How to take a photo with the timer on iPhone (and Burst)

To take a photo with the timer on iPhone, open Camera, tap the Camera Controls button or swipe up from the camera modes at the bottom of the screen, tap Timer, choose 3, 5 or 10 seconds and tap the Shutter button. For Burst, swipe the Shutter button left and hold; lift your finger to stop.

Those are the steps for iOS 26 and iOS 27 in Apple’s iPhone User Guide, checked on 21 October 2026. Older versions put things in different places, so check yours first: Settings > General > About shows it next to iOS Version. Below: the exact steps, which delay to pick, how to choose the keepers from a burst, and when the built-in tools are all you need.

Set the timer (iOS 26 and iOS 27)

1. Open Camera.
2. Tap the Camera Controls button, or swipe up from the camera modes at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap Timer, then choose 3, 5 or 10. (Apple’s iOS 26 guide labels them 3s, 5s and 10s.)
4. Tap the Shutter button. The countdown starts, and the photo is taken when it ends.

To stop using the timer, open the camera controls again and tap Timer. On iOS 27 you then tap the timer icon to turn it off; on iOS 26 you tap Off. Turn it off when you’re done, or the next photo will wait for a countdown too.

On iOS 18

Apple’s guide for iOS 18 has one fewer choice: tap the Camera Controls button, tap the Timer button, choose 3s or 10s, then tap the Shutter button. If your iPhone runs something older still, Apple’s guide has a version menu at the top of each page.

Which delay to use

Delay	Use it when	Why
3 seconds	The phone is within arm’s reach: a seated shot, a close portrait, a phone on a table in front of you	It’s long enough to take your hand away, so tapping the screen doesn’t shake the shot
5 seconds	You’re two or three steps from the phone	Time to step back and settle, without a long wait between rounds
10 seconds	Full-length shots, with the phone 7–10 ft (2–3 m) away	You need to walk to your mark, turn and let your arms settle before the shutter fires

Even when you’re not in the picture, the 3-second timer is useful at night: the phone stops wobbling from your tap before it takes the photo.

Take a Burst

Burst takes photos in rapid succession for as long as you hold it, and it works with the front and back cameras.

1. Open Camera.
2. Swipe the Shutter button to the left and keep your finger on the screen.
3. Lift your finger to stop.

Swipe, don’t just press. In Photo mode, touching and holding the Shutter button (without swiping) records a video instead.

Using the volume button. Go to Settings > Camera and turn on Use Volume Up for Burst; after that, pressing and holding volume up takes a burst. Without that setting, holding a volume button in Photo mode starts a video, according to Apple’s guide.

Choosing the keepers. A burst lands in Photos as one item, so pick the frames you want to keep:

1. Tap the Burst thumbnail, then tap Burst (number). On iOS 18, tap Select.
2. Gray dots below the thumbnails mark the frames the iPhone suggests.
3. Tap the circle in the lower-right corner of each frame you want, then tap Done.

Go through the frames for one thing at a time: eyes open first, then feet in the frame, then hands relaxed.

Timer, Burst or a remote: which one to use

What you’re shooting	Use	Why
A full-length photo alone, phone propped across the room	10-second timer	Time to walk to your spot and settle
A seated or close shot with the phone in reach	3-second timer	Removes the shake from tapping
A friend is shooting you	Burst	They swipe the shutter left and hold it while you move, and you choose the frame later
A moving pose: walking, turning, a hair flip	Burst, or a remote	One countdown gives you one moment; a moving pose needs many
Many frames alone, without walking back each time	A remote	You stay in place and fire as often as you like
You blinked in the only good frame	Live Photos	You can pick a different moment afterwards (below)

Remote options Apple documents:

• Apple Watch. The Camera Remote app turns the watch into a viewfinder for the iPhone camera, so you can check your framing from where you stand. By default it shoots with a 3-second timer, which you can turn off in its settings. The watch needs to be within normal Bluetooth range of the iPhone, about 33 ft (10 m).
• AirPods. On iOS 26 or later, with supported AirPods and AirPods Pro models, turn on Camera Remote in your AirPods settings; then pressing the AirPod stem takes a photo.
• Camera Control. On iPhones that have it, a click of the Camera Control takes the photo. That helps when the phone is in your hand, not across the room.

Before you start the countdown

A timer shot fails in the setup, not in the countdown. Run through these once per location:

• Turn on Grid and Level in Settings > Camera. Line up a door frame or a wall edge with the grid so the phone isn’t leaning back.
• Lock focus and exposure on your spot. Put something where you’ll stand, then touch and hold it on screen until AE/AF Lock appears. Otherwise the camera may refocus on the background while you walk into the frame. Tap the screen to unlock it later.
• Set the brightness. In the camera controls, Exposure has a slider. Brighten a little when a bright sky behind you leaves your face dark, or in a dim room; darken when the sky turns white.
• Decide on flash. Use the Flash control in the Camera app to choose Auto, On or Off. Auto can fire when you didn’t plan on it.
• Leave Prioritize Faster Shooting on. It’s on by default in Settings > Camera and lets the iPhone keep up when you tap the shutter quickly several times, which helps when someone takes a run of single shots instead of a burst.

For where to prop the phone and how to frame a spot you’re not standing in yet, see how to take pictures of yourself.

Rescue a blink with Live Photos

If Live Photos was on, each photo also holds the moments just before and after it. To use a different moment as the photo:

1. Open the Live Photo in the Photos app and tap the Edit button.
2. Tap the Live Photo button.
3. Move the white frame along the frame viewer, tap Make Key Photo, then tap Done.

It’s a rescue, not a plan: an in-between moment can be less sharp than the frame the camera chose. Apple also notes that on iPhone 15 models and later, a Live Photo with a portrait effect loses that effect if you change its key photo.

When the built-in Camera is enough, and when an overlay helps

For most timer photos, the built-in Camera is all you need: a pose you already know, a plain wall, the phone propped at the right height. Use the steps above and take several rounds.

It gets harder when you’re copying one particular photo. With the phone across the room you can’t see the screen, so you can’t tell whether your body lands where the person in the reference does until you walk back and check. Onpose, our iPhone app, puts the reference semi-transparent over the live camera, so you can place the pose in the frame before you step in, and it has a hands-free timer and burst of its own. Our pose overlay camera guide explains how overlay apps work, and Onpose vs the iPhone Camera compares the two feature by feature.

When something goes wrong

What happens	Likely cause	Fix
You can’t find the timer	On iOS 26 and 27 it’s in the camera controls, not on the main screen by default	Swipe up from the camera modes, or tap the Camera Controls button
Every photo waits for a countdown	The timer is still on	Open the camera controls, tap Timer and turn it off
Holding the shutter records a video	Touch and hold starts a video in Photo mode	Swipe the shutter to the left instead
Holding volume up records a video	Use Volume Up for Burst is off	Turn it on in Settings > Camera
The photo is exposed for the background, not you	Exposure was set before you walked in	Lock AE/AF on your spot before starting the timer
Blurry at night	The phone moved, or you did	Brace the phone, use the 3-second timer, and hold still through the shot

The posing side, once the camera is sorted, is in how to pose for pictures.