the torch off and let the phone cool down. Do not use the torch while the phone is charging on a soft bed or under a pillow, where heat cannot escape. On a table, in your hand, for a few minutes, it is fine.

Does the torch need the internet or a phone signal?

No. The torch works without Wi-Fi, without mobile data, and without a phone signal. It works during a power cut, because it runs on your phone battery. That is one reason it is so useful. Keep your phone charged, learn the swipe-down steps, and you will always have a light with you.

Can I make the torch brighter?

On many Galaxy phones, yes. Press and hold the torch icon, or tap the word Torch under the icon, to open the torch screen. If your phone shows a brightness slider there, drag it to the right for brighter light, then tap Done. If your phone shows no slider, your model does not offer brightness control, and the single brightness it has is the right one for everyday use. Do not install an app to chase a brighter light.

If the words on your screen look different

Menu words may look a little different on your phone. That is normal. Samsung makes many Galaxy models. Some are A-series phones. Some are S-series phones. They do not all show the exact same words. Your phone company, called a carrier, can also change some words. Your country or region can change words too. And your One UI version matters. In October 2026, some phones use One UI 8, some use One UI 8.5, and some use One UI 9, depending on the model and the region. No one version is "the" version for every phone. On your phone, the button may say Torch, and on another phone it may say Flashlight. Both mean the same light.

If you do not see the word Torch or Flashlight in the Quick settings panel, do not panic. Swipe left in the panel to see more icons. Swipe down a second time to open the full panel. Look for the picture of a small torch, even if the word under it is different. If the picture is missing too, look for the pencil or Edit option in the panel to add it. The picture is your best guide. Words change. Pictures stay much the same. Take your time, and look slowly. The button is there. You just need to find the set of icons where it is hiding.