How to Use the Camera Timer on a Samsung Galaxy

Tap the four-dot Quick controls button (next to the zoom buttons) and then the clock-shaped timer icon to choose a delay (2, 5 or 10 seconds on the Galaxy S25, according to Samsung's support page).

Press the shutter button and the camera will take a photo (or video) once the countdown ends.

Download Samsung's free Camera Assistant app to make it take a series of photos with each countdown.

How to set the timer on a Samsung camera

These steps were checked on a Galaxy S25 Ultra running One UI 9 as of November 2026. On phones with older software, look for the same clock icon at the top of the camera screen.

1. 1

   Open Quick controls

   The appearance of this panel may be different depending on the shooting mode (Samsung mentions this in the S26 user guide as well, as the preview screen changes depending on the shooting mode). To access the panel, go to Photo mode and tap the button with four dots (next to the zoom buttons).

2. 2

   Choose the delay

   Tap the clock icon in between Flash and the aspect ratio on One UI 9. You’ll get the option to choose between Off, 2, 5 and 10 seconds (Samsung only lists three delay options for the Galaxy S25, but your options may vary depending on your model). Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll see a little yellow clock icon appear in the top menu bar between Flash and 12M. This icon will show you how many seconds the delay is set to.

3. 3

   Frame and press the shutter

   Line up your shot and tap the shutter button (or a volume button, if you’ve configured the buttons that way) to take a picture. Your phone will count down and take the picture.

4. 4

   Switch it off afterwards

   If you don’t want the countdown timer to be enabled next time you take a picture, turn the timer off using Quick controls when you’re done.

Which delay to use

Two seconds after tapping your phone should be enough time for it to settle.

Ten seconds should allow you time to walk over and stand with a group of people.

Timer multi-photo options in Camera Assistant

Camera Assistant is a free app available on the Galaxy Store. After you download it, you’ll find the app’s options at the bottom of Camera settings.

Use Timer multi-photo options to choose how many photos are taken when using the camera’s timer feature and how long the interval should be between photos, according to Samsung’s UK explainer on Camera Assistant.

On a Galaxy S25 Ultra with One UI 9, you can choose to take 1, 3, 5 or 7 pictures with an interval of 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 or 3 seconds (it’s disabled if you choose 1 picture, so choose the number of pictures first). Taking 5 pictures with a 1.5-second interval should take about six seconds, which is probably enough for most groups.

If someone blinks in every frame, Galaxy AI phones offer Best face, which swaps in a better expression from a Motion photo's clip. If you want that option, leave Motion photo enabled for taking group photos. Our Camera Assistant guide covers the app's other switches.

Using the timer in Pro mode and Expert RAW

Pro mode also includes the same four-dot Quick controls button next to the lens buttons, but the Timer option can be especially useful here, since you’re manually selecting shutter speeds and flagship Galaxy phones support exposures of up to 30 seconds (some A-series and M-series phones either max out at 10 seconds or don’t offer shutter speed controls at all). Use the 2-second delay so pressing the button doesn't shake the phone, and our Pro mode guide explains the other dials.

Expert RAW is Samsung’s own app, and the Quick controls it offers are limited to Timer and Go to Settings (as of version 6.0.02.8, running on One UI 9 on a Galaxy S25 Ultra). It does have an Astrophoto mode though, found under Labs, where you choose from three different capture times (your phone must remain stationary for the entire duration). Our Expert RAW guide lists the phones where the app currently works.

Hands-free ways to take the photo

Camera settings also offer four other shutter options under Shooting methods towards the bottom of the page. And two accessories let you take pictures from afar. But if you’re right next to your phone, who needs a countdown?

On a busy street, the phone might not hear your voice commands, so the countdown timer might be a good alternative. Some Bluetooth remotes work by pretending to be a press of the volume up/down keys, which is why they depend on your volume button setting to activate. Show palm looks for your face first before starting the countdown when it sees your palm (according to Samsung's support page for Singapore). The remainder of that screen is described by our hidden camera features list.

Galaxy Watch and S Pen remotes

Open Camera Controller on your Galaxy Watch and it’ll open the Camera app on your phone, then tap Capture to take a photo. Samsung says there’s a Timer option (there’s a Timer icon in the app on the watch), and you can swipe up to toggle between front and rear cameras.

Samsung says Camera Controller works with watches up to the Watch8 series, with Galaxy S9/Note9 and later Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip series.

On phones with an S Pen that supports Air actions, you can use the S Pen button as a remote shutter. Head to Settings > Advanced features > S Pen > Air actions and set Camera app > Single press to Take picture.

According to Samsung’s Air actions info page, Air actions are supported on Galaxy S21 Ultra through Galaxy S24 Ultra and Note series phones. It says the S Pens on Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S26 Ultra don’t support Air actions.

Group photos on a timer

• Position your phone using a tripod or lean it against something at eye level. A camera at table height looks up at everyone, and our tripod guide compares full-height tripods that come with a remote.
• Leave a gap for yourself in the frame. Touch and hold on someone in the middle to lock focus and exposure, as our AE/AF lock guide shows.
• If you’re shooting a smaller group, try to use the 1x camera and stand a little further away (Samsung’s user guide even includes a note that images taken with the ultra-wide angle camera may suffer from distortion. This is especially true along the edges of the frame at .6x, where people’s faces can appear stretched).
• Position your subjects facing soft light, as bright sun behind the phone will result in squinty eyes in every photo.

Night shots and long exposures

You can also use Night mode together with the timer. Use a tripod (or lean your Galaxy against a wall) and use the camera’s timer (we suggest the two-second countdown) so you don’t shake the phone while shooting. If you’re shooting cityscapes in Pro mode, we suggest starting with ISO 50 and a shutter speed between four and 10 seconds. For other scenes, see our Night mode guide for initial values.

Note that there’s a countdown in Night mode, too, and it is beside the zoom buttons and represents the exposure time. On a Galaxy S25 Ultra, we saw an exposure time of 8 seconds in One UI 9 (November 2026) when shooting a dark scene. The Galaxy’s camera will wait out the timer’s delay and then expose for as long as Night mode’s counter indicates.

Fixing timer problems

• If the clock icon doesn’t appear in Quick controls, make sure you’re in Photo mode, because Quick controls vary depending on the camera mode you’re in.
• If you’re taking multiple photos every time you press the shutter button, check the Timer multi-photo options setting in Camera Assistant and set it back to 1.
• If the clock icon appears in yellow with a number in the top menu bar, you still have a timer set, so make sure you’ve set it back to Off.
• If your photos are still blurry, it could be that the phone moved slightly during shooting after the countdown or that the subject/object being photographed moved slightly during the length of time it took to take the photo, which means you should make sure the phone is braced firmly while shooting.
• For Show palm to work, you must be using the front camera and the phone must first recognise your face.