Having touch screens on the back of GoPros is a relatively new addition. The HERO4 Silver was the first model with a built-in screen. Before that you could add it as an accessory that clipped on the back.
But because of the way GoPros are often used–in a more rough and tumble way than your average traditional camera–it’s very easy to bump the back screen and accidentally change shooting modes or settings. It’s something I run into a lot, and it’s a pain when it happens. But there’s an easy fix: lock the back screen.
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You can do it on all the GoPros with built-in back screens, although different models do it in slightly different ways. Here I’m focusing on the HERO7 cameras. And it applies to all three cameras in the HERO7 lineup: Black, Silver, and White.
Enable/Disable Screen Lock
On the HERO7 models, the lock switch is part of the top settings menu, and you can reach it with a single swipe.1 To access it, swipe down on the back screen to show the settings menu.
You’ll see a row of icons for some shortcut functions. At far right is a padlock.
Simply tap on that to toggle whether it’s on or off. Blue is on. Gray is off. That’s it—you’re done.
You’ll get a brief display on the screen that says that the screen is locked.
So now you can use the screen as a live view to show what the lens sees, but there’s no longer any risk of accidentally switching shooting modes or changing options.
Unlock the Screen Temporarily
While the screen is locked, you can still unlock it temporarily if you want to change something. Just swipe down on the screen and tap on the blue icon on the middle. You’ll have to be quick–it only displays for about a second.
Once you’ve unlocked it this way, it’s a very temporary unlock–if you don’t touch the screen again, it will automatically re-engage the lock after about 7 or 8 seconds or so.
Changing Shooting Modes When the Screen is Locked
The new method of swiping from the main screen to change shooting modes that was introduced with the HERO7 cameras is a nice improvement for quickly switching modes. But obviously, that’s not going to work if the screen is locked. But there’s another quick way to switch shooting modes: use the power/mode button the side of the camera. Each short press will cycle to the next shooting mode. Just don’t hold the button down–that turns it into the power button.
Things Worth Knowing
Locking the screen on GoPros is purely a feature of convenience, not security. There’s no passcode or thumbprint. So it’s not a way to prevent others from using the camera in the way that locking the screen on a laptop is. It’s just designed to prevent accidental bumps and touches on the touchscreen.
- It’s also part of the top menu with the HERO6 Black and HERO5 Black, but the menu system has been tweaked for the HERO7 models, so the screen looks slightly different. ↩
Mario says
Why my 7 is overheating and will indicate “overheating” and then automatically stop recording even just less than 30 minutes of recording?
David says
There are several things that can make the risk of overheating worse. Things you can try include dropping the framerate/resolution of the video shooting. Shoot shorter clips. Make sure that there’s airflow around the camera, particularly around the lens port, rather than using a housing like he Super Suit that traps in air. And don’t use the mobile GoPro app–or rather, don’t leave it connected while shooting. If it’s still overheating too quickly after all those things, another thing to check is the memory card–some cards, particularly lesser-known brand cards, have a tendency to exacerbate heating.
Joseph Comine says
Can you tell us how to stop the 7 from freezing up due to the touch screen not being able to handle water hitting it, even in the lock mode?
This is a huge problem for underwater video and I’m surprised no one has addressed it.
David says
I’ve not run into that problem. I’ve used my HERO7 Blacks in and the around the water quite a lot, and just got back from a trip to the South Pacific where I was using them diving and snorkeling, but haven’t run into the issue of the camera locking up when water comes into contact with the screen. It might be worth contacting GoPro support directly to ask about a the possibility of a replacement–it shouldn’t be doing that, and you should obviously be able to use the camera underwater.