Table of Contents
- Contents
- Set up phone
- Learn the basics
- Personalize your phone
- Apps
- Calls, contacts, voicemail
- Photos and videos
- Music
- Battery
- Storage
- Network and internet
- Connected devices
- Other settings
- Fix a problem
Motorola moto e6 plus User Manual
Displayed below is the user manual for moto e6 plus by Motorola which is a product in the Smartphones category. This manual has pages.
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User Guide
© 2019 Motorola Mobility LLC. All rights reserved.
MOTOROLA, the stylized M logo, MOTO, and the MOTO family of marks are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. LENOVO is a trademark of
Lenovo. Google, Android, Google Play and other marks are trademarks of Google LLC.
microSD Logo is a trademark of SD-3C, LLC. All other product or service names are the
property of their respective owners.
Certain features, services and applications are network dependent and may not be available in
all areas; additional terms, conditions and/or charges may apply. Contact your service provider
for details.
All features, functionality, and other product specifications, as well as the information contained
in this help content, are based upon the latest available information and believed to be accurate
at the time of release. Motorola reserves the right to change or modify any information or
specifications without notice or obligation.
Some images in help content are examples only.
You can also read this help on your phone at Settings > Help .
i
Contents
Set up phone 1
Hardware diagram 1
Insert and remove SIM and SD cards 2
Manage dual SIMs 5
Add or remove accounts 6
Set up voicemail 7
Set up email 8
Make it yours 9
Accessibility settings 11
Visual assistance 11
Hearing assistance 13
Dexterity assistance 14
Use accessibility shortcuts 15
Learn the basics 17
About your home screen 17
About your lock screen 18
New to Android? 19
If this is your first smartphone 19
If you had an iPhone 21
About your Google account 22
Status bar icons 23
Phone terms you should know 27
Get around 29
Learn gestures 29
Use navigation bar 30
Use quick settings 30
Wake or put screen to sleep 33
Adjust volume 33
Frequently used tools 36
Turn flashlight on and off 36
Use voice commands 36
Get turn-by-turn directions 37
Use Time and Weather widget 38
Manage time spent on your phone 39
Moto E6 Plus ii
Work with text 41
Use onscreen keyboard 41
Cut, copy, paste text 43
Use voice typing 43
Fill in forms automatically 44
Personalize your phone 45
Home screen 45
Change wallpaper 45
Customize your Favorites tray 45
Add widgets, shortcuts, or folders 45
Remove widgets, shortcuts, or folders 48
Remake your home screen with launchers 49
Lock screen 50
Use a screen saver 50
Set screen lock 51
Add message to lock screen 53
Sounds 54
Set ringtones 54
Avoid interruptions with Do Not Disturb 55
Silence power on sound 57
Stop phone from speaking 58
Turn off charging sounds 58
Apps 59
About your apps 59
Use two apps at once 63
View notifications 64
Manage your apps 66
Install or update apps 66
Manage or delete apps 68
Protect against harmful apps 71
Pin your screen 71
Search and web browser 73
Search the web 73
Search your phone 74
Use camera to scan and search 75
Moto E6 Plus iii
Browse websites 76
Text messaging 79
About text and multimedia messages 79
Read, send, manage text messages 80
Add attachments 82
Save attachments from text message 83
Turn group messaging on or off 83
Change default messaging app 84
Control notifications for text messages 84
Change text message reply to incoming calls 84
Get text messages on your computer 85
Email 87
Read, send, manage emails 87
View email attachments 88
Preview inboxes from home screen 89
Add email signature 90
Control email notifications 90
Calendar app 91
About the calendar 91
Find calendar events 91
Create and manage events 92
Control notifications for calendar events 93
Clock app 94
Set alarms 94
Use timer or stopwatch 95
Set date and time 96
Calls, contacts, voicemail 98
Phone calls 98
Answer calls 98
Make calls 99
During a call 101
Make video calls 102
Make conference calls 102
Block calls and SMS 102
Turn on call waiting 104
View and delete call history 105
Moto E6 Plus iv
Contacts 107
Add contacts 107
Edit or delete contacts 108
Star your favorite contacts 109
Sort contacts 109
Share contacts 110
Voicemail 112
Use voicemail 112
Send all calls from contact to voicemail 113
Photos and videos 114
Take photos 114
Take screenshots 116
Record videos 117
Adjust camera settings 118
Use camera to scan and search 120
Delete photos and videos 121
Edit photos and videos 122
Find, share, upload 124
Find photos and videos 124
Share photos and videos 125
About wireless sharing 126
Upload photos and videos 128
Music 129
Listen to radio 129
Listen to music 130
Transfer music files 131
Connect a MIDI device 132
Battery 133
Charge phone 133
Extend battery life 133
Use Battery Saver mode 135
Replace battery 135
Moto E6 Plus v
Storage 137
About storage options 137
Manage phone storage 137
Manage SD card 139
Find downloaded files 141
Recover recently deleted files 142
Upload music to cloud 142
Upload photos and videos 143
Scan documents and make copies 143
Network and internet 145
Connect with Wi‑Fi 145
Use Airplane mode 146
Control data usage 146
Share your internet connection 148
Connect to VPNs 151
Connected devices 152
Connect with Bluetooth™ 152
Connect with Wi-Fi Direct 154
Cast screen or media to TV 154
Transfer files between phone and computer (USB) 156
Print from your phone 157
Other settings 159
Apps & notifications 159
Change app settings 159
Manage notifications 160
Turn emergency alerts off/on 162
Display 163
Stop automatic rotation 163
Adjust screen colors at night 163
Adjust screen brightness 164
Change font and display size 164
Change background color 164
Change screen timeout 165
Moto E6 Plus vi
Security & location 166
About security 166
Protect against harmful apps 167
Set up lost phone features 167
Lock and unlock phone 168
Set screen lock 168
Unlock with trusted devices 170
Unlock with your face 171
Unlock at trusted places 172
Keep phone unlocked while it's on you 173
Unlock with voice commands 174
Use fingerprint security 175
Use location services 177
Lock SIM card 178
Accounts 179
Add or remove accounts 179
Sync accounts and apps 180
Manage information in your Google account 181
System 182
Set up emergency information 182
Record your IMEI number 182
Find legal and product information 182
Customize the keyboard 183
Use multiple languages 184
Users and guests 186
Share your phone 186
Add, modify, remove users 187
Add or delete guest 188
Fix a problem 189
Hardware issues 189
Phone is slow or unstable 189
Phone feels warm or hot 189
Phone won't turn on 190
Phone restarts or crashes 191
Screen is frozen or won't respond 191
SD card problems 192
Moto E6 Plus vii
Call and SIM issues 195
Problems making/receiving calls 195
Problems during calls 197
Battery issues 200
Charging problems 200
Battery drains too fast 200
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB issues 202
Bluetooth problems 202
Wi-Fi problems 204
Can't transfer files or connect to computer 205
Account and sign-in issues 207
Forgot unlock code 207
Can't sign in to Google 207
Account sync issues 207
App issues 209
App or widget problems 209
Messaging problems 210
Camera problems 212
Maintenance procedures 214
Update Android software 214
Reset Wi-Fi, cellular data, and Bluetooth 214
Reset phone 215
Get more help 217
Moto E6 Plus viii
1. Microphone
2. LED flash
3. Back cameras
4. Fingerprint sensor
5. Microphone
6. Micro USB port for charging, transferring files, sharing connection with tethered devices.
7. Speaker
Insert and remove SIM and SD cards
About the SD card
Your phone supports a microSD card up to 512 GB.
The type to buy depends on how you'll format the card:
• If the card is for portable storage (different devices can use card), a Class 2, 4, or 6 card is
sufficient.
• If the card is for internal storage (used by phone only), use a high speed card such as
UHS-1 type for best performance. Don’t use Class 2, 4, or 6 cards, which are much slower
than your phone’s internal storage.
Learn more about storage formats.
Remove back cover
1. Put your finger in the notch at the bottom corner.
Set up phone 2
2. Pry off the cover. Don’t be afraid to use a little muscle.
Replace SIM or SD card
To insert an SD card:.
Select a compatible SD card. Slide the card to insert it.
To remove an SD card:.
First, unmount the card. Then, slide the card to remove it.
To insert a SIM card:.
Slide the SIM in, with gold contacts facing down. If you have a nano SIM, use the micro-SIM
adapter included in the box to insert it in this slot.
Set up phone 3
If your phone supports dual SIMs, remove the battery and then slide the nano SIM in, with gold
contacts facing down.
To remove a SIM card:.
Push the card from the edge of the slot, then pull to remove it.
If your phone supports dual SIMs, remove the battery, then remove the nano SIM.
Replace back cover
1. Line up the back cover over the fingerprint sensor.
2. Snap the cover on.
Set up phone 4
When two SIMs are inserted, you see at the top of the home screen. If you see ,
troubleshoot the issue.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps:
•SIM card
•SD card
Manage dual SIMs
This information applies only to phones that support dual SIM cards and have both cards
inserted.
About dual SIMs
When two SIMs are inserted:
•You see at the top of the home screen. If you see , troubleshoot the issue.
• Both SIMs can make and receive calls and text messages.
• Only the owner of the phone (not additional users or guests) can access dual SIM settings.
Set up SIMs
You can specify which SIM to use for mobile data, calls, and text messages:
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > SIM cards.
2. Select options:
• Touch Mobile data and select a SIM.
• Touch Calls and either assign a SIM or touch Ask every time.
• Touch SMS and select a SIM.
You can also touch & hold in quick settings to switch between SIMs for mobile data.
Set up phone 5
Change SIM name, color, ringtone
When two SIMs are inserted, you'll see them referenced in apps like Contacts, Messages, and
Phone. The SIM name shows your carrier and, if you're using the Personal and Work profile,
shows which it’s assigned to, but you can rename it. You can also change SIM icon color to
make them easy to differentiate.
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > SIM cards.
2. Touch the SIM to change.
3. Change settings as needed:
• To rename a SIM, touch SIM name, then type a new name.
• To change icon color, touch Color, then touch a color.
• To change the SIM's ringtone, touch Phone ringtone, then select a ringtone.
Add or remove accounts
Add Google account
When you set up your phone, you were prompted to add a Google account. If you skipped this,
be sure to set one up now so you can download apps from Play Store, get a customized
information feed, and take full advantage of the Calendar, Gmail, and other apps included with
your account.
To add a Google account:
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Accounts > Add account.
3. Touch Google and follow the onscreen instructions to add an existing account or to create
a new one.
4. Once the account is added, Calendar , Contacts , and other account features and apps are
updated with information from that account. You can review and change what syncs with
your phone for that account.
Tip: Keep your apps up-to-date. To see if newer versions of the apps associated with your
Google account are available, open the Play Store app and touch > My apps & games.
Add non-Google account
Non-Google accounts are automatically added when you:
• Set up corporate email
Set up phone 6
• Set up personal email for non-Gmail addresses
• Install apps that require a username/password to log in, such as messaging, shopping, or
streaming content
To review these accounts or add another:
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Accounts > Add account.
3. Touch the type of account to add and follow the onscreen instructions.
If you don't see the type of account you want to add, install the related app from Play Store,
then sign into your account through the app.
4. Once the account is added, account-related features and apps are updated with
information from that account. To review and change what syncs with your phone, touch
the account type, then account name.
Remove account
If you remove an account, information you synced will be removed from your phone, but it is not
deleted from your account.
To remove other accounts:
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Touch the account name.
3. Touch REMOVE ACCOUNT.
Tip: If you have trouble removing a corporate account, go to Settings > Security &
location > Advanced > Device admin apps and remove the checkmark for the account,
then try to remove it again.
Set up voicemail
Set voicemail password
Contact your carrier for help setting or recovering your password/PIN for voicemail.
Set mailbox greeting
Your carrier provides and manages your voicemail.
To set your greeting:
Set up phone 7
1. Touch > .
2. Touch & hold to dial into your mailbox.
3. Follow your carrier’s system prompts. If your voicemail is not set up, contact your carrier for
instructions.
Change voicemail options
1. Touch > > Settings.
(If you don't see , swipe down on the screen.)
2. Touch Voicemail.
3. Touch Advanced Settings.
4. If you have dual SIMs, touch the SIM for the account to change.
5. Change any of the options:
• To change voicemail service from your provider to another voicemail service or app,
touch Service.
• To change the number dialed to access voicemail, touch Setup.
Set up email
Set up personal email
You can add multiple email accounts of the following types:
• Gmail
• Personal email from other providers (IMAP/POP)
If you added a Google account on your phone:
• When you open the Gmail app for the first time, you'll see your email for that account.
You're already set up.
•To set up additional accounts, open Gmail and touch > Settings > Add account.
If you didn’t add a Google account to your phone and want to set up email for an IMAP/POP
provider (an address that's not Gmail):
1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Follow the onscreen instructions to enter your email address, password, and account
options.
If you have problems setting up the account, read Google's help for Gmail .
Set up phone 8
Set up corporate email
If you use Microsoft Office Outlook on your work computer, your phone can synchronize emails,
calendar events, and contacts with the Microsoft Exchange server. Before you start, you'll need
the following information from your company's IT department:
• Email address
• Email password
• Domain name
• Username
• Server name
• Security type/SSL settings
• Client certificate requirement
To set up corporate email:
1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Do one of the following:
• If this is your first time opening the Gmail app, touch Add another email address.
•If you have been using Gmail with another account, touch > Settings > Add
account.
3. Touch Exchange and Office 365.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to enter your email address, password, and other
information from your company's IT department.
Switch account views
In the Gmail app, touch your profile icon, then select an account.
To open each inbox with one touch from your home screen, add task shortcuts:
1. Touch & hold .
2. Drag for each account to a blank space on your home screen.
Make it yours
Now that you're up and running (battery charged, contacts imported, accounts added), it's time
for fun:
• Set the wallpaper.
Set up phone 9
• Assign ringtones or photos to friends you call.
• Find some games.
• Play some music.
• Start taking and sharing those selfies.
To protect your phone, be sure to:
• Set up a screen lock.
• In case you ever lose your phone, set up Find My Device and record your IMEI number.
You'll probably also want to:
• Set up your Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections.
• If you use multiple languages, set them up so they appear on your keyboard.
• Set your schedule for Do Not Disturb , to automatically silence your phone when you don't
want to be interrupted.
Tip: If you’ve forgotten your new number, go to Settings > System > About phone >
Phone number.
Set up phone 10
Visual assistance
Adjust colors if you’re color blind
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch Color correction and turn Use color correction on .
3. Touch Correction mode and choose an option.
How you see colors Option to choose
It’s difficult to tell violet from blue. Yellow and green
appear redder.
Deuteranomaly (red-green)
Colors aren’t bright. Red, orange, and yellow appear
greener.
Protanomaly (red-green)
It’s difficult to tell yellow and red from pink. Blue
appears greener.
Tritanomaly (blue-yellow)
Color correction is an experimental feature and might not work correctly everywhere on your
phone.
Use magnification gestures and icon
You can magnify the screen by triple tapping it or by touching by the navigation buttons.
To enable these gestures and add the icon:
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Magnification.
2. Adjust settings as needed:
•To use gestures to zoom in and out, touch Magnify with triple-tap and turn it on .
•To add , touch Magnify with button and turn it on .
Then, use these gestures:
•To zoom in/out, touch or triple-tap the screen.
•To zoom temporarily, touch , then touch & hold anywhere on the screen. Drag to move
around the screen, then lift your finger to zoom out.
• To scroll while zoomed in, drag two fingers across the screen.
Set up phone : Accessibility settings 11
• To adjust the zoom, pinch fingers together or apart.
You can't zoom in on the keyboard or the buttons.
Tip: You can also adjust font and display size.
Hear or feel when you touch the screen
1. Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced.
2. Do any of the following:
• To hear a tone when you dial a number, turn on Dial pad tones.
• To hear a click when you lock or unlock the screen, turn on Screen locking sounds.
• To hear a click when you touch something on the screen, turn on Touch sounds.
• To feel a vibration when you type on the keyboard, turn on Touch vibration.
• To hear a tone when your phone starts, turn on Power on sounds.
Hear notification sounds
You can assign a ringtone for notifications from specific apps.
You can also control sounds used to notify you of other events:
1. Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced.
2. To hear when your phone begins charging and reaches a full charge, turn Charging
sounds on .
Use TalkBack to read screens
Hear descriptions of everything you touch.
Enable TalkBack.
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch TalkBack and turn Use service on .
3. Touch Settings and set the options you want.
When TalkBack is on.
• Touch an item. Your phone speaks the name.
• Start typing. Your phone speaks each number or letter.
• Drag status bar down. Your phone speaks all of the notifications.
Set up phone : Accessibility settings 12
• Open a message, file, or book. Your phone reads the text out loud.
Change readout volume.
•Press a Volume button to open volume settings, then use the slider to adjust the level.
• Or, during voice readout, repeatedly press a Volume button.
Stop readout.
To pause or resume readout, press & hold both the Volume Up and Down buttons at the same
time for three seconds, until you hear confirmation that TalkBack is on or off. You can change
the accessibility feature associated with this shortcut.
Or, turn TalkBack off:
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch TalkBack and turn Use service off .
More assistance
You can also:
• Use voice commands
•Dictate text for messages
Hearing assistance
Use volume booster for speaker
1. Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced.
2. Touch Sound enhancement.
3. Turn BesLoudness on .
Turn on video captions
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch Captions and turn Use service on .
3. Specify options (language, text size, and style) for closed captioning.
Suppress background noise during calls
1. Touch .
Set up phone : Accessibility settings 13
2. Touch > Settings > Accessibility.
3. Turn Noise Reduction on .
Set up TTY device
Not all carriers support this feature.
For text-based communication, you can use text messaging and email.
If you prefer to connect to a TTY device:
1. Touch .
2. Touch > Settings > Accessibility > TTY mode.
3. Select a mode:
•TTY Full: Type and read text on your TTY device.
•TTY HCO: Type text on your TTY and listen to voice replies on your phone.
•TTY VCO: Speak into your phone and read text replies on your TTY.
4. Connect your phone and TTY with the audio cord that came with your TTY.
Dexterity assistance
External switch or keyboard
If you’re unable to use a touchscreen, Switch Access lets you control the phone using external
switches or keyboard keys to select items, scroll, enter text, and more.
To use Switch Access, you must have one of the following:
•An external switch. USB or Bluetooth switch devices send keystroke signals to your
phone.
•An external keyboard. Standard USB or Bluetooth keyboards can work as switch devices
by assigning one or more keys to actions.
Connect the external device to your phone using the manufacturer’s instructions. Learn more
about connecting with Bluetooth.
Set up Switch Access
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch Switch Access.
3. Turn Use service on .
Set up phone : Accessibility settings 14
4. Follow onscreen instructions to select:
• Number of switches
• Scanning options
• Switch assignments
To adjust Switch Access later:
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch Switch Access > Settings.
3. Adjust options.
Use Switch Access
• To start scanning and highlighting items on the screen, press the assigned switch or key.
• To select a highlighted item, press the assigned switch or key, then press the switch or key
assigned to select options.
Use accessibility shortcuts
Use accessibility menu
Get quick access to an accessibility menu that gives you better control of your phone.
To add the icon:
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch Accessibility Menu.
3. Turn Use service on .
To use the menu:
1. At the bottom of the screen, touch .
If you've set other accessibility tools to use this icon, touch & hold it to switch between
tools.
2. Choose an option from the menu.
Use Volume to control accessibility feature
You can use the Volume buttons to turn an accessibility feature of your choice ( TalkBack ,
Switch Access ) on or off.
To enable the shortcut:
Set up phone : Accessibility settings 15
1. Go to Settings > Accessibility.
2. Touch Volume key shortcut.
3. Turn Use service on .
4. To change the accessibility feature associated with the shortcut, touch Shortcut service.
5. To use the Volume buttons from the lock screen, turn Allow from lock screen on .
To use the shortcut:
Press and hold the Volume Up and Down buttons at the same time for three seconds.
You'll hear confirmation that the feature has been turned on or off.
Set up phone : Accessibility settings 16
About your home screen
You see the home screen when you turn on and unlock your phone.
You can add more pages to the right as needed. To add a page, drag an app shortcut or widget
to the edge of an existing page and place it on the new page.
Swipe right or left to move between pages.
Here are the parts of your home screen:
1. Status bar: Displays the time and icons that tell you about your phone's battery and
network connections. Swipe down to see your notifications and quick settings.
2. Widget: You can add widgets to your home screen for quick access to information or
frequent tasks.
3. Shortcut: You can add shortcuts to open apps or web pages you use frequently.
4. App list: Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to see the list of all your apps.
5. Favorites tray: Provides one touch access to your most-used apps from any home screen
page. You can customize which apps appear here. To open the list of all your apps, swipe
up from the bottom of the home screen.
6. Navigation bar: Use gestures to move between apps and screens. You can replace the bar
with the navigation icons instead.
7. Folder: Add folders to organize app shortcuts.
If you want an entirely new look and feel for your home screen, you can use a different
launcher. For a less drastic renovation, just change the wallpaper.
Learn the basics 17
About your lock screen
The lock screen appears when you're using a screen lock and you turn on or wake your phone.
Tip: If you're using Moto Display, you'll see those notifications before you get to your lock
screen.
From the lock screen, you can:
•View and respond to notifications. Double touch one to open it.
•Open your quick settings. Swipe down from top of screen.
•Start a voice search. Swipe right.
•Open the camera. Swipe left.
•Go into Lockdown . Temporarily turn off notifications and fingerprint unlocking.
You can customize your lock screen to:
• Control which notifications, if any, appear.
• Add your name or a short message.
Learn the basics 18
If this is your first smartphone
Learn the basics
To get around your phone, here are the key concepts.
•Use to move between screens.
• In addition to touching the screen to select items, you can use other gestures, such as
pinch to zoom.
• The icons at the top of your home screen tell you important stuff at a glance, like your
phone’s battery level and network connection, and whether you’ve missed a call.
• Your phone and apps send you notifications for things like new messages, calendar events,
and upcoming alarms. You’ll find notifications in several places, and can do a lot with them.
To learn about these common tasks, touch one below:
•Answer a call.
•Make a call.
•Set an alarm.
•Turn the flashlight on/off.
•Listen to music.
If you’re looking for different instructions, touch at the top of this page and type a search
term.
Get apps
Your phone comes with many fun and useful apps, but you can really unlock its power by
installing apps that suit your lifestyle. Go to Play Store to explore free and paid apps that help
you be more productive, organized, informed, in touch, and entertained.
Protect your phone
You carry your phone around with you, and accidents happen; phones get lost sometimes. So
set up some security and prevent heartache if you and your phone become separated.
Set up a screen lock. This is your first line of defense in keeping your sensitive information
safe. Prefer numbers, shapes, words? Set up a PIN, pattern, or password required to unlock
your phone. Learn how.
A screen lock doesn't prevent you from immediately answering a call or accessing your camera.
Display your owner info. On your lock screen, you can discreetly display a “please return”
message with some of your contact info so that, if your phone is lost, someone can to return it
to you. Learn how.
Learn the basics : New to Android? 19
Enable lost phone features. For peace of mind, check out Find My Device , in case you ever
need to remotely locate and lock or erase your phone.
Personalize your phone
While changing your wallpaper is probably your first customization, don't stop there. Be sure to
explore your Settings to set ringtones, font sizes, data usage preferences, keyboard
preferences, and much more. It's a great way to learn many of your phone's capabilities while
customizing it to suit your needs.
In most apps you can touch or for app-specific settings. Be sure to see what options are
available to you there, too.
Manage cellular data
Understand your data usage. Keep an eye on your data usage and learn how to make the
most of it. See which apps use large amounts of data and adjust their settings. If your phone is
using too much data, you can also stop accounts from auto-syncing.
Use Wi-Fi to conserve cellular data. When you connect to a Wi-Fi network, your data will use
that network connection instead of your carrier's network, saving your cellular data for when you
need it. Learn how to connect to Wi-Fi networks.
Useful to know
Find phone info. To find your phone number, device name, and other information, go to
Settings > System > About phone.
Tell your phone what to do. Use your phone hands-free with voice commands. Tell it to
navigate you, and listen to it speak the directions to you as you drive--it'll even reroute you if
you've gone off course. Tell it to set alarms, find information on the web, make calls.
Never miss a photo opportunity. Automatically open the camera right from your lock screen.
Swipe left. You can automatically back up your photos and videos with your Google account
or with other photo sharing apps available from Play Store .
Store your stuff. You have several storage options. Store apps and content on your phone. For
more storage space, use an SD card for photos, videos, and music. You can open stored items
in associated apps, like Photos to see your photos and videos. For even more storage space,
plus the ability to access your media and files from any internet-connected device (phone,
computer, tablet), use cloud storage. Your Google account includes free cloud storage on Drive,
which has its own app and is also available from the menu throughout other apps.
Wi-Fi hotspot. You can use your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot to share your internet connection
with your other devices that need internet access (for example, a laptop or tablet).
Reboot phone. In the unlikely event that your phone becomes unresponsive, frozen, shows a
blank or black screen, or doesn't respond to the Power button, you can reboot it. Press and hold
the Power button for 7 - 10 seconds. The phone will restart normally.
Learn the basics : New to Android? 20
Certain features, services, and applications are network or carrier dependent and may not be
available in all areas.
If you had an iPhone
Welcome to Android! Here are some differences between your old iPhone and your new phone.
Your assistant: You've retired Siri. Now, find info and get things done with Google Assistant.
Just set up “OK, Google”. Then ask for info or help with everyday tasks.
Apps:
• Goodbye Apple App Store, hello Google Play Store. Play Store is now your default app
store. Apps aren't compatible between iPhone and Android. However, many developers
make iPhone and Android versions of their apps; if the app stores your data online, then
you can switch with little effort. Just download the Android version from Play Store and log
in.
• Keep on making video calls. Use the Duo app to make video calls with friends who have
iPhones or Android phones.
• Continue listening to podcasts. You can listen with the Play Music app. Or, there are lots of
podcast apps on Play Store - search for “podcast” in Play Store and download one of your
choice.
• Install apps remotely. On a computer, visit play.google.com. Browse apps on the bigger
screen and then install them on your phone from your computer.
Your home screen:
• On your old iPhone, your home screen was far left. Now, you start with one home screen
and can add more pages to the right as needed.
• Your old phone showed all apps on your home screen. With your new phone, you can put
shortcuts to your most important apps on your home screen for easy access. Or, find your
full list by swiping up from your favorites tray. This frees up room on your home screen for
widgets, making your new home much more lively.
• In addition to apps, Android has widgets that stream information to you. For example,
widgets can provide weather updates or upcoming calendar events.
• Like your old iPhone, you'll see notifications at the top of the screen, which you can swipe
down to review. But on your new phone, you can swipe them left or right to dismiss them.
Quick access to settings: On your old iPhone, to adjust settings you opened a Settings app.
You can still do that. But now you've also got quick settings. Swipe down from the top of the
screen for easy access to toggles for airplane mode, Wi-Fi, and other frequently-used settings.
In the cloud: Your Google account is your key to cloud storage with Google. If you migrated
your contacts to your phone, then you can see them from any device or computer by logging
into Gmail. Your Google account includes apps like Calendar and Drive that let you work well
Learn the basics : New to Android? 21
with others. And it has apps that let you play too - access your photos, videos, music from any
device when you log in with your Google account. Use Play Music to upload your iTunes library.
About your Google account
Benefits of your account
When you set up your phone, you added a Google account. If you haven't had a Google
account before, this is more than just a password you set up for your phone.
A Google account lets you organize and access your personal information and files from any
computer or mobile device:
•Synchronize everything. Never lose your contacts. Associate them with your Google
account if you create them on your phone, and view them from Gmail on any computer or
by signing into your Google account on any phone. Create emails or calendar events on
your phone and view them on any computer. Access your browser bookmarks from any
device.
•Store in the cloud. Upload your photos, videos, and music to the cloud; get to all of it
without taking up space on your phone.
•Keep your stuff secure. Your account password secures it all and lets you access it from
anywhere.
Maintaining your account
Other than remembering your password, you don’t need to do much maintenance on your
Google account - just enjoy the benefits of your secure, synchronized information. However,
you can:
• Control how frequently your phone syncs your information.
• Review and manage the information Google collects from you, such as search and
browsing history.
Learn about Google apps
Many Google apps, like Gmail , Chrome , Photos , and Maps are pre-loaded on your phone. To
learn about and download additional Google apps, read Google’s information.
Can't sign in to Google account
If you’re having problems signing in to your account, read Google's support information.
Learn the basics : New to Android? 22
Status bar icons
About status icons
The status bar at the top of the home screen contains icons that help you monitor your phone.
•On the left, icons tell you about apps, such as new messages or downloads. If you don't
know what one of these icons means, swipe the status bar down for details.
•On the right, icons tell you about your phone's battery level and network connections.
A dot means there are more icons to view. Drag down from the top of the screen to see all
icons.
What status icons mean
These are the icons from apps that came on your phone and the phone status icons.
Icon Meaning
CALLS
Active call.
Missed call.
Speakerphone on.
Microphone muted.
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NETWORK
Connected to cellular/mobile network (full signal). Speed of your network connection is
also shown. For example, or . Possible speeds, from slowest to fastest, are
1X, 2G, 3G, H, H+, 4G. Available speeds depend on your carrier and your location.
Poor connection to cellular/mobile network.
Connected to different cellular/mobile network (roaming).
Data Saver is on, preventing apps from using background data.
Wi‑Fi network within range.
Connected to Wi‑Fi network.
Poor connection to Wi‑Fi network.
No SIM card.
Location services are in use.
Airplane mode on.
CONNECTIVITY
Bluetooth on.
Trusted device connected.
Your phone is a Wi‑Fi hotspot. Devices can connect to share your data connection.
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Wireless display or adaptor connected.
Connected by USB cable.
USB tethering enabled.
NFC enabled. Only some versions of this phone, sold in certain countries, support this
feature.
SYNC AND UPDATES
App updates are available for download from Play Store.
App successfully installed from Play Store.
Email and calendar sync in progress.
Upload complete.
Download complete.
Google backup in progress.
Google backup complete.
SOUND
Vibrate.
Song playing.
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OTHER ICONS
More notifications available.
Screenshot is available.
Apps that you download might show other icons to alert you about their status.
Certain features, services, and applications are network or carrier dependent and may not be
available in all areas.
Phone terms you should know
Airplane mode. A mode allowing access to a device’s non-wireless functions (e.g., music,
games, etc.), while disabling its wireless radio functions that are banned on airplanes during
flight.
app. Software that you can download for added functionality, such as games, email apps, bar
code scanners and more. Some apps are already on your phone, and more can be downloaded
from your phone's app store.
Bluetooth™. A short-range wireless technology you can use to connect a device to other
nearby Bluetooth-capable devices and accessories, such as headsets, speakers, printers, etc.
Use Bluetooth to make handsfree calls on a headset or in your car, listen to music on wireless
speakers, use a wireless mouse or keyboard, or print a document in another room. Set up
Bluetooth.
cellular network or mobile network. A network of radio-transmitting towers. You make calls
on your phone using radio waves sent between the phone and the network towers. You also
send data and access the Internet on this network. Carriers use different technologies to handle
these radio transmissions (GSM, CDMA, Edge, 3G, 4G, LTE, HSPA, iDEN).
data. Information sent or received from your phone other than calls and text messages. You
may use data when you access the internet, check your email, play games, use apps and more.
Background tasks, such as syncing or location services, may also use data.
data usage. The amount of data your phone uploads or downloads over a network in a given
period. Your phone uses your carrier's cellular network or over a Wi-Fi network. Depending on
your plan with your carrier, you may be charged additional fees when your data usage exceeds
your plan's monthly limits.
GPS. Global Positioning System. A global satellite-based system for determining precise
locations on Earth.With GPS, your phone becomes your navigator when you're driving and your
concierge when you're looking for a nearby meal, movie, or cup of coffee.
Learn the basics : New to Android? 27
mobile hotspot. A device or app that lets you share your mobile data connection with multiple
devices via Wi‑Fi. You can connect different devices to your hotspot, including notebooks,
netbooks, MP3 players, cameras, Smartphones, and portable gaming systems. The number of
devices that can connect at one time depends on your carrier and connection speed.
notification. An alert from your phone or an app on your phone. Your phone displays icons in
the status bar to notify you of new messages, calendar events and alarms. Icons can also
indicate ongoing status, such as connection to a Wi‑Fi network.
Play Store. Google's store where you can download apps, books, movies, and music. Choose
from an assortment of free books or apps; purchase from an even larger selection.
SD card. Secure Digital (SD) card. A small, high-capacity removable memory card used in
small, portable devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and digital cameras.
short cut. An icon you can add to your home screen that lets you quickly open an app. Create
short cuts for apps you use frequently.
SIM card. Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. A card that securely stores information your
carrier uses to authenticate your phone on the cellular network.
software update. An update to your phone's operating system that typically includes new
features and fixes reported problems. The update is wirelessly downloaded to your phone at no
additional cost to you.
status bar. Thin bar at the top of your home screen that displays the time and icons that tell
you about your phone's battery and network connections. Apps display icons in the status bar to
alert you of events, such as new messages.
sync. The process of sharing the same information across multiple devices and websites.
Contacts, calendars and email are often synced through cloud services, so you can enter
information on one device and access it through another.
Visual Voice Mail. An app that lets you see a list of your voice mail messages and manage
them without having to dial into the traditional voice mail system. You can listen to, reply to,
erase, and archive your messages. You can also call back, text, and add new contacts.
widget. An element you can add to your home screen that gives you quick access to
information or frequent tasks. For example, widgets can provide weather updates, upcoming
calendar events. Many are preinstalled on your phone. Apps you download may also include
widgets.
Wi‑Fi. A short-range wireless technology that provides a high-speed internet connection to
wireless data devices. Many locations offer Wi-Fi connections, including airports, hotels,
restaurants and more. Using a Wi-Fi connection instead of your cellular network can help
reduce your cellular data usage. Some public Wi-Fi connections may not be secure. You should
only connect to those you trust and use some form of internet security on your devices. Set up
Wi-Fi.
Certain features, services, and applications are network or carrier dependent and may not be
available in all areas.
Learn the basics : New to Android? 28
Learn gestures
Gesture Description
Touch Press with one finger and lift.
Result: Open something (app or email) or choose something (checkbox, icon).
It’s like clicking a mouse on a computer.
Touch &
hold Press and wait before lifting one finger.
Result: Select something (app icon, text on a page) and see possible actions.
Try it: Touch & hold text on this page to see the copy feature.
Drag Touch & hold an item and then, without lifting, slide your finger until you reach the
target position.
Result: Move elements on the screen; for example, change a toggle from ON to
OFF.
Try it: Drag an app shortcut or widget from one spot on your home screen to
another.
Swipe Quickly move one finger across the screen, without pausing when you first touch
(so you don’t drag instead).
Result: Switch between home screens or between tabs in an app. Or, move
quickly through a list.
Try it: Open the Phone app and swipe left/right to switch between tabs.
Pinch out to
zoom Put two fingers on the screen and then drag them apart.
Result: Zoom in to see larger version of photos and maps. Or, open expandable
notifications.
Try it: Open a photo and pinch out to zoom in on an area.
Tip: If you have visual impairments, you can enable additional magnification
gestures.
Learn the basics : Get around 29
Pinch in to
zoom Put two fingers on the screen, far apart, and then drag them together.
Result: Zoom out to see smaller version of photos or maps. Or, close expandable
notifications.
Use navigation bar
Navigate with one finger
Use these gestures with the navigation bar to move between screens and apps.
• To see recently used apps, swipe up from the bottom of any screen. Touch one to enter the
app.
• To see all apps, drag up slowly from the bottom of any screen.
•To switch between the two most recently used apps, swipe right.
•To go back, touch .
Use navigation icons
If you want the navigation icons at the bottom of the screen instead of :
1. Settings > System > Gestures > Swipe up on Home button
Then, use the icons at the bottom of your home screen:
takes you back one screen.
returns you to the home screen from any app.
lets you switch between recent apps.
lets you open an accessibility menu. Appears after you enable accessibility settings.
Use quick settings
Open quick settings
Settings you adjust frequently, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are “quick settings”, easy to get to from
any screen.
To see your first few quick settings, swipe down once from the top of your screen.
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Battery Saver
Mobile data
Airplane mode
Cast
Data Saver . Appears after you turn on Data Saver the first time.
Dim your screen at night. Appears after you turn on Night Light the first time.
Wi-Fi hotspot. Appears after you turn on hotspot the first time.
SIM card
You can also slide to adjust screen brightness.
Open all settings
To open the full list of all settings, do one of the following:
•Open quick settings and touch .
•Or, open the Settings app.
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Tip: You can search the Settings app to find what you need quickly. Just touch at the top
of the app and type your search term.
Customize quick settings
You can rearrange quick settings, putting your most used at the top. You can also add or
remove them.
1. Open quick settings.
2. Touch .
3. Drag to add or remove one.
To return quick settings to its original state, touch > Reset.
Tip: You can also change the background color to be light or dark.
Wake or put screen to sleep
To save battery power, your screen automatically goes to sleep if you haven't used it for a while.
You can adjust the amount of time before your screen should sleep.
To wake sleeping screen:
• Press the Power button. If you've set up a screen lock, you need to unlock it.
• Your screen automatically wakes when you have an incoming call.
To put screen to sleep:
• Briefly press the Power button. When you set down your phone, it's good habit to do this.
You save a bit of battery and keep it secure with the screen lock.
• To keep your screen off and phone quiet when you don't want interruptions, like at night,
use Do Not Disturb settings.
Adjust volume
Volumes you can control
Your phone has independent settings for these volumes:
• Call
• Media (music, video, games)
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•Alarm
• Ringtone for incoming calls and notifications
Adjusting one volume won't affect the others, so you can crank up the tunes without making
incoming callers sound like they’re shouting.
Turn volume up or down
When you're on a call, press the Volume buttons to adjust the volume level of the other person
on the call.
When you're not on a call, press the Volume buttons to adjust the media volume.
To adjust other volumes at any time:
1. Press a Volume button.
2. Touch .
3. Slide to adjust the volume levels:
Level Sounds affected
Music, videos, games, and other media
Volume of the other person on a call
Phone calls, notifications
Alarm
Tip: To silence notifications and allow phone calls to ring, go to Settings > Sound > Default
notification sound and select None.
Silence ringing phone
Press the Power or Volume Down button.
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Prevent phone from ringing
• To quickly switch to vibrate, press & hold the Power + Volume Up buttons until you feel a
vibration and see .
Want to silence your phone instead of vibrating? Go to Settings > System > Gestures.
Touch Prevent ringing > Press Power & Volume Up together > Mute.
•To switch to silent or vibrate , press a Volume button, then touch above the
volume slider.
• To automatically silence your phone during a certain time (e.g. every Tuesday from 11:00 to
noon), set up Do Not Disturb .
Adjust accessibility volume
When TalkBack is on, to change the volume of spoken feedback:
1. Press a Volume button.
2. Move the slider.
Fix a problem
What's wrong?
•Phone isn't ringing
•People can't hear me on calls
Learn the basics : Get around 35
Turn flashlight on and off
To turn your flashlight on or off:
1. Open quick settings.
2. Touch or .
Use voice commands
Train launch phrase
1. Open the Google app, then touch More > Settings > Voice > Voice Match.
2. Turn on Access with Voice Match and follow the onscreen instructions to record your
voice.
Speak a command
Not all languages support voice commands.
Tell your phone to call people, get directions, send messages, set alarms. The possibilities are
enormous.
1. From the home screen or when you've started a search, say “OK, Google.”
2. When the phone responds, say the command (for example, “Call Elise” or “Set alarm for 7
AM tomorrow”).
Tip: To see a list of commands, say “Help.”
3. Some commands cause your phone to speak a response to you. To stop the phone from
speaking, touch .
Fix a problem
If your phone isn't recognizing “OK, Google” commands:
1. Open the Google app.
2. Touch More > Settings > Voice > Voice Match.
3. Touch Voice Match > Retrain voice model.
Learn the basics : Frequently used tools 36
Get turn-by-turn directions
Navigation and battery life
Navigation is one of the most power-intensive apps, so keep your phone plugged into a high-
quality car charger, especially if you're streaming music and/or using Bluetooth (also power-
intensive features).
Use Directions widget
1. Before you hit the road, add a Maps Directions widget to your home screen, and you'll have
directions to any destination you choose.
2. When you're ready to roll, just touch the widget, and your phone will talk you through the
directions.
Tip: Combine your Directions widgets into a folder on your home screen.
Get directions to home or work
Get directions from anywhere to your home or work addresses with one touch by setting up a
task shortcut for the Maps app:
1. Touch & hold .
2. Drag to a blank space on your home screen.
3. If you haven't set your home or work address yet in Maps, touch the shortcut and follow the
onscreen instructions to add it.
When you're ready to roll, just touch the shortcut, and your phone will talk you through the
directions.
Use voice commands to get directions
Tell your phone to provide directions to a destination:
1. Say your launch phrase.
2. Say “Navigate to [destination].”
Learn the basics : Frequently used tools 37
Use Time and Weather widget
Add widget to home screen
Put a clock on your home screen and get quick access to alarms, your calendar, and the
weather.
1. Touch & hold the home screen.
2. Touch Widgets.
3. Touch & hold the Time and Weather widget, then drag it to a home screen page.
Set or delete alarms
1. Touch the time.
2. Do one of the following:
•To use an existing alarm, switch it on . Touch to view or edit its ringtone.
•To add a new alarm, touch and set the time and ringtone.
•To delete an alarm, touch next to it, then touch .
3. To control general alarm settings, like alarm volume and snooze duration, touch >
Settings.
When an alarm is set, shows in the status bar.
Manage cities for weather forecasts
The Time and Weather widget displays current temperature for your location or for a city you
specify.
To display the temperature for your current location:
1. Do one of the following:
• Touch Add cities.
•Or, touch the current temperature, then touch > .
2. Turn Current location on.
Learn the basics : Frequently used tools 38
Tip: To switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius, touch Temperature unit.
To see a forecast, touch the current temperature on the widget.
To add a city:
1. Do one of the following:
• If you haven't added locations yet, touch Add cities.
•Or, touch the current temperature, then touch .
2. Touch Add new location.
3. Enter a city name or ZIP code, then touch .
4. Touch the city to add.
Tip: To switch between forecasts for multiple cities, touch the temperature, then swipe
left or right.
To remove a city:
1. Touch the temperature.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Touch next to the city's name.
View your calendar
Touch the current date to open your calendar, where you can view or add upcoming events.
Manage time spent on your phone
Understand your habits
1. Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing.
2. Review the chart to see:
• Time you spent using phone today
• Which apps you’ve had on screen and for how long
• How often you unlocked the phone today
• How many notifications you’ve gotten
Learn the basics : Frequently used tools 39
3. For more information, touch a label on the chart. For example, to see your screen time for
the week, touch today’s usage time.
Tip: To find Digital Wellbeing as an app, turn on Show icon in the app list.
Limit daily time spent in an app
You can set a time for the maximum time you can use an app each day.
To set an app timer:
1. Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing.
2. Touch the chart.
3. Next to the app you want to limit, touch .
4. Set the total time that you can use the app per day.
When you reach your time limit in an app:
• The app closes.
• Its icon dims and no longer opens the app.
The app timer resets at midnight. To use the app before midnight, go to Settings > Digital
Wellbeing, touch the app in the chart, then delete the timer.
Make it easier to put your phone away
You can schedule changes to get ready for sleep.
1. Go to Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Wind Down.
2. Turn on Use Wind Down.
3. Adjust start and end times if needed.
4. Set what your phone should do during this scheduled time:
• Remove screen colors (turn on Grayscale).
• Silence your phone (turn on Do Not Disturb ).
Learn the basics : Frequently used tools 40
Use onscreen keyboard
Open, close, resize keyboard
To open the keyboard, just touch an area where you can enter text or numbers.
To close the keyboard so you can see other parts of the screen, touch .
To make the keyboard larger, turn your phone horizontally. If your screen doesn’t rotate, check
your auto-rotate setting.
Tip: If you installed other keyboards, you'll see next to the navigation buttons when
you're typing. To switch to a different keyboard, touch .
Type special characters
Touch & hold a key to see related special characters. For example:
• Touch & hold . to see other punctuation marks.
• Touch & hold e to see é and 3.
Tip: To insert a period followed by a space, touch the spacebar twice quickly.
Capitalize letters
To type in ALL CAPS, touch twice, quickly, so you see . Touch it once more to turn ALL
CAPS off.
To change capitalization of a word you've already typed:
•Select the word and touch to capitalize the first letter.
•Select the word and touch twice to make it ALL CAPS.
Use glide typing
You have two options for entering text: type one letter at a time (multi-touch typing) or slide your
finger through all the letters in a word using one continuous motion (glide typing). Start typing
either way and switch whenever you like.
When you're using glide typing, you can:
•Type a word. Drag your finger over the letters in the word.
•Delete words. Drag left slowly from to select a word or string of words, then lift your
finger to delete.
Learn the basics : Work with text 41
•Enter apostrophes in common words. Drag through the letters and the apostrophe is
automatically inserted.
•Add a space. There's no need to use the space bar. Just lift your finger and start the next
word.
You can disable glide typing.
Get suggestions
Use suggestions to type faster.
When you're typing, you'll see a list of suggested next words above the keys:
• Touch a word in the list to insert it in your text.
•If you don’t like a suggested word, touch & hold it, then drag it to .
You can limit or turn suggestions off.
Spell check and auto correct
Misspelled words are automatically corrected as you type:
•To undo a correction, touch .
• To prevent that word from being auto-corrected again, add it to your dictionary by touching
the word in the list of suggestions above the keys.
If auto-correction is turned off, you can still check spelling:
1. After you're done typing, review your text; misspelled words (and words not in your
dictionary) are underlined.
2. Touch an underlined word:
• If the word is spelled correctly, touch it in the suggestion bar.
• If the word is misspelled, select the correct word in the suggestion bar or type the
correction.
Type in multiple languages
If you have added multiple languages as a system language in your phone settings, keyboards
and text suggestion are available for those languages:
• When using a keyboard language other than your primary system language, available
keyboard languages are shown on the spacebar.
•To toggle between languages, touch .
•To see a list of available keyboards, touch & hold or the spacebar.
Learn the basics : Work with text 42
You can add keyboards for other languages.
Cut, copy, paste text
You can select and copy text from web pages and messages.
1. To select text, touch & hold a word.
2. Touch Copy, Cut, Share, or:
•Select more text. Drag the sliders .
•Select all text in message you're composing. Touch > Select all.
• Get information about selected text. Touch Web Search.
•Translate selected text. Touch > Translate. (If you don't see this option, install the
Google Translate app.)
3. To paste text, touch to insert at the cursor or select a block of text to replace. Then touch
Paste.
Tips:
• In some apps, you need to double-tap a word to select it (instead of touching & holding
it).
• When you use Copy, the text is copied to the clipboard in your phone's memory,
overwriting previous text in the clipboard. If you want to save and manage everything
you copy into the clipboard, search for “clipboard manager” in Play Store to select and
download an app.
Use voice typing
Enable keyboard mic for dictation
If you don't see on your keyboard:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input.
2. Touch Virtual keyboard > Gboard.
3. Touch Preferences and turn Voice input key on .
Dictate text
1. Touch a text field to show the onscreen keyboard.
Learn the basics : Work with text 43
2. Touch on the onscreen keyboard.
3. Speak what you want to type:
• Speak naturally but clearly. There's no need to shout or hold the phone close to your
mouth.
• To include punctuation, say “comma,” “period,” “question mark,” or “exclamation point.”
•To pause or restart, touch .
•To delete a word, touch .
Fill in forms automatically
Don’t retype your personal information again and again. Save it securely, then with just one
touch, fill in passwords, addresses, credit cards, and other information saved to your Google
account.
To set it up:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input.
2. Touch Advanced > Autofill service.
3. Select Google, then touch .
4. Touch > CONTINUE.
5. Touch categories to review and edit personal information, addresses, credit cards, and
passwords.
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Change wallpaper
You can change the background image on your home screen or lock screen. Use your own
photos, images that came on your phone, or images from an online category.
Tip: If your battery is low, temporarily change animated wallpaper to a static image to save
power.
1. Touch & hold a blank area on your home screen, then touch Wallpapers.
2. Touch a wallpaper or photo to use.
3. Touch Set wallpaper.
4. Select whether you want to use the wallpaper on your home screen, lock screen, or both.
Customize your Favorites tray
The Favorites tray at the bottom of the home screen gives you one-touch access to your most-
used applications. You can customize these app shortcuts.
To change the app shortcuts:
1. Touch & hold one of the app shortcuts, then drag it up and drop it on Remove.
2. Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen to open your app list.
3. Touch & hold the app you want. When the new shortcut appears, drag it to the empty spot
in your tray.
Tip: You can also use folders in your Favorites tray.
Add widgets, shortcuts, or folders
Add widgets
Widgets stream information, giving some of an app’s functionality without opening the app. For
example, the Calendar widget shows your daily agenda and gives you one-touch access to
your full calendar.
Personalize your phone : Home screen 45
To add a widget:
1. Touch & hold the home screen.
2. Touch Widgets.
Widgets are listed under their related apps.
3. Touch & hold a widget to add it.
You can make some widgets larger to view more content:
1. Touch & hold the widget until it's highlighted.
2. Release it to see an outline.
3. Drag a corner or side to resize.
Add app shortcuts
1. Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen to open your app list.
2. Touch & hold the app you want.
3. Drag the app or one of its actions to an empty spot on your home screen. Or, drag it to the
edge of the screen and drop it onto a new home screen panel.
Add task shortcuts
Many apps icons include shortcuts to common tasks, so you don’t have to open and navigate
the app.
1. Touch & hold an app icon to see available task shortcuts.
2. Do one of the following:
• To perform the task, touch it.
•To create a shortcut for that task, drag to an empty space on your homescreen.
Here are examples of task shortcuts for various apps. Not all apps include task shortcuts.
App Task shortcuts
Gmail • Compose new email
• Open to specific account
Maps •Navigate to Work
Personalize your phone : Home screen 46
• Navigate to Home
YouTube • Search
• Subscriptions
• Trending
Chrome • New incognito tab
• New tab
Calendar • New reminder
• New event
Messages • Open most recent conversation
• New conversation
Clock • Start screen saver
• Start stopwatch
• Create new timer
• Create new alarm
Settings • Battery
• Data usage
• Wi-Fi
Add web page shortcuts
1. Open the Chrome app.
2. Navigate to the web page.
3. Touch > Add to Home screen.
4. Edit the name if desired.
Personalize your phone : Home screen 47
5. Touch ADD.
6. Do one of the following:
• Touch & hold the icon to drag it where you want on the home screen.
• Touch Add automatically.
Add folders
Folders organize your shortcuts.
1. Touch & hold an app shortcut on your home screen.
2. Drag it onto another to group them together, then release when a circle forms around them:
Then you can:
•Add more apps. Drag app icons onto the circle from your home screen or app tray.
•Use an app in the folder. Open the folder and touch the app's icon.
•Name the folder. Open the folder, then touch its name and type a new name.
•Remove an app from the folder. Open the folder and drag the app icon onto the home
screen, or drag it up and drop it on Remove.
•Delete the folder. Touch & hold the folder, then drag it to Remove.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Remove widgets, shortcuts, or folders
To remove widgets or shortcuts from your home screen:
1. Touch & hold it until it vibrates.
2. Drag it up and drop it on Remove.
To select a totally new user interface for your home screen, download a different launcher.
Personalize your phone : Home screen 48
Remake your home screen with launchers
Get different launcher
Totally changing the look and feel of your home screen is easy to do. Just select and download
a new launcher app. Switch back to the standard look and feel at any time. Launchers
frequently include new sets of wallpapers, new gestures for interacting with your phone, and
customizable elements for your home screen.
1. Search for “launcher” in Play Store .
2. Read through the choices and download the one (or more) that you want.
3. To start using it, open the app or follow the onscreen instructions after downloading it.
Switch between launchers
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Default apps > Home app.
Or, touch Advanced > Default apps > Home app.
3. Select the launcher you want to use.
4. To adjust its settings, touch .
Delete launchers
You can only delete launchers that you installed.
Touch & hold the launcher's app icon, then touch > Uninstall.
Personalize your phone : Home screen 49
Use a screen saver
Set up screen saver
While your phone is idle on a dock or charger, turn it into a desk clock, a photo frame to show
off your pics, or more.
1. Go to Settings > Display > Advanced.
2. Touch Screen saver.
3. Do any of the following:
• To change screen savers, touch Current screen saver, then select one. To set
options for that screen saver, touch .
• To preview your selection, touch Start now. Touch the screen anywhere (unlock if
necessary) to return to settings.
• To adjust when the screen saver starts (while docked, charging, or either), touch When
to start.
Start screen saver
The screen saver automatically starts when you connect your phone to a dock or charger and
the screen goes to sleep.
To exit the screen saver and return to your home or lock screen:
• Press the Power button.
•Or, touch , , or .
To manually start your screen saver any time, go to Settings > Display > Advanced > Screen
saver and touch Start now.
Turn off screen saver
To prevent the screen saver from starting automatically:
1. Go to Settings > Display > Advanced.
2. Touch Screen saver > When to start > Never.
Add screen savers
Search for “Screen saver” in Play Store for apps that give you more.
After you install an app, you can select the new ones in Settings > Display > Advanced >
Screen saver.
Personalize your phone : Lock screen 50
Set screen lock
Screen lock options
When you set a screen lock, each time you turn on your phone or wake the screen, you’ll be
asked to unlock your phone.
No lock:
•None: This gives no protection, but you can quickly access your home screen.
•Swipe: Swipe up. This prevents accidental dialing but doesn't secure the phone.
Lock:
•Pattern: Draw a pattern on a grid.
•PIN: Enter a four to sixteen digit numeric code. Longer PINs are more secure.
•Password: Enter four to sixteen letters, digits, or symbols for the password. A long, strong
password is the most secure option.
When you’re using any of the 3 locks, you can set your phone to automatically unlock in certain
conditions.
Set or change screen lock
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Screen lock and select the type of lock you want.
Some lock options aren't available if you added a VPN or a work (corporate) email account
to your phone.
Hide your password or pattern
You can hide your password or pattern to prevent others from viewing it when you unlock your
screen.
For passwords:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced.
2. Turn Show passwords off .
For patterns:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch .
3. Turn Make pattern visible off .
Personalize your phone : Lock screen 51
Quickly tighten lock screen security
Unlocking with the fingerprint sensor and setting up automatic unlocking make it easier to keep
your phone secure and minimize when you need to enter your PIN, pattern, or password. But
sometimes you need to trade convenience for more security. You can temporarily tighten locks
and prevent lock screen notifications.
To set it up:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Lock screen preferences.
2. Turn Show lockdown option on .
To use it:
1. Touch & hold the Power button.
2. Touch Lockdown.
Your fingerprint sensor and automatic unlock settings are disabled and notifications won’t
be displayed on your lock screen.
3. To exit Lockdown, unlock your phone with your PIN, pattern, or password.
Unlock your screen automatically
If you're using a PIN, password, or pattern, you can:
• Stay unlocked when connected to a device, like your car audio system.
• Stay unlocked at a specific location.
• Stay unlocked when holding or carrying your phone.
• Unlock with your face.
• Unlock with your voice.
Tips:
• You can swipe up from anywhere on the screen when unlocking. You don't need to
touch the icon.
• Some of these options aren't available if you added a VPN or a work (corporate) email
account to your phone.
Fix a problem
If you forgot your PIN, pattern, or password, try these troubleshooting steps.
Personalize your phone : Lock screen 52
Add message to lock screen
To add your name or a short message to your lock screen for anyone who finds your phone:
1. Go to Settings > Security & Location.
2. Touch Lock screen preferences > Lock screen message.
3. Type the text to display and touch Save.
Tip: Don't put your mobile number as your contact info unless you can access your
voicemail from another device.
Personalize your phone : Lock screen 53
Set ringtones
Change default call ringtone
1. Go to Settings > Sound.
2. Touch Phone ringtone.
3. Do one of the following:
• Select a ringtone from the list.
• To use a song as the ringtone, touch Add ringtone at the bottom of the list. Then
touch > Audio and select the song stored on your phone.
• For silence, touch None at the top of the list.
Vibrate phone for calls
You can set the phone to vibrate when it rings for calls.
To extend battery life, turn vibrate off.
1. Go to Settings > Sound.
2. Turn Also vibrate for calls on or off .
Set call ringtone for a contact
You can choose a unique ringtone for calls from specific people so you'll know instantly who's
calling.
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch the contact's name.
3. Touch > Set ringtone.
4. Do one of the following:
• Select a ringtone from the list.
• To use a song as the ringtone, touch Add ringtone at the bottom of the list. Then
touch > Audio and select the song stored on your phone.
• For silence, touch None at the top of the list.
Set ringtone for app notifications
You can set a default sound for notifications from apps including messaging and email. You can
also set a unique ringtone for notifications from specific apps. Learn how.
Personalize your phone : Sounds 54
Tip: To change your alarm sound, open the Clock app and touch . Then touch .
Get more ringtones
Although your phone comes with lots of ringtones, you can get more:
• Search for “ringtones” in Play Store and install an app that provide ringtones.
• Search for “ringtone maker” in Play Store and install an app that lets you create custom
ringtones. Open the app and use it to select entire songs or portions of songs.
• If you have songs that are .mp3 files stored on your computer, connect your phone and
computer with a USB cable, then copy the song to your phone.
Fix a problem
If you’re not hearing your ringtones, look for in your status bar, which means you're in Do
Not Disturb mode. Open quick settings and touch to turn Do Not Disturb off.
Avoid interruptions with Do Not Disturb
Turn Do Not Disturb mode on or off
When you're busy, use Do Not Disturb to silence your phone. You can mute sounds, stop
vibration, and block visual disturbances.
To turn it on or off:
•To block interruptions, open quick settings and touch . You'll see in the status bar
when Do Not Disturb is on.
•To turn Do Not Disturb off, open quick settings and touch .
Change Do Not Disturb duration
Pick how long Do Not Disturb should stay on, when you turn it on in quick settings.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Duration.
3. Choose one:
• To keep it on indefinitely, touch Until you turn off.
• To select a duration, touch For 1 hour, then touch + or - to adjust the time.
• To choose each time, touch Ask every time.
Personalize your phone : Sounds 55
Allow exceptions in Do Not Disturb mode
When Do Not Disturb is on, incoming calls, messages, and calendar events or reminders are
muted. You can allow exceptions.
Calls.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. To pick whose calls get through, touch Calls and then:
• Touch Allow calls and choose whether to allow calls from anyone, from contacts only,
from starred contacts only, or none.
• To let calls through from repeat callers (the same person calling a second time within
15 minutes), turn Allow repeat callers on .
Text messages.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. To pick whose text messages get through, touch Messages, events & reminders > Allow
messages and then choose all, contacts only, starred contacts only, or none.
Calendar events and reminders.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. To allow notifications for calendar events and reminders to get through, touch Messages,
events & reminders and turn them on .
Alarms.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. To allow alarms to sound, touch Sound & vibration and check that Alarms is on .
Stop visual disturbances in Do Not Disturb mode
When your phone is in Do Not Disturb mode, you can prevent silenced notifications from:
• Turning the screen on when it's off
• Peeking or popping up when your screen is on
• Showing notification dots, status bar icons, or updating the notification list
To block these disturbances:
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Notifications.
3. Do one of the following:
Personalize your phone : Sounds 56
• To block all visual notifications, touch No visuals or sound from notifications.
• To block selected visual notifications, touch Custom and turn features on or off.
Automatically silence phone during set days and times
You can create a schedule for when your phone should automatically switch into and out of Do
Not Disturb mode.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Turn on automatically.
3. Use rules to set the schedule:
• To use an existing rule, touch its name, like Sleeping. Turn Use rule on and adjust
times or settings as needed.
• To create a new rule, touch Add rule. Touch Time, then enter a name and touch OK.
Specify its days, start and end times, and level of silence.
To stop your phone from automatically silencing, go to Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb.
Select the rule and turn it off or touch to delete it.
Automatically silence phone during calendar events
Your phone can automatically switch into and out of Do Not Disturb mode for all scheduled
events in calendars that you specify.
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Turn on automatically.
3. Do one of the following:
• To use an existing rule, turn it on.
• To create a new rule, touch Add rule. Touch Event rule, then enter a rule name and
touch OK.
4. Adjust options to select the calendar to use and your reply status.
To stop your phone from automatically silencing, go to Settings > Sound > Do Not Disturb,
then select the rule and turn it off or touch to delete it.
Silence power on sound
If you don’t want your phone to make a sound when it powers up:
1. Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced.
2. Turn Power on sounds off .
Personalize your phone : Sounds 57
You can't adjust the volume level for this sound.
Stop phone from speaking
Some voice commands (like “What's up?” and “What is the current weather?”) cause your
phone to speak in response.
To stop the phone from speaking temporarily, touch .
To prevent your phone from speaking:
1. Open the Google app.
2. Touch More > Settings.
3. Touch Voice.
4. Turn off Spoken results.
Turn off charging sounds
If you don’t want your phone to make a sound when it comes in contact with a charger:
1. Go to Settings > Sound > Advanced.
2. Turn off Charging sounds.
Personalize your phone : Sounds 58
About your apps
Open an app
Swipe up from the bottom of your home screen, then touch the app to open.
Pre-loaded apps
The following apps are pre-loaded on your phone. Don’t want some? Delete or disable them.
Icon App Description
Calculator Make some quick calculations.
Calendar Keep track of your upcoming events, get automatic reminders on
your phone, and coordinate with others by sharing calendars.
Camera Capture photos or videos. Scan QR codes and barcodes.
Chrome Browse the web. Access your browser bookmarks from any
device, and sync tabs with your computer or Android devices.
Clock Set alarms. Use a timer or stopwatch.
Contacts Organize and connect with your contacts. Assign ringtones to
people.
Docs Create, edit, and collaborate with others on documents.
Apps 59
Drive Store and synchronize your files on Google's cloud, then access
them anywhere you have an internet connection. Create and
share spreadsheets, documents, and presentations. Scan
documents and share or print them.
Duo Make video call with your friends across Android and iOS.
Files Browse and manage files and folders stored on your device or SD
card.
FM Radio Listen to FM radio stations.
Gmail Compose, send, view, or search your email from your phone or
computer.
Google Search the web, see your updates, and adjust Google settings,
including privacy.
Google Pay Pay with your phone in-store or online, and send cash using this
secure digital wallet.
Maps Find your destination, explore locations.
Messages Send and receive text messages.
Apps 60
News See headlines, weather, and information on your favorite topics
and locations.
Phone Make calls.
Photos Manage photos and upload them automatically to your private
album.
Play Movies &
TV
Get movies and TV shows for instant viewing from Play Store.
Play Music Listen to your music collection (stored on your phone or
streamed). Shop for new music. Create playlists, listen anywhere.
Play Store Get apps for your phone, as well as books, magazines, music,
and movies and access them from your computer or any Android
device.
Settings Customize your phone settings.
Sheets Create, edit, and collaborate with others on spreadsheets.
Slides Create, edit, collaborate with others, and play presentations.
YouTube Find, view, and upload videos to the web.
Apps 61
Get more apps
Don’t see what you need? Download more apps.
Tip: Swipe up and touch Search apps. Type the missing app's name to go to Play
Store where you can install with one touch.
Get help for an app
1. Open the app.
2. Touch or .
3. Look for Help or Settings > Help.
Switch between recent apps
1. Touch to see your recently used apps.
Or, if you're using the navigation bar, swipe up on .
2. Do any of the following:
• Touch any app screen to return to it.
• Swipe left or right to see more apps.
• Swipe an app up to remove it from the list.
• To clear the list, swipe all the way right and touch Clear all.
Tips:
•Touch twice to switch between your two most recently used apps. (If you're using the
navigation bar, swipe right on .)
• Use two apps at once with split screen.
Close apps
To get out of an app, touch to return to your home screen. Or, touch if you're using
the navigation bar.
You don't need to close apps. Android manages the memory and battery that apps use, so you
don't need to worry about leaving apps open.
To remove apps from your recently used list:
1. Touch .
Apps 62
2. Do one of the following:
• To remove one app, swipe up to remove it from the list.
• To remove all apps, swipe right to the end of the list and touch Clear all.
Tips for using apps
• You can change the background color of your app list to be light or dark.
• You can print from many apps.
•Copy and paste text between apps with the clipboard.
• To organize apps into groups on your home screen, use folders.
• Touch & hold an app's icon to see task shortcuts, if any. Touch a task to perform it. Or, drag
to your home screen to create a shortcut for that task.
•Want to turn the flashlight on or off? Use quick settings ( or ). No app required.
• If you’re having problems with an app, try these troubleshooting steps.
Use two apps at once
Use split screen view
1. Open the first app.
2. Swipe up to see recent apps.
3. In the recent list, touch the app's icon, at the top of the app's preview, to see and .
Be sure to touch the app's icon instead of the preview, which opens the app.
4. Touch Split screen.
5. Select the second app to use.
Exit split screen view
Drag the black divider all the way up or down.
Use Picture-in-picture
With some apps, you can watch video in a small, movable frame while you do other things. Use
it when navigating with Google Maps, too.
1. When you’re playing a video or navigating with Maps, touch .
The video (or navigation) shrinks.
Apps 63
2. You can drag the video (or navigation) anywhere on the screen.
• To return it to full size, touch it twice.
•To close it, drag it to the bottom of the screen. Or, touch it, then touch .
•To turn off Picture-in-picture for the app in use, touch it, then touch and turn Allow
picture-in-picture off .
To see all apps that support Picture-in-picture:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Advanced > Special app access > Picture-in-picture.
3. To turn off Picture-in-picture for an app, touch it and turn Allow picture-in-picture off .
View notifications
Find your notifications
Notifications alert you about things like new messages, calendar events, and alarms.
You see notifications:
• On your lock screen
• When you swipe the status bar down on any screen
• When you touch & hold an app icon that shows a notification dot
Apps 64
If you receive multiple notifications from an app, they're bundled together. Swipe down to view
more details.
Some important notifications pop up briefly over your current app so that you can take action.
For example, a notification for an incoming call might appear while you're watching a video, so
that you can answer or dismiss the call.
What you can do with notifications
•Respond from a notification. Many notifications include actions at the bottom that let you
complete common tasks without opening the full app. If you have several notifications,
these actions are hidden. When you see , touch it to reveal actions.
•Open the app that sent the notification Swipe down from the top of the screen and touch
the notification to open the app. From your lock screen, touch the notification twice and
enter your PIN, pattern, or password to unlock your screen and open the app.
•Snooze a notification. Swipe left or right slowly. Then touch and select a duration to
snooze notifications.
•Dismiss a notification. Swipe it sideways.
•Clear all notifications. Swipe to the end of your notifications and touch Clear all. Some
notifications, like voicemails, require an action and cannot be dismissed.
Control your notifications
Use Do Not Disturb to silence all notifications when you don’t want interruptions.
You can also customize notifications, controlling the notification sound, which apps send
notifications, how notifications show on your lock screen.
Apps 65
Install or update apps
Get apps from Google Play Store
Need a voice recorder, notepad, or compass? You can download more apps, in addition to pre-
loaded apps on your phone.
To download apps:
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Browse by category or search.
3. Touch an item to see a description, read reviews, and download it.
You'll see in the status bar when the app has downloaded and installed successfully.
Tips:
•To view Play Store apps you've installed on this phone, touch > My apps & games.
Touch LIBRARY to see apps you've installed on other devices using the same Google
account.
•To prevent accidental or unwanted purchases, touch > Settings > Require
authentication for purchases.
Get apps from other sources
Before downloading, do some research: check the app's rating and read lots of comments.
To download apps:
1. Open the Chrome app and go to the appropriate site to download the app.
If you see a warning, touch OK to continue.
You'll see in the status bar when the download completes.
2. Touch the download notification to install the app. Or, open the Files app to install it later.
3. When installing the app, be sure to review what information the app will access. If you don’t
want the app to access this information, cancel the installation. For example, if you're
installing an app that makes a shopping list, the app should not require access to your
contacts.
Update Play Store apps automatically
Updating your apps gives you the latest features and improves security and stability. For best
performance, apps are set to update automatically.
Apps : Manage your apps 66
If an app changes the information it wants to access on your phone, you will receive a
notification to update the app manually and will be required to review and accept the new
permissions.
To control when your apps are automatically updated:
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Touch Auto-update apps.
4. Select whether apps should:
• Auto-update over any network
• Auto-update only over Wi-Fi - save data charges on your cellular plan
Update Play Store apps manually
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. On the UPDATES tab, touch Update all, or to update a specific app, touch Update next to
its name.
4. Read the summary of what changed, then swipe down to review any changes to
permission details, what information on your phone the app can access. If you agree, touch
Update.
Turn off Play Store auto-updates
To stop a specific app from updating automatically:
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. Touch the INSTALLED tab, then touch the app's name.
4. Touch and turn off Enable auto update.
To stop all apps from updating automatically:
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Touch Auto-update apps > Don't auto-update apps.
Apps : Manage your apps 67
Restore Play Store apps
If you uninstall an app you got from Play Store, you can reinstall it anytime. Have apps you use
infrequently, such as a flight tracker? Delete them and easily reinstall when needed.
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. Touch the LIBRARY tab for a list of every app you’ve downloaded.
4. Next to the app name, touch INSTALL.
5. If you have multiple Google accounts, touch and next to your account touch . Select
the other account and repeat the process to restore apps downloaded in that account.
Manage or delete apps
Organize apps
To organize apps into groups on your home screen, use folders.
Control app permissions
The first time you use an app, and sometimes when you install or update it, you are asked to
grant the app permission to access certain data and phone features. You can adjust these
permissions any time.
To adjust permissions by app:
1. Touch & hold the app icon, then touch .
2. Touch Permissions.
3. Turn each permission on or off as needed.
Tip: To see how the app uses each permission, touch > All permissions.
You can also review each feature and adjust which apps have permission.
Allow apps to run in background
Performance Optimization boosts the app you’re using by restricting other apps from running in
the background, which may cause some notifications to be postponed or not delivered.
To allow apps to run in the background, you can turn on exceptions:
1. Go to Settings > Performance Optimization.
Apps : Manage your apps 68
2. For apps you want to run in the background, turn it on .
Note: If you notice an app you’ve allowed to run in the background consumes too much
data, turn it off.
Use safe mode
Issues such as apps crashing, unexpected reboots, or fast battery drain could be caused by a
third-party app. Use safe mode to start your phone with only the original software and apps. If
the issues go away in safe mode, the problem is probably from a third-party app you
downloaded.
To reboot in safe mode:
1. Press & hold the Power button.
2. Touch & hold Power off. Then touch OK to restart in safe mode.
When it restarts, you'll see Safe mode across the bottom of the home screen and widgets
will be disabled.
3. Use your phone and see if the problem has gone away. Remember, you won’t be able to
use any downloaded apps.
If the problem goes away:
1. To exit safe mode, restart your phone.
2. One by one, uninstall recently downloaded apps. After each removal, restart your phone.
See whether removing that app solved the problem.
3. Once you delete the problematic app, you can restore the other apps you removed during
testing.
If the problem doesn't go away: Try these troubleshooting steps for phone performance
issues.
Clear app's cache or data
Clearing the cache and data can free up phone memory, improve performance, and fix some
problems with apps and web pages.
1. Touch & hold the app icon, then touch .
2. Do one of the following:
• To free up space by removing temporary files, touch Storage > Clear cache. Over
time, the cache builds up again, so repeat if a problem occurs.
• If problems still occur, then delete all data saved in the app by touching Storage >
Clear storage. Be careful - there’s no way to undo this.
Apps : Manage your apps 69
Force stop apps
Force stop an app only if it seems to be causing a problem. To completely shut down an app,
including any background services:
1. Touch & hold the app icon, then touch .
2. Touch Force stop.
Delete apps you installed
You can delete (uninstall) apps that you downloaded. For many pre-loaded apps, you can
disable but not delete them.
1. Touch & hold the app's icon.
2. Do one of the following:
•Drag the icon up and drop it on . This removes the app and frees storage space.
•If you don't see a delete option, touch & hold the app icon, then touch > Disable.
Delete apps installed by others
If you are the owner of the phone and share it with users or guests, you can uninstall apps they
installed. Although their apps don’t appear in your app tray or on your home screen, they do
reduce available storage space.
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > App info.
Apps installed by others show the message Not installed for this user.
2. Touch the app name.
3. Touch > Uninstall for all users.
Back up apps and settings
You can use your Google account to back up:
• App data
• Call history
• Phone settings (wallpaper, Wi-Fi passwords, default apps)
• SMS text messages
To back up apps and settings:
1. Go to Settings > System.
2. Touch Backup.
Apps : Manage your apps 70
3. Turn on Back up to Google Drive.
4. If you have multiple Google accounts, touch Account to select an account.
Protect against harmful apps
Scan phone for harmful apps
Play Protect helps keep your phone secure by automatically scanning your phone to check for
potentially harmful apps.
If Play Protect finds a potentially harmful app, it stops the app from running and warns you so
you can uninstall it.
To see the results or to rescan:
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. Do any of the following:
•To see the results of latest scan, on the UPDATES, look at the message next to .
•To rescan your phone, touch .
If your phone seems slow
If you’ve scanned your phone to confirm there aren’t any potentially harmful apps but your
phone seems slow, try these troubleshooting steps.
Pin your screen
Turn on screen pinning
Use screen pinning to keep the current screen or app in view until you unpin it. For example,
you can pin a game and your child cannot navigate anywhere else on your phone.
You can set up a pattern, PIN, or password required to unpin the screen.
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced > Screen pinning.
2. Turn screen pinning on.
3. By default, you must always enter your pattern, PIN, or password when unpinning a
screen. If you don't want this security before accessing your other phone screens, turn this
option off.
Apps : Manage your apps 71
Pin a screen
1. Make sure you've turned on screen pinning.
2. Open an app and go to the screen you want to pin.
3. Touch .
4. Touch the icon of what you want to pin.
5. Touch .
Unpin a screen
1. Touch & hold and at the same time.
2. If you required a pattern, PIN, or password when you turned on pinning, enter it to unlock
the phone.
Apps : Manage your apps 72
Search the web
Search with the widget
To type your search term:
1. Touch the Search widget.
2. Start typing a search term.
As you type, suggested terms appear.
3. Touch a suggestion to search for it.
Search from anywhere
You don't have to leave your current app to search for the info you need. Use Google Assistant
from any screen to get search results and options for your next action.
To search:
1. Say “OK, Google” or “Hey, Google”. (Be sure you've set up the launch phrase.)
Or touch & hold .
2. Tell the assistant what you're looking for. For example, search for a local restaurant by
saying “Find [restaurant name].”
3. Below the search result, touch options for related actions: make a call, get directions, read
reviews, and more.
For more help with Google Assistant, read Google's support information.
Search from Gboard
When you're typing with the onscreen keyboard:
1. Touch above the keys.
2. Start typing a term in the search bar.
3. Touch a result to share its link, or touch one of the additional suggested searches for more
information.
If you don't see on your keyboard:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Search.
Apps : Search and web browser 73
3. Turn Show "Search and more" button on .
Search for nearby phone numbers
To find and call a nearby business:
1. Open the Phone app.
2. Touch .
3. Say or type the name of place to call, or a search term about the place (for example,
“restaurant”).
You’ll see a list of nearby search results.
4. Touch the place to dial its number.
If it doesn't work:
• Make sure Location is enabled.
•Touch > > Settings and turn Nearby places on.
Delete Google search history
Read Google's help for instructions.
Use search engine other than Google
To use a search engine other than Google:
1. Search for “search engine” in Play Store and install one of the apps.
2. Open that app to search.
3. Optionally:
•Delete the Google search widget from your home screen. If you can’t delete it, use a
different launcher for your home screen that doesn’t include the widget.
• Install a browser to replace Chrome and make it your default browser.
•Turn off Google’s collection of your information.
Search your phone
Search contents of your phone
1. Touch the Search widget.
Apps : Search and web browser 74
2. Enter a search term.
3. On the search results page, under , swipe left and change ALL to PERSONAL.
If you're not seeing results:
1. Open the Google app.
2. Touch More > Settings.
3. Touch General > Personal results.
4. Make sure that everything you want to include in your searches is checked.
Find an app
1. Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen to open your app list.
2. Touch Search apps.
3. Type the app's name.
4. If the app is on your phone, touch its icon to open it.
If the app isn't on your phone, touch SEARCH FOR MORE APPS to go to Play Store and
install with one touch.
Find your phone number
1. Go to Settings > System.
2. Touch About phone > Phone number.
Find photos, videos, files
To find photos or videos on your phone, use the Photos app.
To find downloaded files, use the Files app.
Use camera to scan and search
Scan QR codes and barcodes
Scan QR codes or barcodes with your camera. Then use the scanned information.
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Frame the code.
Apps : Search and web browser 75
3. Touch .
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to scan the code and use it.
You can also scan documents and save them as PDFs to print or share using Drive .
Get info about objects and landmarks
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Frame the landmark or object.
3. Touch .
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to select and identify the item.
Translate text with camera
Use the Translate app to translate signs and text as you view them with the camera.
1. Open the Translate app.
If you don’t have this app, you can install it from Play Store.
2. Use to select the languages (to/from) for translation.
3. Touch .
4. Frame the text, holding the phone steady.
The camera scans and translates in the viewfinder.
Browse websites
Visit and bookmark websites
Your phone connects to your carrier's cellular network or to a Wi‑Fi network to access the
internet. To save data charges on your cellular plan, use a Wi‑Fi connection.
1. Open the Chrome app.
2. Go to a site by touching the bar at the top and typing the address.
3. On a web page:
•To bookmark it, touch > .
Or, touch > Add to Home screen to put a shortcut on your home screen.
•To search for text on that page, touch > Find in page.
• To open a link, touch it.
Apps : Search and web browser 76
• To see options for opening a link in a new tab and copying or sharing a link, touch &
hold the link.
•To print the page, touch > Share > Print. Be sure you set up your print service.
4. To return to the previous page touch .
To learn more about browsing or managing bookmarks, open Chrome and touch > Help &
Feedback.
Open and switch browser tabs
In the Chrome app:
•To switch tabs, touch the switcher icon .
•To open a new tab, touch touch the switcher icon , then touch .
Browse privately with incognito tabs
If you don’t want Chrome to remember your activity, use incognito tabs.
To open a new incognito tab with one touch from your home screen, add a task shortcut:
1. Touch & hold .
2. Drag to a blank space on your home screen.
To close all incognito tabs:
1. Swipe the status bar down.
2. Touch .
Clear browsing history
1. Open the Chrome app.
2. Touch > History.
3. Touch CLEAR BROWSING DATA.
You can also review and delete your search history.
Change default browser
You can download other browsers from Play Store. After you've installed one, you can make it
your default browser.
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Default apps > Browser app.
Apps : Search and web browser 77
About text and multimedia messages
Text messages - SMS
SMS (Short Message Service) messages contain text only. One text message can contain 160
characters; when you near the limit, a counter appears. If you type more, your message is sent
in a series of SMS messages.
You can send one SMS message to multiple people, and replies are delivered in separate, not
group, conversation threads (unless you and your recipients have group messaging enabled).
SMS messages are included in most carriers' text messaging plans and do not use cellular
data.
Multimedia messages - MMS
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) messages can include unlimited text plus a photo,
picture slideshow, video, or sound file.
You can send one MMS message to multiple people using group messaging, containing text
only or text and media, and replies are delivered in group conversation threads to each person
in the group.
MMS messages use cellular data and require a cellular data plan or pay-per-use payment.
Group messaging
Group messaging lets multiple people carry on a group conversation. All replies from recipients
are delivered to all recipients, in a group conversation thread.
Though you send one message to multiple recipients, you are charged for each message
received. Group messaging:
• Converts multiple-recipient SMS messages to MMS for all who can receive them
• Is available for MMS messages only
Note: Recipients who cannot receive MMS messages receive SMS instead and, if media is
attached, a link to download it over Wi-Fi (when offered by carrier). Replies are to the sender
only, in an individual conversation.
If you don’t want to receive replies in group conversations, you can turn off group messaging in
the Messages app.
Apps : Text messaging 79
Read, send, manage text messages
Read and reply to a text message
When you receive a text message with the Messages app, you'll see in the status bar.
1. Swipe the status bar down and touch .
2. Do any of the following:
•To respond to the message, enter your response in the text box and touch .
• If the message is from an unassigned number, create a contact to associate a name
with that number.
• To open an attached photo, slideshow, or any type of attachment, touch it.
•To save an attachment, touch & hold it, then touch .
•To find a message, touch at the top of your message list and enter search terms.
Tips:
• If you don't want multi-recipient SMS messages converted to MMS and want replies
sent in separate conversations (threads) to you only, turn off group messaging.
• To protect your privacy, you can hide sensitive content for lock screen notifications.
Send text message
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Touch .
3. Enter recipients, then type the message.
4. Optionally:
•To add an attachment, touch .
•To add a smiley or other icons, touch on the onscreen keyboard.
5. Touch .
Tips for sending messages:
• To text your best friend with one touch from your home screen, add a task shortcut. Touch
& hold and drag to your home screen.
•To change the text message reply to incoming calls, open the Phone app and touch >
Settings > Quick responses.
Apps : Text messaging 80
Request text delivery reports
See whether recipients receive your messages by requesting delivery reports.
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Do one of the following:
• If you have a single SIM, touch Advanced.
• If you have dual SIMs, touch the SIM.
4. Turn on Get SMS delivery reports.
Manage draft texts
When you begin composing a text message reply or a new message with recipients, it is saved
in your message list as a draft until you send or delete it.
1. Open the message list and touch the conversation marked Draft.
2. Do one:
•Finish composing the message and touch .
• Delete the characters in the text field to delete the draft.
Forward a text message
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Open the conversation.
3. Touch & hold the message.
4. Touch > Forward.
Copy text from a message
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Open the conversation.
3. Touch & hold the message.
4. Touch .
You can now paste it elsewhere, like in an email you're composing.
Apps : Text messaging 81
Delete or archive texts
When you delete a message, you also delete any attached photos or videos. If you want the
attachments, be sure to save them before deleting the message.
• To delete a single message, open the conversation (thread) and touch & hold the message,
then touch .
• To delete or archive all messages in a conversation, touch & hold the conversation, then
touch to delete or to archive.
•To delete or archive multiple conversations, touch & hold each conversation, then touch
or .
•To see archived messages, touch > Archived.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Add attachments
Attach files to text message
You can attach saved pictures and videos, or take one right from your message that has an
optimized, reduced file size.
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Compose a reply or a new message.
3. Touch .
4. Choose the type of attachment (such as photo, emoji or GIF, your location, a recording).
To learn more, touch > Help & Feedback in the Messages app.
5. Touch .
Send contact as text message
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Open your conversation with that person.
3. Touch their name at the top of the conversation.
4. Touch > Share.
5. Touch the recipient's name, or touch Messages to start a new message.
Apps : Text messaging 82
6. Touch .
Fix a problem
If you're having trouble attaching files, check that:
• Cellular data is turned on.
• Your data plan supports MMS (multimedia messages).
Save attachments from text message
If you received an attachment to a text message, you can save it on your phone. In the
message, just touch & hold the attachment, then touch to save it.
To view the saved attachment:
•For photos or videos, open the Photos app and touch > Device folders > Messages.
• For other attachments, open the Files app.
If you do not save a photo or video from a message, it is kept within the message only. So, if
you delete the message, you also delete the attachment. (You can try to recover recently
deleted messages.)
Turn group messaging on or off
Group messaging allows conversation participants to reply to all recipients in a single thread. If
you do not want multi-recipient SMS messages converted to MMS and want replies sent in
separate threads only to you, turn off group messaging.
This feature is not available in all countries.
To adjust the group messaging setting:
1. In the Messages app, touch > Settings > Advanced.
2. Do one of the following:
• If you have a single SIM, touch Advanced.
• If your phone allows dual SIMs, touch the SIM you use for text messaging.
3. Touch Group messaging and select an option.
Apps : Text messaging 83
Change default messaging app
You can download additional messaging apps from Play Store. After you've installed one, you
can make it your default messaging app.
To select a different app to send and receive text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Default apps > SMS app.
Or, touch Advanced > Default apps > SMS app.
3. Touch the app to use.
Control notifications for text messages
If you use the Messages app:
1. Open the Messages app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. If you have dual SIMs, touch General.
4. Touch Notifications and turn notifications on or off, change the sound, and add or remove
vibration.
If you use a different messaging app:
1. Touch & hold the app's icon.
2. Touch App info > Notifications.
3. Make changes.
Tip: In your phone settings, you can prevent interruptions by restricting text message
notifications during hours you specify or from specific people.
Change text message reply to incoming calls
When your phone rings, you can drag towards to see a list of quick responses you can
send by text message instead of answering the call.
To edit these quick responses:
1. Touch .
2. Touch > Settings.
Apps : Text messaging 84
3. Touch Quick responses.
4. Touch one of the responses to edit it.
Get text messages on your computer
Set up Messages for web
If you use the Messages app on your phone, you can see and send text messages on your
computer.
Pair your computer and the Messages app on your phone by scanning a QR code:
• The QR code is unique to that computer.
• You can set up multiple computers, getting individual QR codes, but only one is active at a
time.
To set up a computer:
1. Be sure your phone and computer are connected to the internet.
2. On your phone, open the Messages app and touch > Messages for web.
3. On your computer, go to https://messages.android.com. To remember this computer and
stay signed in to Messages, turn the slider on .
4. Follow onscreen instructions to scan the QR code on the web page with your phone.
Once paired, you'll see your latest conversations in your computer's browser.
See and send messages
When you have unread messages, you'll see a red notification and number of unread
messages in the browser tab on your computer.
To send messages from your computer, your phone must be on and connected to the internet.
Usual carrier fees for sending text messages from your phone also apply to messages sent
from your computer.
Sign out of Messages for web
If you don’t use Messages on a paired computer for 14 days, you’re automatically signed out
from that computer for security reasons.
If you're using a shared or public computer, sign out when you're done.
To sign out from your phone:
1. Open the Messages app.
Apps : Text messaging 85
2. Touch > Messages for web.
3. Do one of the following:
•Touch next to an individual computer to sign out of it.
• Touch Sign out of all computers.
To sign out from the computer, at the top of the message list, click .
Apps : Text messaging 86
Read, send, manage emails
Read email
If you've set up email, you’ll start receiving emails after your account syncs with your phone.
When you receive an email notification, you'll see in the status bar.
1. To open email from a notification, swipe the status bar down and touch the notification:
• A single email notification opens the message directly.
• A multiple email notification opens the email list; touch an email to open it.
If you dismiss the notification and want to view the email later, open the Gmail app.
2. Do any of the following:
•To view other folders, touch from your email list.
• Attachments appear at the end of the email. You can view or save them.
• You can print emails from your phone.
Reply to or forward an email
1. Swipe to the end of the email to see all options:
•To reply to the sender only, touch .
•To reply to the sender and all recipients, touch .
•To forward an email, touch .
2. Enter your message.
3. To copy someone on the email, in the To field, touch .
4. Touch .
Send new email
1. Open the Gmail app and touch .
Or, touch & hold , then touch Compose. (If you send lots of emails, add a task shortcut.
Drag Compose to your home screen.)
2. Enter the recipient and your message.
3. To copy someone on the email, in the To field, touch .
4. Touch .
Apps : Email 87
Add attachment to email
1. In the email you're composing, touch > Attach file.
2. Browse to the file, and touch it to add it to the email. The attachment appears at the bottom
of the email.
Find emails
When you open the Gmail app, you see your Inbox.
To view sent email, drafts, recently deleted email, and other categories, touch .
To search for emails, at the top of your email list enter terms, like the topic or the sender's
name.
Delete emails
To delete an open email, touch .
To delete multiple emails, go to your email list, touch & hold each message to delete, then touch
.
To delete large quantities of email, sign into your email account on your computer, and see your
email provider's help for more information.
Tips:
• To delete attachments that you saved from emails, use the Files app.
• You can also remove email accounts from your phone.
Learn more
For more help with Gmail, read Google's support information.
For help managing email from other providers, sign into your email account on your computer
and look for the provider's instructions.
View email attachments
View attachments
Attachments appear at the end of an email.
To view or play the attachment, touch it.
Apps : Email 88
If you see a message that you can't open the attachment type, most file types have a free
viewer that you can use. In Play Store, search for the file type, then select and download an
app.
Save attachments from email
In the email, touch to download and save it on your phone, or touch to save it in Drive.
To view attachments later, open the Files app (go to Download) or the Drive app.
Delete attachments saved from email
1. Open the Files app.
2. Touch Browse > Downloads.
3. Do one of the following:
• To select one item, touch & hold it.
• To select multiple items, touch & hold the first one, then touch the others.
4. Touch .
Prevent previews of attachments
Attached photos or videos appear as thumbnails, showing a preview.
To see a generic thumbnail instead of a preview thumbnail until you open the file:
1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Touch > Settings, then touch the account name.
3. Touch Images > Ask before displaying external images.
Preview inboxes from home screen
To preview your inboxes, open emails, or quickly start a new email, add the Gmail widget to
your home screen.
With the widget, you can:
•Open a message. Touch the message.
•Compose a message. Touch .
•View more messages. Scroll down the list.
•Open the app. Touch the folder name at the top of the widget.
Apps : Email 89
Add email signature
To add a signature automatically to the end of emails you send:
1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Select the account.
4. Touch Mobile Signature and edit the text you want to appear at the end of every email.
Control email notifications
You can control whether you see notifications when you receive an email.
1. Touch & hold .
2. Touch > Notifications.
3. Adjust notification settings.
Tip: To automatically silence notifications during hours you specify, use Do Not Disturb .
Apps : Email 90
About the calendar
Keep track of upcoming events and get automatic reminders on your phone with your calendar.
Google calendars let you save all your events in one place, which is secure, synced, and
accessible from any web-enabled device or computer when you've signed in to your account.
You can:
•Review existing events.
•Create new events.
•Control notifications for events.
Your calendar can automatically create new events based on your incoming Gmail messages.
For example, if you make restaurant reservations or book a flight, these events will show up
automatically on your calendar; you don't have to add them.
If you created multiple calendars within your Google account, or if you have multiple Google
accounts on your phone, you can control which events are synced with your phone.
Find calendar events
Open calendar events
You'll see in the status bar to alert you of upcoming events. Just swipe the status bar down
and touch the notification to see the event details in your calendar.
To see your list of upcoming events, open the Calendar app.
Tip: For an overview of your upcoming events from your home screen, add a Calendar
widget.
Get around the calendar
To glance at the month view:
1. Touch the month's name.
2. Touch a date to jump to it and see its events.
To change the view:
1. In your calendar, touch .
2. Touch Schedule, Day, 3 Day, Week or Month. This view remains the default until you
change it.
From these views, you can:
Apps : Calendar app 91
•Read or edit event details. Touch the event to open it and touch to edit it.
•Add new events. Touch .
•Search your calendar. Touch > Search.
Create and manage events
Create calendar events
As you're creating an event, you'll see suggestions for the event titles, locations, people, and
more. In some cases, these suggestions are personalized based on information associated with
your Google account and your previously created events.
1. Open the Calendar app and touch > Event.
Or, touch & hold , then touch New event. (If you create lots of events, add a task
shortcut. Drag New event to your home screen.)
2. Touch the account name to associate the event with the calendar you want.
3. Enter the start time and other details.
4. If you want a reminder sent to your status bar, touch Add another notification and select
how long before the event you want a reminder.
5. Touch Save.
Edit or delete calendar events
1. Touch an event to open it.
2. Do any of the following:
•To edit it, touch .
•To delete it, touch > Delete.
Control which events are shown
To temporarily hide calendar events for a Google account you don't need to see all the time:
1. Open the Calendar app and touch .
2. Beneath the account name, touch Events. If you have multiple calendars for that account,
touch the name of each calendar to hide its events.
Apps : Calendar app 92
Tip: When you hide events, the calendar still syncs with your Google account. To
prevent that account's calendar from automatically syncing, from the home screen go to
Settings > Accounts.
To exclude automatically-generated events created from Gmail (for events such as flight
bookings and restaurant reservations):
1. Touch > Settings > Events from Gmail.
2. Under the name of the account, turn off Events from Gmail.
To learn more, open Calendar and touch > Help & Feedback.
Control notifications for calendar events
1. Touch & hold the app icon.
2. Touch > Notifications.
3. Adjust notification settings.
If you have assigned a ringtone for the notification but you silence your phone, your phone
won't play the ringtone.
Tip: To automatically silence notifications during hours you specify, use Do Not Disturb .
Apps : Calendar app 93
Set alarms
Set alarm by touch
1. Open the Clock app.
2. Touch .
3. Do one of the following:
•To create a new alarm, touch .
• To use an existing alarm, switch it on.
•To adjust an alarm's sound, schedule or label, touch .
4. To control general alarm settings, like alarm volume and snooze duration, touch >
Settings.
Set alarm by voice
1. If you've set up Voice Match , say “OK, Google”. Or, touch on the Google Search
widget.
2. When prompted to speak, say your command. For example: “Set alarm for 7:45 p.m., label,
switch the laundry” or “Wake me up at 7 a.m. tomorrow.”
Your phone sets the alarm and provides a confirmation.
When an alarm is set
You'll see in the status bar and on your lock screen.
To adjust it, open quick settings and touch the alarm time.
Delete an alarm
1. Open the Clock app.
2. Touch
3. Touch > .
Apps : Clock app 94
Use timer or stopwatch
Use timers
You can set multiple countdown timers with labels to keep track:
1. In the Clock app, touch for the Timer tab.
2. Enter the time to count down.
3. Touch .
4. Do any of the following:
•To pause the countdown, touch .
• To add a label to the timer, touch Label (helpful when using multiple timers).
• To add a minute to the countdown, touch + 1:00.
•To reset the counter to the original time, touch > Reset.
• To add a timer, touch Add timer.
• To delete a timer, touch Delete.
•To change the timer's sound, touch > Settings > Timer sound.
• If you leave this app, quickly return to it by swiping the status bar down with one finger
to see the timer notification and remaining time. To open the timer, touch the
notification.
Tip: If you use timers frequently, create a task shortcut. Touch & hold , then drag Create
new timer to your home screen.
Use a stopwatch
Record your time and share your results.
1. In the Clock app, touch for the Stopwatch tab.
2. Touch .
3. Do any of the following:
•To pause the stopwatch, touch .
• To record laps (or multiple durations) while the stopwatch is running, touch Lap.
•To reset the counter to zero, touch > Reset.
•To share your times with others or send them to yourself, touch > Share.
Apps : Clock app 95
• If you leave this app, quickly return to it by swiping the status bar down with one finger
and touching a control. To open the stopwatch, touch the notification.
Tip: If you use stopwatches frequently, create a task shortcut. Touch & hold , then drag
Start stopwatch to your home screen.
Set date and time
Change time format
1. Go to Settings > System > Date & time.
2. To change how times are displayed:
•To use military time such as 13:00, turn Use 24-hour format on .
•To use 12-hour format such as 1:00 PM, turn Use 24-hour format off .
Set date and time automatically
1. Go to Settings > Date & time.
2. Turn on Automatic date & time and Automatic time zone.
Your phone automatically syncs with the local time (using the mobile network). The local time is
used for alarms and is displayed on the lock screen and other displays.
Set date and time manually
1. Go to Settings > Date & time.
2. Turn off Automatic date & time.
3. To make corrections, touch Set date and Set time.
Switch time zones
1. Go to Settings > Date & time.
2. Turn off Automatic time zone.
3. Touch Select time zone. Then choose a regional time zone (which is applied to the current
time).
Apps : Clock app 96
Show multiple time zones
You can view multiple time zones in the Clock app, so you can coordinate plans with friends
and co-workers in other cities, or stay in touch with family back home when you’re traveling.
1. Open the Clock app and touch .
2. To add time zones, touch , then select cities in the time zone you want to view.
Show home time zone
When traveling, you can view your home time zone in the Clock app.
1. Open the Clock app and touch .
2. Touch > Settings > Automatic home clock.
3. Touch Home time zone, then select your home time zone.
Apps : Clock app 97
Answer calls
Answer incoming call
When you receive a phone call, the Incoming call screen shows the caller ID. If you miss a call,
you'll see in the status bar.
To answer an incoming call:
• On the Incoming call screen, touch Answer.
•On the lock screen, swipe up to answer a voice call, or swipe the caller's icon/picture up
to answer a video call.
During a call, you can use the keypad to enter numbers or codes, use speakerphone or a
paired Bluetooth device, and add other people to the call. Learn more.
Tip: You can save a recent call as a contact.
Dismiss incoming call
If you don’t want to talk to the caller, you can:
•Divert the call to voicemail. On the Incoming call screen, touch Dismiss. Or, on the lock
screen, press the Power button. You can also automatically divert all calls from a specified
number to voicemail.
•Respond with a text message. On the lock screen, swipe up. You can customize
these default messages.
•Block all calls from that number.
Control ringtones and notifications
You can:
•Quickly silence the ringer. Press Volume Down on the side of the phone.
•Silence ringtones during hours you specify. Use Do Not Disturb .
•Choose a unique ringtone for specific people. You'll know instantly who's calling.
•Get notified of incoming calls when you're on a call. Set up call waiting.
•Set the number of rings before sending a call to voicemail. Dial into voicemail, then
follow your carrier’s prompts to change this setting.
Calls, contacts, voicemail : Phone calls 98
Fix a problem
If your phone isn't ringing for incoming calls, look for in your status bar. Open quick settings
and touch to turn Do Not Disturb off. Your phone will ring for incoming calls. Check your
settings to make sure your phone is screening calls at the appropriate times.
If you’re having other problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Make calls
Make a call
1. Touch .
2. Touch and enter a number.
3. If you enter a wrong number, touch .
4. Touch to call the number.
5. To hang up, touch .
Other ways to make calls
You can place calls from:
•The Phone app
•The Contacts app
• Other apps that show contact information. Wherever you see a phone number, you can
usually touch it to dial.
In the Phone app, you can place calls in several ways.
To Do this
Dial a number Touch , enter a number and touch . If you enter a wrong number, touch
.
Dial by voice Touch and say a name or number. (If you don't see , swipe down to
close the dialer.)
Or, skip the Phone app entirely and say a voice command.
Calls, contacts, voicemail : Phone calls 99
Call by name Start typing the name in the search box. You'll see a list of matches. Just
touch one to call. (If you don't see , swipe down to close the dialer.)
Or, to see your contact list, touch . Swipe through and touch the person
to call.
Call a favorite Touch the tab.
Call nearby
place
Touch and say or type the name, then touch the search result to place the
call. Learn more.
Return call Touch , then touch next to the number.
Tips:
• To call frequent numbers with one touch from your home screen, add a Direct dial
widget.
• You can save a recent call as a contact.
Change default calling app
You can download additional calling apps from Play Store. After you've installed one, you can
make it your default calling app.
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Default apps > Phone app.
Or, touch Advanced > Default apps > Phone app.
3. Touch the app to use.
Fix a problem
To change your caller ID information seen by people receiving your calls, contact your carrier.
If you’re having other problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
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During a call
Adjust sound during call
While listening, you can:
•Adjust the volume. Use the Volume button on the side of the phone.
•Use speaker. Touch .
•Use a paired Bluetooth device. Touch to use or stop using the device.
•Mute your microphone. Touch . You can hear the caller but they can’t hear you.
Enter a number
Touch on the call screen to use the numeric keypad.
Use other apps
When you hold your phone to your ear, the screen goes dark to avoid accidental touches. To
wake it up, move it away from your ear or press the Power button.
To hide the call and use other apps, touch .
To return to the call, swipe the status bar down and touch Ongoing call.
Answer call waiting
If call waiting is active and a new call comes in, you can answer it. Touch Hold and Answer
Voice. The first call is put on hold.
To switch between calls, touch .
To merge the calls, touch .
End the call
Touch on the call screen.
Or, swipe down from the top of any other screen to view the call notification and touch Hang
up.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
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Make video calls
Make video call with Duo app
Duo lets you video call anyone in your contact list who also uses Duo. Android users can get it
from Play Store, and iPhone users can download it from the iTunes App Store. The video calls
are secure and can’t be seen by others.
To get started, open the Duo app and follow the onscreen instructions to set it up.
For more information, touch > Help & Feedback.
Download video calling app
There are many video calling apps to choose from on Play Store (like WhatsApp, Skype, and
more). Search for “video calls” in Play Store and install one of your choice.
Make conference calls
To make a conference call:
1. Call the first person.
2. To call the next person:
1. Touch .
This puts the first call on hold.
2. Enter the number.
3. Touch .
3. To join the calls after the second person answers, touch .
Block calls and SMS
About blocking
If you don’t want to get calls or texts from a certain phone number, you can block it. When the
number tries to contact you, your phone declines automatically.
You can still call or text a number you've blocked. But, you'll see Blocked on the listing in the
Phone app and will get a warning in the Messages app, because you won't receive a response
or a return call unless you unblock the number.
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Block a number
Use either app to block both calls and texts from a number.
From the Phone app:
1. Touch .
2. Touch a call from the number to block.
3. Touch Block/report spam.
4. If you don’t want to report the call as spam to Google, remove the checkmark.
5. Touch Block.
From the Messages app:
1. Touch & hold the conversation thread from the number to block.
2. Touch .
3. If you don’t want to report the call as spam to Google, remove the checkmark.
4. Touch OK.
Block all numbers for a contact
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch the person's name.
3. Touch > Block numbers.
4. If you don’t want to report the call as spam to Google, remove the checkmark.
5. Touch Block.
On the contact screen, you'll see by the blocked numbers.
Unblock a number
If you reported a number to Google as spam when you blocked it, unblocking it also reverses
the spam report.
From the Phone app:
1. Touch > Settings > Blocked numbers.
2. Touch by the number to unblock.
From the Messages app:
1. Touch > Blocked contacts.
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2. Touch by the number to unblock.
3. Touch UNBLOCK.
From the Contacts app:
1. Touch > Settings > Blocked numbers.
2. Touch by the number to unblock.
Identify and block spam callers automatically
For numbers that aren't in your contacts, Google can provide information about the number and
warnings about potential spam callers.
1. Touch .
2. Touch > Settings > Caller ID & spam.
3. Turn Caller ID & spam on .
4. To prevent ringing and notifications from suspected spam calls, turn Filter spam calls on
.
You won't receive notifications for these calls, but you'll see them in your call history and
can check any voicemail you receive.
When Caller ID & spam is on:
• If you see “Suspected spam caller” or “Spam” for an incoming call, you can answer the call
or block and report the number.
• Your phone may need to send information about your calls to Google.
• It doesn’t control whether your number shows when you make calls.
If you don't want Google to identify spam callers, touch > > Settings > Caller ID & spam
and turn it off .
Turn on call waiting
When you’re on a call and a new call comes in, the new call is sent to voicemail. If you want to
be notified of new calls instead, turn on call waiting.
Note: Some carriers automatically control call waiting. If you do not see this option on your
phone, contact your carrier for more information.
1. Touch .
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2. Touch > Settings.
3. Do one of the following:
• If your phone has one SIM card, touch Calls.
• If your phone has dual SIMs, touch Calling accounts and select the SIM.
4. Touch Additional settings, then check Call waiting.
When call waiting is on, if you're on a call and a new call comes in, you can answer it. The first
call is put on hold. Touch to merge the two calls.
View and delete call history
See your call history
To see all recent calls:
1. Touch .
2. Touch .
3. You'll see one or more of these icons next to each call:
Icon Meaning
Missed call (incoming)
Call you answered (incoming)
Call you made (outgoing)
4. To learn more about a call, touch it, then touch Call details.
To see only your missed calls:
1. Touch .
2. Touch > Call history.
3. Touch Missed.
Save recent call as contact
You can save a number to make it easy to find and call back later.
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To save a number:
1. Touch .
2. Touch .
3. Touch the number.
4. Do one of the following:
• To add to an existing contact, touch Add to a contact.
• To set up a new contact, touch Create new contact. Add contact details.
5. Touch or Save.
Delete calls from history
Caution: There’s no way to restore the history after you delete it.
To delete one call:
1. Touch .
2. Touch .
3. Touch the number.
4. Touch Call details.
5. Touch .
To delete all calls:
1. Touch .
2. Touch > Call history.
3. Touch > Clear call history.
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Add contacts
Add contacts automatically
When you add an account, such as Google or email, to your phone, the contacts for that
account are available on your phone automatically.
Add contact with Contacts app
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch .
3. The account that will be synced with your new contact appears at the top. To change
accounts, touch .
4. Touch a text box to type the name and details. Fill in as much or as little information as
you'd like.
Tips:
•To add a photo, touch . Choose a photo you've saved, or take a photo and crop
it.
• You can assign a custom ringtone for calls from that contact.
• If you have multiple accounts on your phone and want to change the default
account for new contacts, go to Contacts > > Settings > Default account for
new contacts.
5. Touch Save.
Add contact from text message
You can easily create a new contact or add a new number for an existing contact when you
receive a text message from an unassigned number.
1. Open the Messages app.
2. In the message list, touch & hold the number, then touch .
3. Touch Add Contact.
4. Do one of the following:
• To add to an existing contact, touch the contact's name.
• To set up a new contact, touch Create new contact and add contact details.
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5. Touch or Save.
Other ways to add contacts
•Save a recent call as a contact.
• Have someone send you a name card.
•Scan business cards or QR codes.
Edit or delete contacts
Edit contacts
After creating a contact, you can change the name, photo, and other contact information.
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch the person's name.
3. Adjust settings as needed:
•To assign a custom ringtone, touch > Set ringtone.
•To send calls directly to voicemail, touch > Route to voicemail. You can also block
calls.
•To edit contact info, touch , then touch a field to make changes, touch to change
the photo, or touch > Discard to undo changes.
Merge contacts
If you have two contacts for the same person, you can merge the information (including all
emails and phone numbers) into a single listing.
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch the primary contact to merge.
By default, this contact’s name is used for the new listing.
3. Touch > Link.
4. Touch the name of the contact to add.
Tip: You can edit the primary contact name (for the merged listing), or delete or change
other contact information as needed.
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Delete contacts
You can delete contacts created and stored on your phone. If the contact is synced from a
social network account, you need to delete the contact in that account. For example, a
Facebook contact must be deleted from within your Facebook account. Or, hide Facebook
contacts on your phone by filtering your contact list.
To delete one contact:
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch the person's name.
3. Touch > Delete and confirm the deletion.
To delete multiple contacts:
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. In your contact list, touch & hold the first contact.
3. Touch the other contacts to delete.
4. Touch .
Star your favorite contacts
Contacts you mark as favorites appear at the top of the list in the Contacts app and on the
tab in the Phone app.
To add someone to your favorites:
1. Touch the contact icon (photo or other icon).
2. Touch .
Sort contacts
Sort contacts in Contacts app
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Set options:
• To sort by first or last name, touch Sort by.
• To list names with first name first or last name first, touch Name format.
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Sort contacts in Phone app
1. Open the Phone app.
2. Touch > Settings > Display options.
3. Set options:
• To sort by first or last name, touch Sort by.
• To list names with first name first or last name first, touch Name format.
Narrow which contacts are shown
In the Contacts app, you can narrow which contacts are shown. These changes don't affect
which contacts are shown in the Phone app.
In the Contacts app, choose one:
•To show contacts from only one account, touch and select the account.
•To show contacts from all accounts, touch > Settings > Contacts to display > All
contacts.
In the Phone app, use the tab to see only contacts you call frequently or have starred
as favorites. To remove contacts from this tab, touch on the contact, then touch .
Share contacts
Ways to share contacts
You can share one or all contacts with someone by sending a name card file (.vcf).
You can also share a contact’s information as a text message attachment.
Share one or a few contacts
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch & hold a name to select it, then touch others to select more.
3. Touch .
4. Select the way to share.
Export all contacts
1. Open the Contacts app.
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2. Touch > Settings > Export.
3. If you use more than one account, select the account.
4. Touch Export to .vcf file.
5. Touch SAVE to save it in your Downloads folder.
6. Open the Files app.
7. Go to Downloads.
8. Touch & hold the file.
9. Touch .
10.
Select the way to share.
Receive a name card file
1. When someone sends you a name card file, you'll see a file transfer notification. Touch the
notification and accept the file transfer.
2. Touch the name card file (.vcf) to open it and add the person to your contacts.
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Use voicemail
Listen to voicemail
If you've set up voicemail, you'll see in the status bar when a new voicemail message
arrives.
1. Do one of the following:
•Swipe the status bar down and touch .
•Or, touch , then touch & hold 1.
2. When connected, follow your carrier’s system prompts.
If you listen to a new message and disconnect from voicemail without saving or deleting it, you
will still see in the status bar.
Manage your mailbox
Your carrier provides your voicemail system.
1. Do one of the following:
•Swipe the status bar down and touch .
•Or, touch , then touch & hold .
2. When connected, follow the prompts to manage your messages and mailbox.
Contact your carrier for help with:
• Recovering or resetting your password/PIN for voicemail
• Replaying messages
• Saving, forwarding, or deleting messages
• Replying with or sending voice messages
• Changing number of rings before connecting call to voicemail
• Changing greeting or recorded name
• Changing notification options
• Changing mailbox language
Fix a problem
If remains in your status bar after you listen to your voicemails, try the following.
First, force stop the app:
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1. Touch & hold .
2. Touch .
3. Touch Force stop.
This restarts the app and should remove the notification.
If that doesn't help:
1. Call yourself from another phone and leave a short message.
2. Go into to your voicemail and delete this message, but wait to hang up until the notification
icon has disappeared from your status bar.
Send all calls from contact to voicemail
To send all calls from a certain person to voicemail:
1. Open the Contacts app.
2. Touch the contact's icon.
3. Touch > Route to voicemail.
Tip: You can also block all calls and text messages from a number.
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Take photos
Capture moments before they pass by.
Open the camera
Do any of the following:
•Touch .
•From the lock screen, swipe left.
Take a standard photo
1. On the viewfinder, touch .
2. If needed, adjust settings such as flash or photo size.
3. Frame your subject:
• To zoom, drag the viewfinder up or down.
• To set focus location, touch the viewfinder where you want the focus.
•To change the exposure, set the focus location, then slide to the desired exposure.
4. To take the photo, do one of the following:
•Touch .
•Touch & hold to take a rapid series of photos.
•Touch > for a timer.
Tip: To touch anywhere on the screen instead of using , touch > .
5. To review your photos and videos, touch thumbnail at bottom left. Then:
•To view all thumbnails, touch the screen, then touch to open the Photos app.
• To view photos later, open the Photos app or other photo app you installed.
Take a selfie
1. On the viewfinder, touch to switch to the front camera. Or, twist your phone twice.
2. To take the photo, do one of the following:
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•Touch .
•Touch for a timer.
Take photos with face beauty filters
Your camera includes beautification filters that:
• Soften and even skin tone
• Brighten face
• Add a rosy tone
To use the filters:
1. On the viewfinder, touch > and then:
•To soften and even skin tone, touch .
•To brighten skin, touch .
•To add a rosy tone, touch .
2. Use the slider to adjust the intensity of the filters.
3. Smile and touch to take the picture.
Take a panoramic photo
1. On the viewfinder, touch .
2. Frame one side of the scene.
3. Touch , then slowly pan horizontally across the scene. Keep your motion smooth and
use a steady speed.
4. When you reach the end of your scene, touch .
Take photo with adjustable focus
Keep the subject of your photo in focus and blur the surrounding scene as little or much as you
like.
1. Do one of the following:
•On the front camera viewfinder, touch .
•On the selfie camera viewfinder, touch .
2. For the best quality, stay within 2 meters of your subject.
3. Move the focus ring to your subject.
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4. Increase or decrease blur around the subject.
5. Touch .
Share a photo you've just taken
1. Touch the photo's thumbnail, to the left of .
2. Touch .
3. Select the way you want to share.
You can also:
• Share multiple photos at once.
• Copy photos to your computer.
• Display your photos on an HDTV.
•Print photos from your phone.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Take screenshots
Capture screen with phone keys
1. Press & hold the Power button, then touch Screenshot.
When the screenshot is captured, you'll see in the status bar.
2. Swipe the status bar down, and on the screenshot notification:
• To share the screenshot, touch Share and select the way you want to share.
• To crop or adjust image settings, touch Edit.
• To delete the screenshot, touch Delete.
• To open the screenshot, touch the notification.
Find screenshots later
Open the Photos app and touch > Device folders > Screenshots.
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Record videos
Record a video
1. Touch .
2. Touch to switch to video mode.
3. If needed, adjust settings:
•To record a selfie video, touch .
•To use location tags, touch > .
• To change video resolution, touch the current selection at the top of the screen. Use
for full-screen capture. Lower resolution videos take up less space, but have lower
image quality.
4. To start, touch .
5. While recording, you can:
•Take a photo during your video by touching .
•Pause recording by touching .
6. To stop, touch .
Tip: To record a short video, touch & hold , then release it to stop recording.
Share a video you've just taken
1. Touch the video thumbnail in the lower left of the screen.
2. Touch .
3. Select the way you want to share.
You can also:
• Copy videos to your computer using a USB cable.
• Display your videos on an HDTV.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
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Adjust camera settings
Before you take a photo, you can adjust settings to get the best photo for your situation.
Use a timer
Tip: Use a tabletop tripod to stabilize the phone when taking timed shots.
1. If you're taking a selfie, touch .
2. Touch > and select 2, 5, or 10 seconds.
3. Frame your shot, and when you're ready, touch to start the countdown.
4. Take your place in the shot (if you're taking a selfie, simply wait) and smile!
Use a flash
To set the flash mode (off, always on, or auto), touch on the viewfinder.
Store photos and videos on SD card
To set your camera to save new photos and videos on your SD card:
1. Be sure you inserted an SD card.
2. On the viewfinder, touch .
3. Touch > .
You can also move existing photos and videos from internal storage to the SD card.
Use location tags
When you take photos or videos, you can embed data about the location where you took them.
On the viewfinder, touch > .
You need to turn on location-based services to use this feature.
Use HDR in high-contrast lighting
Taking a photo of a bright scene that also includes dark shadows? Use HDR (High Dynamic
Range) mode. The camera captures multiple exposure levels and combines them into a single
photo for vibrant colors and more detail in both light and dark areas.
To set HDR mode (off, always on, or auto mode), touch on the viewfinder.
HDR is best for:
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• Landscapes with bright sky and shaded hills or foliage
• Outdoor portraits with lots of contrast
• Backlit scenes with dark shadows and streams of sunlight
• When both the camera and subject are stationary
Do not use HDR for:
• Action shots
• Low-light indoor photos
• When you want to use the flash or the front camera
When the camera detects a high contrast scene, it automatically goes into HDR mode, and
HDR appears in the viewfinder. Consider whether HDR mode would improve the photo or not.
Use anti-flicker
To prevent horizontal or vertical lines (banding) on your photos and flickering in your videos,
change the anti-flicker setting. You may notice flickering when you use the camera under
fluorescent light or when you capture a TV screen. It occurs when the camera’s frame rate
differs from the frequency of the electrical grid of your current region. North America and a few
other regions use 60Hz, while the rest of the world uses 50Hz.
Your camera is set to auto, but if you experience issues, change the setting:
1. On the viewfinder, touch > .
2. Select a frequency.
Adjust photo size
Lower resolution photos and videos take up less space, but have lower image quality.
On the viewfinder:
• To change the photo's shape, touch the aspect ratio that appears at the top of the
viewfinder. Use for full-screen capture.
•To change the photo's resolution, touch and change the photo size.
Tip: If you're running low on internal storage, adjust settings to save new photos on your SD
card.
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Use mirroring
For the front (selfie) camera, when you look in the viewfinder, you'll see a mirror image: left and
right are reversed, and text looks backwards. You can control, however, whether the photos you
take match the viewfinder or whether they're flipped.
1. On the selfie camera viewfinder, touch .
2. For Selfie photo mirror:
•If you want photos to match what you see in the viewfinder, turn it on .
•If you want text in photos to read normally and the image to be flipped, turn it off .
Turn shutter sound on/off
1. On the viewfinder, touch .
2. Touch or .
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Use camera to scan and search
Scan QR codes and barcodes
Scan QR codes or barcodes with your camera. Then use the scanned information.
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Frame the code.
3. Touch .
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to scan the code and use it.
You can also scan documents and save them as PDFs to print or share using Drive .
Get info about objects and landmarks
1. Open the Camera app.
2. Frame the landmark or object.
3. Touch .
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to select and identify the item.
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Translate text with camera
Use the Translate app to translate signs and text as you view them with the camera.
1. Open the Translate app.
If you don’t have this app, you can install it from Play Store.
2. Use to select the languages (to/from) for translation.
3. Touch .
4. Frame the text, holding the phone steady.
The camera scans and translates in the viewfinder.
Delete photos and videos
You can delete photos and videos:
• Just from your phone’s storage.
• From both your phone’s storage and your Google account backup
Tip: Keep the photos but free your phone storage. You can schedule automatic deletion of
photos from your phone if they’re backed up to your Google account.
From the Camera app
1. Touch the photo thumbnail (right of ).
2. Do one of the following:
•To delete it from your phone’s storage and your Google account backup, touch . (If
you don't see the icon, touch the screen first.)
•To delete it only from your phone’s storage, touch > Delete from device.
From the Photos app
1. From the list of thumbnail photos:
• To select one item, touch & hold it.
• To select multiple items, touch & hold the first one, then touch the others.
2. Do one of the following:
•To delete it from your phone’s storage and your Google account backup, touch .
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•To delete it only from your phone’s storage, touch > Delete from device.
Recover deleted photos and videos
If you automatically back up photos to your Google account, you have some time to recover
deleted items. When you delete a photo or video, it’s moved to the Trash in the Photos app for
several weeks, before being deleted forever.
To recover a photo or video:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch > Trash.
3. Touch & hold the photo or video.
4. Touch Restore.
If you don’t back up photos to your Google account, to maximize use of your phone’s internal
storage space, there’s no undo. Once you delete something from your phone’s storage, it’s
gone. You can try using a third-party app to recover recently deleted photos or videos.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Edit photos and videos
Edit photos
1. Open the photo in the Camera or Photos apps.
2. Touch the photo, then touch .
3. Touch a tab to access editing options.
Tab Editing options
Add a filter.
Adjust light, color, sharpness, and more.
Crop or rotate photo.
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4. While editing an image, you can:
•Undo your last change. Touch > Undo edits.
•Save a copy to preserve current changes. Touch > Save copy.
5. When finished, touch SAVE.
Edit videos
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch the thumbnail to open the video, then touch .
3. Do any of the following:
• Trim the video. Drag the sliders to outline the frames to save.
• Change orientation for playing the video. Touch Rotate.
• Steady a shaky recording. Touch Stabilize.
4. Touch SAVE.
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Find photos and videos
Photos/videos you took
To search for photos or videos:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. In the search box, type a search term, such as a location or person's name.
Make sure back up and sync is on. You can only search backed up photos.
To browse for photos or videos:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Do one of the following:
•To scroll through photos and videos by date, touch Photos.
•To view photos and videos stored on your phone, touch > Device folders.
3. Touch a thumbnail to open the photo or video.
To learn more, touch > Help & Feedback in the Photos app.
Photos/videos from text messages
To find photos you've saved from text messages:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch Albums.
3. Touch the name of your messaging app. (Swipe left if needed.)
Photos/videos from WhatsApp, Instagram, other apps
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch Albums.
3. Touch the name of the app. (Swipe left if needed.)
Missing photos/videos
If you’re having trouble finding photos or videos, read Google's support information.
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Storage location
Photos and videos you’ve taken are stored on your phone (internal storage) or on your SD card,
depending on your setting.
For either internal storage or the SD card, look in these folders.
Folder Type of photo/video
DCIM Taken with Camera app
Pictures/PhotosEditor Your edited photos. Also check DCIM for edited photos.
Pictures/Screenshots Screenshots
Pictures/[app] Saved from messages or photo sharing apps
Share photos and videos
You can wirelessly share one, multiple, or all items from any Photos view, sending them as
email or message attachments, uploading to the cloud, or using device-to-device connections
like Bluetooth.
In addition to sharing wirelessly, you can transfer photos to your computer with a USB
connection. You can also move photos from internal memory to SD card.
To share wirelessly:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Navigate to the thumbnail of the item you want to share.
3. Select the item to share:
• To select one item, touch & hold its thumbnail.
• To select multiple items, touch & hold the first thumbnail, then touch the others to
select them.
Tip: To clear all selections, touch .
4. Touch and select the way you want to share.
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About wireless sharing
What you can share
You can share your photos and videos, contacts, screenshots, and downloaded files.
When sharing photos and videos
When deciding how to share your photos or videos, consider these factors:
• Resolution (high versus low) of the photo or video; high resolution uses more data
• Number of photos to share (one photo or a few or an entire vacation album)
• Whether you want to share on the internet or from device-to-device
• Length of availability for sharing
Ways to share
Method Description
Message
(MMS) Good for:
• Sharing one photo or a low-resolution video.
• Sharing with a friend or group.
• Sharing immediately, as an event is happening.
Things to consider:
• You and your recipients must have cellular data plans to receive multimedia
text messages.
• Sending high resolution photos via text message uses more more data.
• Photos and video remain available until the recipient deletes the message.
• High quality videos are too large and cannot be shared in text messages.
Learn how
Email Good for:
• Sharing one or a few photos.
• Sharing with a friend or group.
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Things to consider:
• Some email providers limit attachment sizes. For large files, upload the file to
a cloud storage and email the link instead of the file.
• Email attachments remain available for download until the recipient deletes
the email.
Learn how
Cloud Good for:
• Sharing high resolution photos, multiple photos, entire albums, and videos.
• Controlling sharing via links.
• Controlling how long you share something; you can easily delete it or turn off
sharing privileges.
Things to consider:
• Many cloud services offer free storage with a basic account.
• Cloud storage services are fairly secure, but not completely free from security
breaches, so upload wisely.
• Upload over Wi-Fi to prevent cellular data charges.
Learn how
Social app Good for:
• Sharing publicly, with large groups of friends, followers, and subscribers.
• Sharing one photo at a time, or many photos, albums, or videos.
• Controlling how long you share something. You can easily delete it or turn off
sharing. Some social networks allow you to post photos and videos for only
several seconds, to be viewed but not saved, while some posts remain
available indefinitely. Check the social network for specifics.
Things to consider:
• Understand social network privacy and sharing policies before you post.
• Review updates to social network privacy and sharing policies often.
• Requires a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection.
Bluetooth Good for:
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• Sharing from phone-to-phone or other connected device.
• Fast sharing.
Things to consider:
• Your phone must be paired and connected with another device.
Upload photos and videos
Back up automatically
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch > Settings > Back up & sync.
3. Turn Back up & sync on .
4. Adjust settings as needed:
• To choose high quality or original size for uploads, touch Upload size.
• To back up items in your Download, Screenshots, and third-party app folders, touch
Back up device folders.
• To back up items over your cellular network, turn Photos and Videos on.
•To allow syncing when your cellular service is roaming, turn Roaming on .
Back up manually
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Open the photo or video.
3. On the photo or video, touch .
View your backed up photos and videos
From your phone, open the Photos app.
From your computer, sign in to photos.google.com.
More help
To learn more, read Google's help.
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Listen to radio
Listen to FM stations
Your phone uses wired headphones (any brand) to automatically tune to radio stations with the
best signal. Listening to the radio doesn't use your mobile data.
1. Open the FM Radio app.
2. Plug headphones into your phone and touch to turn the radio on.
Even when you listen through your phone's speaker, Bluetooth wireless speakers, or
wireless headphones, you still need the wired headphones as your antenna.
3. Touch to scan for all available stations.
4. Do any of the following:
•To view all stations and listen to any, touch .
•To seek stations throughout the radio dial, touch or .
•To tune to specific frequencies, touch or .
•To add a favorite station shortcut, from the tuner or station list, touch .
To remove one, on the station shortcut touch > Remove favorite.
•To change between headphones, speakers, or Bluetooth, touch or or .
• If you're listening to the radio while using another app, use the notification to see
what’s playing, stop playback, or go to the previous or next track. Touch for options.
•To turn the radio off, touch .
Tip: If you're having reception issues, try moving your phone as far from the headphones as
possible to increase the size of the antenna. Or, try moving a short distance, towards a
window if you are inside or away from buildings if you are outside.
Record current station
1. Touch > Start recording.
2. To stop recording, touch STOP RECORDING.
3. If desired, edit the recording's name.
4. Touch SAVE.
To listen to a recording, touch > Saved recordings.
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Listen to music
Get music
Stream songs or download them to your phone so you can listen when you’re on an airplane or
don’t have an internet connection.
Your phone can play MP3, FLAC, M4A, AAC, AAC+, MIDI, and WAV files.
To get music, do any of the following:
• Purchase it in an app, like Play Music. Then stream it or download it using that app.
• Transfer it over USB or Bluetooth from your computer to your phone’s Music folder.
•Upload it from your computer to the cloud and listen on any internet-connected device.
Listen with Play Music
1. Open the Play Music app.
2. Do any of the following:
•To play music stored on your phone, on your SD card, or in the cloud, touch >
Music library.
•To prevent streaming and listen only to music stored on your phone, touch and turn
Downloaded only on .
•To change the storage location for downloaded files, touch > Settings > Storage
Location. Then choose Internal for device storage or External for SD card storage.
•To learn more about features or music pricing, touch > Help & Feedback.
To open your music library with one touch from your home screen, add a task shortcut:
1. Touch & hold .
2. Drag My library to a blank space on your home screen.
You can listen through your phone's speaker or by pairing with a Bluetooth speaker.
Listen with other apps
You can download apps for listening to and organizing music. Open the new app and touch
or > Help to learn more.
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Transfer music files
About transferring music
You can transfer purchased music files stored on your devices between devices you own.
Music apps that share music files from cloud storage typically share links to access stored files
instead of transferring music files between devices. To transfer music files, the music must be
stored on the device.
Send files over Bluetooth
To send music files stored on your phone:
1. Pair your phone with the device receiving the music.
2. On your phone, open the Files app and touch Browse > Audio.
3. Touch & hold the file.
4. Touch and select Bluetooth.
5. Touch the name of the paired device.
During file transfer, you’ll see in the status bar. To check the status, see the notification.
Receive files over Bluetooth
1. Pair your phone with the device sending the music.
2. On the device sending the music, start the file transfer, following device’s instructions.
3. When you receive the Bluetooth notification on your phone, swipe down and touch it, then
touch Accept.
During file transfer, you’ll see in the status bar. To check the status, open the
notification.
The files are saved in Music/Bluetooth, where music apps will find them. You’re ready to listen!
Tip: To see Bluetooth files you received, go to Settings > Connected devices >
Connection preferences > Received files.
Transfer music from your computer
To move your music from your computer to your phone, connect them with a USB cable and
copy the files to your phone’s Music folder.
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Connect a MIDI device
To connect a MIDI device:
1. Make sure you have:
• A USB cable that's capable of data transfer and isn't for charging only.
• A USB OTG adapter cable, if needed.
2. Turn the phone and MIDI device on.
3. Connect them with the USB cable (and adapter if needed).
4. Unlock the phone.
5. Change the USB connection type to allow MIDI connection:
1. Swipe down from the top of your home screen and touch the Charging this device
via USB notification.
2. Touch MIDI.
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Charge phone
How to charge phone
Your phone is like a small computer, giving you tons of information and apps. Depending on
what you use, that can take a lot of power. Plan on charging the phone each night so it's ready
for the next day.
1. Weaker chargers take longer to charge the phone, and if you use the phone while
charging, may not charge it at all.
2. Insert the plug into an electrical outlet.
When the phone is off and charging, you’ll see the outline of a battery and a percentage. If
the battery is completely discharged, this will not appear until the phone has received the
minimum voltage required to boot.
When the phone is on and charging, you’ll see in the status bar.
Tips for charging phone
• You can use your phone while charging. To charge faster, don't use your phone while
charging.
• If you can't turn the phone on while it's charging, wait until it receives enough voltage
before turning it on.
• When the battery gets low, the phone sends a notification.
• Use Battery Saver mode when the battery is low.
• You can turn off charging sounds.
Extend battery life
Choose settings that use less battery
To get the most life from your battery:
•Connections: Turn off Bluetooth and GPS when you're not using them.
•Wi‑Fi: Turn on Wi‑Fi when the phone is in a location with Wi‑Fi coverage.
•Screen: Turn down screen brightness and set a shorter screen timeout.
•Sync: If you don't need it, turn off automatic syncing for all accounts. This means you won't
receive notifications when updates occur and you'll need to manually sync to get new
emails.
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Temporarily conserve battery power
Use Battery Saver mode to keep going on a low battery.
Also, avoid these battery-intensive activities until you can charge:
• Recording or watching videos
• Listening to music
• Taking pictures
• Using Live (animated) wallpaper
See what’s using your battery
To see if a specific app is draining your battery:
1. Go to Settings > Battery and touch the percentage.
2. Swipe up to view the list of apps and features using power since the last full charge.
3. Touch the app or feature using a lot of power.
4. Under Manage battery usage, touch options for reducing the power usage.
Keep adaptive battery and battery optimization on
To ensure that apps use your battery only when they need to, keep adaptive battery and battery
optimization on.
Check that adaptive battery is on for your phone
When you keep adaptive battery on, infrequently used apps will run less when you're not using
them. Your phone will learn how you use apps over time and adjust for best battery life.
1. Go to Settings > Battery > Adaptive Battery.
2. Turn Use Adaptive Battery on .
Check that battery optimization is on for each app
If you turn off Battery optimization for an app, that app can run when you're not using it, even
when Adaptive Battery is on. This decreases battery life unnecessarily.
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Special app access.
2. Touch Battery optimization.
3. If an app is listed as Not optimized:
1. Touch the app.
2. Touch Optimize > Done.
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Tip: Optimize isn't available for some essential services.
Use Battery Saver mode
When Battery Saver is on
Battery Saver helps you keep going on a low battery by until the next charge.
To save power, your phone will:
• Wait until you look at an app to refresh its content, like email or news
• Stop using Location services when your screen is off
• Stop apps from doing things in the background
When the phone is in Battery Saver mode, you'll see in the status bar.
Turn Battery Saver on or off
To turn Battery Saver on at any time, open quick settings and touch .
To turn Battery Saver on automatically when your battery's charge is below a specified level:
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Battery Saver > Turn on automatically.
3. Move the slider to adjust the percentage when Battery Saver switches on.
Replace battery
1. Turn your phone upside down, and put your fingernail in the notch on the bottom corner.
2. Pry off the cover. Don’t be afraid to use a little muscle.
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3. Remove the battery.
4. Insert the new battery, face up.
5. Snap the cover on.
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About storage options
Phone internal storage
You can store photos, videos, music, and applications on your phone. Files you downloaded
from the internet and attachments you save from email or text messages are stored there, too.
You can free up space when needed.
SD card storage
You can insert an SD card in your phone and use it as one of two formats: portable storage or
internal storage. Be sure to buy the right type of card, depending on how you're going to format
it.
Benefits include:
• Immediate access to your files
• No cellular data or internet connection required to access files
• More control over privacy
Cloud storage
Clouds are great for storing files, like photos, videos, and music, you want to share and access
from other devices.
Benefits include:
• Access your files from any device with an internet connection
• File synchronization - no need to keep track of multiple versions in multiple storage
locations
• Backups of photos and videos available if phone is lost or damaged
Cloud storage providers typically offer free storage that can be expanded with a paid
subscription once you reach the free-storage limit. Or you can manage your free storage by
removing files you no longer need to make space for new ones.
Apps like Drive and Photos let you easily back up media to cloud storage.
Manage phone storage
Free up space by scanning
To scan your phone for old and unused items to remove, like downloads and unused apps:
1. Open the Files app.
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2. Touch Clean.
You’ll see suggestions for categories of items to check and free up space.
3. Touch the suggestions and follow onscreen instructions to uninstall, move, or delete items.
If you don't see suggestions to free up space, check that suggestions are on:
1. Open the Files app.
2. Touch > Settings.
3. Touch Notifications and turn on ones you want to receive.
Free up space manually
To free up space:
1. Open the Files app.
2. Touch Browse.
3. Touch a category (apps, images, videos, etc.) to view that type of item.
4. Do any of the following:
• To uninstall apps, touch the app name, then touch Uninstall.
• To clear an app's cache, touch the app's name, then touch Storage > Clear cache.
• To clear your data for an app, touch the app's name, then touch Storage > Clear
storage.
•To delete media or other files, touch & hold to select one or more items, then touch .
Schedule automatic removal of photos and videos
If you automatically back up your photos and videos, you can automatically remove copies from
your phone's internal storage after 30, 60, or 90 days.
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. If you installed an SD card, touch Internal shared storage.
3. Touch Storage manager and turn it on .
4. Touch Remove photos & videos and select a duration.
If you store photos or videos on your SD card, this does not delete them.
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Manage SD card
Move photos, videos, music to SD card
To free up internal storage on your phone:
1. Be sure you've inserted and set up your SD card.
2. Open the Files app and touch Clean.
Or, go to Settings > Storage > Internal shared storage > FREE UP SPACE.
3. If there are media files to move, touch the option to free up space.
4. Select items to move.
5. Touch Move to SD card > Move.
Tip: You can set the camera to store all new photos and videos on the SD card.
Move apps to SD card
To move apps to your SD card:
1. Make sure it is formatted as internal storage.
2. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications and touch the app to move.
3. Touch Storage.
4. Touch CHANGE. If you don’t see this option, the developer does not allow the app to be
stored on an SD card.
5. Select your SD card, then touch Move.
Move apps from SD card to phone
When you install an SD card as internal storage, it is part of your phone. If you want change the
SD card to portable storage or remove it from the phone to reformat and use in another device,
first move the apps from SD card storage to your phone's internal storage:
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. Select your SD card.
3. Touch Apps and select an app.
4. Touch CHANGE > Internal shared storage > Move.
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Eject SD card
Internal storage
1. Move apps from the card back to phone internal storage before you eject the card. If you
remove the card without moving the apps:
• You will lose access to the apps/games on card and will need to reinstall them.
• Your apps and phone's performance will degrade.
2. Go to Settings > Storage.
3. Touch the SD card name.
4. Touch > Eject.
5. Remove the card from the phone.
Portable storage
To eject the card, drag the SD card notification down, and touch Eject.
If you don't see the notification:
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. Next to your SD card name, touch .
It's now safe to remove the card from the phone.
To insert the card into another device (computer, projector, etc.) that uses different card
dimensions, you may need the adapter that came with your card. See device manufacturer's
instructions for the type of adapter required and insertion instructions.
Erase SD card
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. Select your SD card.
3. Touch > Storage settings > Format.
4. Follow onscreen instructions to format the card.
Format SD card
You'll need to choose one of two formats for your SD card:
• Use as portable storage if you want to move the card to other devices to access your
media.
• Use as internal storage if you need more device storage to install large apps and games
and plan to use the card only in your phone.
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Portable storage Internal storage
Store media (photos, videos, music) yes yes
Store apps no yes
Content encrypted no yes
Read card in other devices yes no
To format the inserted card:
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. Touch the SD card's name.
3. Touch > Storage settings.
4. Touch Format as internal or Format as portable.
If you formatted as portable storage, be sure to update settings in media apps, like Camera and
Play Music , so they use the card to store content you create or download.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Find downloaded files
You can download files and store them on your phone, including:
• Photos, videos, and documents you save from emails or texts
• Books, movies, or other content that you buy from Play Store and save for offline viewing
• Other files or images you download from the web
When the file has finished downloading, you'll see in the status bar. Touch the notification to
open the file in the appropriate app.
To view, edit, or delete downloads:
1. Open the Files app.
2. Touch Browse > Downloads.
3. Do any of the following:
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• To open or play a file, touch it.
• To sort files by name, date modified, or size, touch the label to sort by it.
•To share a file, touch & hold it, then touch .
•To delete a file, touch & hold it, then touch .
Tip: To access downloads from a computer, connect your phone with a USB cable. Then
open the phone's internal storage, and look for files in the Downloads folder.
Recover recently deleted files
You can try to recover recently deleted photos, videos, or texts. But do so as soon as possible.
The more you use the phone, the more likely the file will be overwritten with new data.
1. Search for “file recovery” in Play Store and install one of the apps.
2. Use the app to scan your phone.
3. If you can't recover recently deleted items, try connecting your phone to your computer with
a USB cable and using a desktop program for file recovery.
Tip: Back up your photos to the cloud so you won't lose them if you delete them from your
phone.
Upload music to cloud
You can store up to 20,000 songs from your library in the cloud, for free, with Google Play
Music (not available in all countries). Then you can instantly listen to your tunes wherever you
are.
You can upload music from your:
• iTunes library
• Windows Media Player library
• My Music folder, or any folder on your computer
To upload your music, use Google Play Music for Chrome or install the Music Manager
application on your computer. On your computer, visit play.google.com/music and click >
Upload music. To learn more, read Google's help.
After you’ve uploaded your music, you can listen to it:
• On your computer by visiting www.google.com/music
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• On your phone with the Play Music app
Upload photos and videos
Back up automatically
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch > Settings > Back up & sync.
3. Turn Back up & sync on .
4. Adjust settings as needed:
• To choose high quality or original size for uploads, touch Upload size.
• To back up items in your Download, Screenshots, and third-party app folders, touch
Back up device folders.
• To back up items over your cellular network, turn Photos and Videos on.
•To allow syncing when your cellular service is roaming, turn Roaming on .
Back up manually
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Open the photo or video.
3. On the photo or video, touch .
View your backed up photos and videos
From your phone, open the Photos app.
From your computer, sign in to photos.google.com.
More help
To learn more, read Google's help.
Scan documents and make copies
Scan document to Drive
You can scan important documents with your phone and save them as PDFs on Google Drive.
1. Open the Drive app.
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2. Touch > .
3. Align your phone over the document to scan and touch .
4. Optionally:
•Touch to crop.
•Touch to select image enhancement options.
•Touch to delete, rename, and adjust image and PDF settings.
•Touch to reset the scanner (deletes current unsaved scan).
•Touch to add another page.
5. When you've finished scanning, touch .
6. Change the document title and folder on Drive, if desired, then touch Save.
In Drive, open the file and touch to share or print the scan.
Tip: You can also use the Camera app to scan information.
Scan and save to folders from your home screen
Add Drive Scan widgets to your home screen to scan and save to new or selected folders. Each
widget saves to a single folder on Drive. So, add multiple widgets, one for each folder you need
(receipts, billing statements, recipes, etc.).
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Connect with Wi‑Fi
Connect to Wi‑Fi network
Some Wi‑Fi networks are open and you can simply connect for internet access. Other Wi‑Fi
networks are secure and require you to enter a password. Contact the Wi-Fi network's owner
for the password.
To search for and connect with available Wi‑Fi networks:
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Turn Use Wi-Fi on .
3. Touch the Wi‑Fi network you want to connect to.
4. If the network is a secure one, enter the password. For your home network, get the
password from the label on the Wi-Fi router. For a public network, get the password from
the business or organization.
Tip: Make sure you enter the password correctly. Touch Show password to see what
you’re typing.
When your phone is connected, you'll see in the status bar. If the connection is poor,
appears in the status bar.
Reconnect with Wi‑Fi network
Open quick settings and touch the icon if Wi-Fi is not already on. Your phone automatically
connects to a previously-connected Wi-Fi networks when you're in range.
To connect to a different network, touch & hold , then choose another network.
Turn Wi-Fi off
To extend the life of your battery between charges, turn off Wi‑Fi when you're not in a location
with access to Wi‑Fi.
Open quick settings and touch to turn it off.
Advanced: Forget Wi-Fi connection
1. Open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch the network’s name and touch FORGET.
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Advanced: Disable Wi-Fi scanning
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Location > Advanced > Scanning.
3. Turn Wi-Fi scanning off .
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems with Wi-Fi, try these troubleshooting steps.
Use Airplane mode
Airplane mode turns off all wireless connections, preventing your phone from transmitting
signals that could interfere with airplane communications.
Open quick settings and touch to turn airplane mode on. This disables all wireless
connections (Wi‑Fi, voice and data for calls and text messages, Bluetooth). If permitted by your
airline, you can then turn Wi‑Fi and/or Bluetooth back on during the flight. Other wireless
connections remain off.
Control data usage
Turn mobile data off/on
To toggle it on/off, swipe the status bar down and touch .
When you turn off data usage over your cellular network, you can still use data by connecting to
a Wi-Fi network.
Cellular data must be ON if you want to:
• Receive or send multi-media messages
•Share your phone’s internet connection with other devices
Tip: Touch & hold in quick settings to switch between SIMs for mobile data.
Set data limit
Sometimes it's easy to exceed your data plan limit without realizing it. To avoid surprises, set a
usage warning that notifies you when you’re close to your limit, and set a usage limit that turns
off cellular data when the limit is reached.
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1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Data usage.
Or, open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Data warning & limit.
3. To set a warning, turn Set data warning on , then touch Data warning and enter the
amount of data.
4. To set a usage limit, turn Set data limit on , then touch Data limit and enter the amount
of data.
Restrict background data
Even when you’re not using them, most apps sync data in the background.
You can prevent specific apps from ever sending or receiving data in the background. Also, if
you're running low on data during your billing cycle, use Data Saver to conserve your remaining
data. Data Saver lets you quickly turn off background data usage for all apps; if you have one
or two that want to continue using background data, you can set them as exceptions.
When you restrict background data, you will not receive notifications from apps that typically
sync in the background (like Gmail) until you open the app; then data syncs as usual.
If you're running low on data during your billing cycle:
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Data usage.
Or, open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch Data Saver and turn Use Data Saver on .
You'll see in your status bar and all apps are prevented from using background data.
Tip: The first time you turn Data Saver on, is added to quick settings. After that, just
swipe the status bar down and touch to turn Data Saver off/on.
3. To allow certain apps to continue using background data, touch Unrestricted data, then
next to the app name, slide the switch on .
To prevent specific apps from ever using background data:
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Data usage.
Or, open quick settings, then touch & hold .
2. Touch App data usage.
3. Touch an app, then turn Background data off .
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Dual SIMs
If your phone has two SIMs, cellular data is active on only one SIM at a time. You can control
which SIM is used.
Share your internet connection
About hotspots and tethering
Want to use the internet on a laptop computer or tablet but don't have a connection? You can
share your phone's cellular data connection with multiple devices by turning your phone into a
Wi‑Fi hotspot. You can also share your internet connection with a single device using USB
tethering or Bluetooth tethering.
Note: Your cellular plan must support data sharing. If you don’t know, contact your carrier.
Set up Wi‑Fi hotspot
1. Check that cellular data is on. If cellular data is off, your phone doesn't have an internet
connection to share.
2. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering.
3. Touch Wi-Fi hotspot and do any:
• To make it easier to identify your hotspot when connecting to it, change the network
name for your hotspot.
• To see the current password, touch Advanced > Hotspot password.
• If the hotspot signal is experiencing interference, touch Advanced and change the
broadcast channel/band to 5GHz. If the hotspot signal seems weak, change it to
2GHz. (This feature is not available in all countries.)
Connect devices to hotspot
1. Check that cellular data is on. If cellular data is off, your phone doesn't have an internet
connection to share.
2. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering.
3. Touch Wi-Fi hotspot and turn it on , then plug in your phone to charge. Using the
hotspot really drains the battery!
When your hotspot is active, you'll see in the status bar.
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Tip: The first time you turn the hotspot on, is added to quick settings. After that, just
swipe the status bar down and touch to turn the hotspot off/on.
4. To connect a device, open the device’s Wi-Fi settings, select your phone’s hotspot and
enter the hotspot password. Learn how to find the hotspot's password.
To disconnect devices from your hotspot, touch Wi-Fi hotspot and turn it off. When you turn it
back on, devices with the password can connect automatically. To prevent this, change the
password.
Manage hostpot connections
By assigning a password when you set up your hotspot, you ensure that people can't connect to
your hotspot without your knowledge or permission.
To manage connections:
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Mobile Hotspot & Tethering.
2. Touch Mobile Hotspot settings > Advanced.
3. Adjust settings:
• To limit number of allowed users, touch Maximum connections.
• To view and block users, touch Connected users.
• To remove blocks on users, touch Blocked users.
To disconnect all devices and prevent users from reconnecting:
1. Turn the hotspot off.
2. Change the password.
3. Turn the hotspot back on to continue using it.
Tip: When no devices are connected, the hotspot turns off automatically. To adjust this
setting, go to Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering > Wi-Fi hotspot >
Advanced > Turn off hotspot automatically.
View or change hotspot password
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering.
2. Touch Wi-Fi hotspot.
3. Touch Advanced > Hotspot password to see the current password.
4. To change the password, type over the current password.
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Note: Although you can turn off passwords for your hotspot, keeping a password prevents
unauthorized usage of your cellular data.
USB tethering
To connect a device to the internet using your phone's cellular data and a USB cable:
1. Check that cellular data is on. If cellular data is off, your phone doesn't have an internet
connection to share.
2. Connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable.
3. On your phone, go to Settings .
4. Touch Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering.
5. Turn on USB tethering to start the connection.
You'll see in your notifications.
To stop the connection, touch the notification and turn off USB tethering, then disconnect your
phone and computer.
Bluetooth tethering
To connect a device to the internet using your phone's cellular data and a Bluetooth connection:
1. Check that cellular data is on. If cellular data is off, your phone doesn't have an internet
connection to share.
2. Turn on Bluetooth on your phone and pair with the other device.
3. Set up the other device to get its network connection via Bluetooth.
4. On your phone, go to Settings .
5. Touch Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering.
6. Turn on Bluetooth tethering to start the connection.
You'll see in your notifications.
To stop the connection, touch the notification and turn off Bluetooth tethering.
Fix a problem
If you're having problems, try these troubleshooting steps:
•Wi-Fi hotspot
•USB
•Bluetooth
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Connect to VPNs
A virtual private network (VPN) lets you access files on a secure network like an office network
with a firewall. Contact your network administrator for VPN settings and any additional apps or
requirements.
To set up a VPN connection:
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet.
2. Touch Advanced > VPN. If prompted, set a screen lock PIN or password.
3. Touch .
4. Choose the type of VPN and enter settings from the network administrator.
5. To always remain connected to the VPN, check Always-on VPN.
6. Touch SAVE.
The network is stored in the VPN list so you can select it when you need to connect.
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Connect with Bluetooth™
Turn Bluetooth on/off
Bluetooth uses more of your battery, so turn it off when not in use.
1. Open quick settings.
2. Touch the icon to switch on/off:
is on.
is off.
Pair with Bluetooth device
To connect with a new Bluetooth accessory or other device, you need to pair with it. You only
need to do this once for each device.
1. Set the device you want to pair (accessory, computer, other phone, etc.) to Bluetooth
discovery mode so that your phone can find it. See the device manufacturer’s instructions.
2. On your phone, go to Settings > Connected devices.
3. Touch .
As the phone searches for available devices, you'll see .
4. Touch an available device to connect.
5. Do any of the following:
• If a pairing code appears on your phone and Bluetooth device, make sure the codes
match. (If they don't, touch Cancel, verify the name of the device you want to pair with,
and try again.)
• If your device shows a passkey (like 0000 or 1234), enter it on your phone. If you don't
see a place to enter it, swipe down from the top of your screen and touch the
Bluetooth notification.
• If your device doesn't show a passkey and you must enter one for the device to pair,
see the device manufacturers' instructions.
6. Touch Pair on your phone AND touch the pairing prompt on the other device. If you don't
confirm on both devices, pairing will fail.
7. Set sharing options if you'll want to share contacts, phone audio, media audio, or internet
access.
Connected devices 152
Tip: If you use a screen lock, you can define a paired Bluetooth device as a trusted device,
keeping your phone unlocked while connected to it. When you disconnect or move out of
range, your phone locks again. Go to Settings > Security & location > Smart Lock >
Trusted devices.
Can't pair? Try these troubleshooting steps.
Use paired device
Tip: Bluetooth connections can really drain your battery. Save power by turning Bluetooth off
when you're not connected to a device.
After pairing with a device, you’ll need to set sharing options and then you can use Bluetooth to:
• Make or receive calls with a headset
• Make or receive calls and play music over your car's audio system
• Transfer music
• Share photos
• Share contacts
• Share your phone's internet connection with your computer
To set sharing options:
1. Go to Settings > Connected devices.
2. Do one of the following:
• For a currently connected device, touch the device name.
• For a paired device you're not connected to, touch Previously connected devices,
then next to the device name, touch .
3. Turn sharing options on or off.
4. On the paired device or in the device’s app, look for Bluetooth settings to review and
adjust. For more information, see the paired device manufacturer’s instructions.
Reconnect with Bluetooth device
1. Open quick settings and touch to turn it on.
2. Turn on the Bluetooth device.
Connected devices 153
Change phone's name
Your phone name identifies your phone in a Bluetooth network. You can change the name.
1. Go to Settings > Connected devices.
2. Touch > Device name.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems with a Bluetooth device, try these troubleshooting steps.
Connect with Wi-Fi Direct
If you have a device, like a printer or TV, that supports Wi-Fi Direct, you can connect your
phone without a wireless router or cable.
When you turn on your phone’s Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct is automatically enabled.
To connect to a Wi-Fi Direct device:
1. On the device you want to connect, set up Wi-Fi Direct. For instructions, see that product's
user guide.
2. On your phone, go to Settings > Network & internet > Wi‑Fi > Wi-Fi preferences.
3. Touch Advanced > Wi-Fi Direct.
You'll see a list of Wi-Fi Direct devices that are within range and compatible.
4. Touch the device’s name to connect.
Cast screen or media to TV
Mirror with Chromecast
To mirror your screen on a TV, showing all apps and screens you use on your phone, you must:
• Use a TV with Chromecast built-in.
• Or, plug a Chromecast into your TV’s HDMI port. (Learn how.)
To start casting:
1. Make sure your phone and Chromecast or TV with Chromecast are connected to the same
Wi-Fi network.
2. Go to Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences > Cast.
Or, from quick settings, touch .
Connected devices 154
3. Touch the name of the Chromecast or TV to connect.
To stop:
•On the casting notification, touch > Disconnect.
•Or, from quick settings, touch > Disconnect.
Cast an app
You can cast an app if you:
• Have a smart TV that supports mobile apps for viewing or playing media from your phone.
See your TV user guide for instructions to connect your phone.
• Have Chromecast or a TV with Chromecast built-in. This feature is not available in all
countries.
Miracast is not supported.
To cast an app:
1. Make sure your phone and smart TV or Chromecast are connected to the same Wi-Fi
network.
2. In a cast-compatible app (like YouTube), touch .
While casting:
•You’ll see in the status bar.
• You can still make and receive calls and use your phone’s other features.
To stop casting:
•In the app that's casting, touch and touch the option to disconnect.
•From the notification, touch .
Cast personal media with Wi-Fi Direct
If your TV supports Wi-Fi Direct, set up a connection between your phone and TV so that you
can view or play media from your phone.
For information about using Wi-Fi Direct after you've connected, see the user guide that came
with your TV.
Fix a problem
If you can't cast:
• If you’re using a VPN, turn off the VPN and try again.
Connected devices 155
• Make sure your phone and Chromecast or TV with Chromecast are connected to the same
Wi-Fi network.
• Move your phone to within 15 feet of your Chromecast or TV with Chromecast.
Transfer files between phone and computer (USB)
About USB transfers
You can transfer music, photos, and other files between your phone's storage and computer (in
either direction). Use a USB cable that's capable of data transfer and isn't for charging only.
When you connect the phone and computer with the USB cable, the phone’s USB connection
type is set to charging mode, which charges your battery but prevents your computer from
seeing files on your phone. Before transferring files, change the USB connection type to allow
transfer of:
• Any type of file
• Only photos and videos
Connect phone to transfer files
1. With the phone and computer turned on, connect the phone and computer with a USB
cable.
2. Unlock the phone.
3. Change the USB connection type to allow file transfers:
1. Swipe down from the top of your home screen and touch the Charging this device
via USB notification.
2. To transfer any type of file, touch File transfer.
Or, to transfer only photos and videos, touch PTP.
Transfer files
On a Windows computer:
1. Ensure the phone is properly connected to the computer using the steps above.
If you don't unlock the phone and change the USB connection to allow file transfers, you
won't see any files on your phone.
2. On your computer, open File Explorer, click the name of your phone, and navigate to its
internal storage or SD card.
Connected devices 156
3. If you selected PTP when you connected the phone, in File Explorer choose whether to
import pictures and videos automatically or manually.
4. Open a second File Explorer window to see your computer folders.
5. Navigate to the folders or files to transfer, then drag and drop them to and from the open
phone storage and computer folders.
On a Mac:
1. Ensure the phone is properly connected to the computer using the steps above.
If you don't unlock the phone and change the USB connection to allow file transfers, you
won't see any files on your phone.
2. On your computer, download the Android File Transfer application from www.android.com/
filetransfer and follow the onscreen instructions.
Location of files
Files are stored in these folders on your phone:
•DCIM: (Digital Camera Images) Photos and videos taken with the Camera app
•Pictures: Photos you edited and photos from apps other than Camera
•Download: Files downloaded from the internet
•Music: Files for apps that play music
•Ringtones: Sound files for ringtones
•Notifications: Sound files for notifications
•Alarms: Sound files for alarms
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Print from your phone
Set up: Cloud Print
To connect your printer and phone:
1. Be sure your printer is on and added to your Google account. Learn more.
2. Go to Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences > Printing.
3. Touch Add service and search for “Cloud Print”.
Connected devices 157
4. Touch the Cloud Print app, then touch Install.
Set up: Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Direct
To connect your printer and phone:
1. Before you begin:
• If your printer is connected to a Wi-Fi network, be sure the phone and your printer are
connected to the same network.
• If your printer supports Wi-Fi Direct, set up a direct connection between the phone and
printer.
2. Go to Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences > Printing.
3. Touch Default Print Service to automatically find your printer.
Once your printer is found, it is ready to print.
If your printer isn't found in Default Print Service:
1. Touch Add service.
2. In Play Store, search for “[printer brand] print service” and install the app for the printer's
service plugin.
3. Once installed, return to Settings > Connected devices > Connection preferences >
Printing and touch the print service plugin name to automatically find your printer.
4. If your printer isn't found automatically, touch > Add printer > .
5. Enter the printer's name and IP address (found in your printer settings on connected
computer).
Print
1. Open the item to print, such as:
• A photo in Photos
• An email
• A document in Drive
• A web page in Chrome.
2. Touch or > Print. (In some apps, Share > Print.)
3. Select printer options if needed.
4. Touch .
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Change app settings
Set or change default apps
If you have multiple apps that do the same thing, you can pick which app to use by default.
Pick when asked
Sometimes, your phone asks which app to use. For example, your phone might ask which app
to use to open a PDF file.
To set a default when asked:
1. Touch the app to use.
2. Pick how often you want to use that app for this action: Always or Just once.
If you select Always, you won’t be asked which app to use anymore. To have your phone ask
you again, you can clear the default:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Default apps > Opening links.
Or, touch Advanced > Default apps > Opening links.
3. Touch the app you selected as default.
4. Touch Open supported links and select Ask every time.
Pick any time
You can change some default apps (such as browser or messaging) at any time:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch Default apps.
Or, touch Advanced > Default apps.
3. Touch the default to change.
4. Touch the app to use.
Adjust app permissions
The first time you use an app, and sometimes when you install or update it, you are asked to
grant the app permission to access certain data and phone features. You can adjust these
permissions any time.
To adjust permissions by feature:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications.
2. Touch App permissions.
Other settings : Apps & notifications 159
3. Touch a feature to see which apps have permission to use it.
4. Turn that permission on or off for each app as needed.
You can also adjust permissions by app, for all features.
Adjust special app access
In Settings > Apps & notifications > Advanced > Special app access, you can adjust these
settings.
Usage access: Control which apps have access to data about your app usage (what other
apps you're using and how often, your carrier, language settings, and other details).
Unrestricted data: Allow certain apps to use background data even when Data Saver is on.
Learn more.
You can also control whether apps have access to features such as Picture-in-picture , Battery
optimization , and Do Not Disturb . In general, you shouldn’t need to adjust these.
Manage notifications
Stop app from sending notifications
When you receive unwanted notifications from an app, touch & hold the notification, then touch
Stop notifications.
To review apps and adjust whether they can send notifications:
1. Swipe down to view your notifications.
2. At the bottom of the list, touch Manage notifications.
3. Do one of the following:
•To stop all notifications from an app, turn it off .
• To stop certain notifications from an app, touch the app name, then turn notifications
or off for each category.
Turn notification dots off or on
You can control whether app icons show dots to alert you about unread notifications.
To turn off for all apps:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
Other settings : Apps & notifications 160
2. Turn Allow notification dots on or off .
To turn off for one app:
1. Touch & hold the app icon.
2. Touch > Notifications.
3. Touch Advanced.
4. Turn Allow notification dot on or off .
Change notification sound
To change the sound for all app notifications:
1. Go to Settings > Sound > Default notification sound.
2. Do one of the following:
• To change it, choose a new sound.
• To turn notification sounds off, select None.
To change the notification sound for a specific app:
1. Touch & hold the app icon.
2. Touch > Notifications.
3. Touch the category for checkmarked notifications, then touch Advanced > Sound and
select a unique ringtone, or set it to none.
If you don't see Sound, touch Behavior and select an option that includes sound.
Bypass Do Not Disturb
To let an app's notifications be heard when Do Not Disturb is on:
1. Touch & hold the app icon.
2. Touch > Notifications.
3. Touch the category for checkmarked notifications, then touch Advanced and turn Override
Do Not Disturb on .
Control lock screen notifications
If you've set a pattern, PIN or password, you can prevent lock screen notifications from
revealing private information.
To adjust notifications for all apps:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications.
Other settings : Apps & notifications 161
2. Touch On lock screen.
3. Do one of the following:
• To hide all notifications on your lock screen, select Don't show notifications at all.
You can still peek at your notifications--swipe down on the lock screen, then enter your
pattern, PIN, or password if required.
• To hide sensitive content in notifications from all apps, select Hide sensitive content.
For example, you'll get a lock screen notification for an incoming email or chat, but it
won't include message details.
• To see all notifications and their content on your lock screen, select Show all
notification content.
To hide sensitive content from specific apps:
1. Set lock screen notifications for all apps to Show all notification content.
2. Touch & hold the app icon, then touch > Notifications.
3. Touch the category for checkmarked notifications, then touch Advanced > On lock screen
> Hide sensitive content.
Turn emergency alerts off/on
Your phone can receive free, life-saving emergency alerts from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) to inform you of extreme weather or other threatening
emergencies in your area, AMBER Alerts, and Presidential Alerts during national emergencies.
When an emergency alert is sent out, appears in the status bar. Touch the notification to
read the alert.
You can turn most alerts off or on (Presidential Alerts cannot be disabled) and adjust alert
notification settings.
Note: Because alerts are intended to save lives, please consider carefully before turning
alerts off. For more information, visit http://www.fema.gov/wireless-emergency-alerts.
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Apps & notifications > Advanced > Emergency alerts.
3. Adjust settings as needed.
Other settings : Apps & notifications 162
Stop automatic rotation
Prevent screen from rotating
Open quick settings and turn Auto-rotate off .
In this mode, you can manually rotate the current app. Touch by the navigation buttons.
Allow screen to rotate
To allow rotation for all apps, open quick settings and turn Auto-rotate on .
You can also adjust this in Settings > Display > Advanced > Auto-rotate screen
Tip: If your home screen isn't rotating but Auto-rotate is on, then check your home screen
settings. Touch & hold a blank spot on your home screen, then touch Home settings >
Allow Home screen rotation.
Adjust screen colors at night
Set the schedule
Your phone can automatically filter out blue light and adjust screen colors to warmer tones at
night, making it easier to view and read in dim light. You might even fall asleep more easily.
1. Go to Settings > Display > Night Light.
2. Touch Schedule, then:
• To start and stop at specified times, touch Turns on at custom time and enter times.
• To filter from dusk to dawn, touch Turns on from sunset to sunrise.
When Night Display is adjusting colors, you'll see in the status bar.
Turn on/off any time
To turn Night Light on or off at any time, open quick settings and touch or .
If it's not in quick settings, add it by turning Night Light on for the first time. Go to Settings >
Display > Night Light > Turn on now.
Other settings : Display 163
Adjust screen brightness
Your phone automatically optimizes the brightness of your screen based on current lighting
conditions.
Tip: You can also adjust the brightness in quick settings by sliding .
Adaptive brightness is on by default. To adjust this setting:
1. Go to Settings > Display.
2. Turn Adaptive brightness on or off.
Change font and display size
You can make the text or other items on your screen smaller or larger for your comfort and
convenience.
1. Go to Settings > Display > Advanced.
2. Do any of the following:
• To adjust the size of text on the screen, touch Font size, then drag the slider to the
size you want.
• To adjust the size of icons and other screen elements, touch Display size, then drag
the slider to the size you want.
If you have visual impairments, turn on accessibility features.
Change background color
The background of quick settings and your list of all apps is either light or dark, based on the
wallpaper you selected. To change this:
1. Go to Settings > Display.
2. Touch Advanced > Device theme.
3. Choose Light or Dark.
You can also change the background color for:
• Your keyboard (Learn how.)
•Individual apps, like Messages and Phone (Open the app, touch or , and look for light/
dark settings.)
Other settings : Display 164
About security
Screen lock options
To keep your phone secure, use a screen lock when it goes to sleep:
• Choose a pattern, PIN, or password to unlock.
• Add a Smart Lock to unlock automatically when connected to a trusted device, when you're
at a trusted place (like home or work), with facial recognition, or until you set your phone
down.
• You can access notifications and quick settings, start a call, and launch the camera from
the lock screen.
• You can make emergency calls on a locked phone. A locked phone still rings; you don't
need to unlock it to answer.
• If you forgot your pattern, PIN, or password, follow these steps.
You can customize the lock screen by adding your contact info. You can also control which
notifications appear on your lock screen.
Fingerprint sensor
Quickly and easily verify your identity using the fingerprint sensor on your phone, instead of
entering a password, PIN, or pattern to unlock the phone, make online and in-store purchases,
and sign into banking and financial apps.
You can add and remove fingerprints.
Fingerprints:
• Are created from features of your fingertip, converted to a mathematical representation,
and then encrypted and stored only on the phone. No fingerprint images are ever stored.
• Are never shared with Google or Motorola.
• Are never shared with other apps. Your phone only shares the verification, not the
fingerprint.
Note: A fingerprint screen lock may be less secure than a strong pattern or PIN lock. It is
possible to unlock the phone using a physical copy of a matching fingerprint.
Additional security options
For additional security, you can also:
•Protect your phone in case it’s lost or stolen. Use Find My Device.
Other settings : Security & location 166
• Connect to a virtual private network if you need to access files on a secure network.
• Add a SIM lock to prevent others from using your cellular plan and accessing account
information if your phone is stolen.
•Prevent viruses and other attacks on your data and privacy with Google Play Protect.
Protect against harmful apps
Scan phone for harmful apps
Play Protect helps keep your phone secure by automatically scanning your phone to check for
potentially harmful apps.
If Play Protect finds a potentially harmful app, it stops the app from running and warns you so
you can uninstall it.
To see the results or to rescan:
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. Do any of the following:
•To see the results of latest scan, on the UPDATES, look at the message next to .
•To rescan your phone, touch .
If your phone seems slow
If you’ve scanned your phone to confirm there aren’t any potentially harmful apps but your
phone seems slow, try these troubleshooting steps.
Set up lost phone features
Find My Device allows you to remotely locate, lock, and erase your phone. To remotely locate
your phone, location services must be on. If not, you can still lock and erase your phone but you
can't get its current location.
To confirm that Find My Device is enabled for your phone:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Find My Device and turn it on .
3. To learn more, touch > Help & Feedback.
To find your lost or stolen phone, on a computer go to android.com/find.
Other settings : Security & location 167
Set screen lock
Screen lock options
When you set a screen lock, each time you turn on your phone or wake the screen, you’ll be
asked to unlock your phone.
No lock:
•None: This gives no protection, but you can quickly access your home screen.
•Swipe: Swipe up. This prevents accidental dialing but doesn't secure the phone.
Lock:
•Pattern: Draw a pattern on a grid.
•PIN: Enter a four to sixteen digit numeric code. Longer PINs are more secure.
•Password: Enter four to sixteen letters, digits, or symbols for the password. A long, strong
password is the most secure option.
When you’re using any of the 3 locks, you can set your phone to automatically unlock in certain
conditions.
Set or change screen lock
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Screen lock and select the type of lock you want.
Some lock options aren't available if you added a VPN or a work (corporate) email account
to your phone.
Hide your password or pattern
You can hide your password or pattern to prevent others from viewing it when you unlock your
screen.
For passwords:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced.
2. Turn Show passwords off .
For patterns:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch .
3. Turn Make pattern visible off .
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 168
Quickly tighten lock screen security
Unlocking with the fingerprint sensor and setting up automatic unlocking make it easier to keep
your phone secure and minimize when you need to enter your PIN, pattern, or password. But
sometimes you need to trade convenience for more security. You can temporarily tighten locks
and prevent lock screen notifications.
To set it up:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Lock screen preferences.
2. Turn Show lockdown option on .
To use it:
1. Touch & hold the Power button.
2. Touch Lockdown.
Your fingerprint sensor and automatic unlock settings are disabled and notifications won’t
be displayed on your lock screen.
3. To exit Lockdown, unlock your phone with your PIN, pattern, or password.
Unlock your screen automatically
If you're using a PIN, password, or pattern, you can:
• Stay unlocked when connected to a device, like your car audio system.
• Stay unlocked at a specific location.
• Stay unlocked when holding or carrying your phone.
• Unlock with your face.
• Unlock with your voice.
Tips:
• You can swipe up from anywhere on the screen when unlocking. You don't need to
touch the icon.
• Some of these options aren't available if you added a VPN or a work (corporate) email
account to your phone.
Fix a problem
If you forgot your PIN, pattern, or password, try these troubleshooting steps.
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 169
Unlock with trusted devices
Set up trusted devices
You can keep your phone unlocked when it is connected to a trusted device, like your Bluetooth
watch or car.
1. Make sure you have:
• Set a screen lock on the phone.
• Turned on Bluetooth on the phone.
• Paired your phone with the device.
2. Go to Settings .
3. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
If you don't see Smart Lock, try the following:
• Update Google Play services. In the Google Search widget on your home screen,
search for “Google Play services”, then touch the app to open it in Google Play.
• Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced > Trust agents and enable Smart
Lock.
4. Unlock your phone, then touch Trusted devices > ADD TRUSTED DEVICE.
5. Touch a device to select it from the list of connected devices.
Tip: If your device isn't in the list, make sure you are paired with it.
When the phone is connected to the device, the phone automatically unlocks.
Remove trusted devices
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
3. Unlock your phone, then touch Trusted devices.
4. Touch the device name, then touch OK to confirm.
Manually lock phone
If you need to make sure the phone stays locked even when you’re connected to a trusted
device, you can manually lock the phone.
On the lock screen, touch . The phone stays locked until the next time you manually unlock it.
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 170
Unlock with your face
Set up face matching
1. Make sure you have set a screen lock on the phone.
2. Go to Settings .
3. Touch Security & location > Face recognition.
4. Touch Add face data, then unlock your phone.
5. Follow the onscreen instructions. Be sure to frame your entire face with the outline.
Whenever you turn on or wake the phone, it will search for your face and unlock when it
recognizes you. Keep in mind that someone who looks similar to you could unlock the phone.
Unlock your phone
1. Show your face to the lock screen.
appears when the phone is looking for your face. When it recognizes you, it unlocks and
displays .
2. Swipe up.
If it doesn't recognize you, it stays locked and displays one of these icons.
Icon How to unlock
Use your password, PIN, or pattern
Use the fingerprint sensor
Turn off face matching
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Security & location > Face recognition.
3. Do one of the following:
•To turn it off but save your face data for later use, turn Quick unlock off .
• To remove your face data, touch Delete face data. To use face matching again in the
future, just set it up again.
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 171
Fix a problem
If you're having trouble getting the phone to recognize your face:
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Security & location > Face recognition.
3. Touch Delete face data.
4. Touch Add face data and follow the onscreen instructions to re-register your face.
Unlock at trusted places
Set up trusted places
To avoid repeatedly unlocking your phone when you are at familiar and trusted locations (like
home or work), use a Smart Lock. You can still manually lock the phone at trusted places when
needed.
1. Make sure you have:
• Set a screen lock on the phone.
• Turned on location services.
•Entered your Home and Work locations in Maps ( > Your places) if desired.
2. Go to Settings .
3. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
If you don't see Smart Lock, try the following:
• Update Google Play services. In the Google Search widget on your home screen,
search for “Google Play services”, then touch the app to open it.
• Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced > Trust agents and enable Smart
Lock.
4. Unlock your phone, then touch Trusted places.
5. Set up your places:
• If you added Home or Work locations in Maps, touch the location name and turn it on if
desired.
• To add a location, touch Add trusted place. Verify your current location to add it, or
touch , type the address to add, and touch Select this location.
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 172
Manually lock phone
To lock your phone when you're in a trusted place, on the lock screen, touch . The phone
stays locked until the next time you manually unlock it.
Remove trusted places
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
3. Unlock your phone, then touch Trusted places.
4. Remove the location from your trusted places:
• For your Home or Work locations in Maps, touch the location name to toggle it off. To
remove the address entirely, you must remove it in Maps.
•For custom places you added, touch the location name, then touch .
Keep phone unlocked while it's on you
You can keep your phone unlocked while you’re holding it in your hand or carrying it in your
pocket or handbag. Just unlock it once, and it stays unlocked until you set it down (or manually
lock it).
1. Make sure you have set a screen lock.
2. Go to Settings .
3. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
If you don't see Smart Lock, try the following:
• Update Google Play services. In the Google Search widget on your home screen,
search for “Google Play services”, then touch the app to open it.
• Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced > Trust agents and enable Smart
Lock.
4. Unlock your phone, then touch On-body detection.
5. Turn it on.
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 173
Unlock with voice commands
Set up voice authentication
If you use “OK, Google” for voice commands, you can use Smart Lock to unlock your phone
when it recognizes your voice.
1. Make sure you have set a screen lock.
2. Go to Settings .
3. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
If you don't see Smart Lock, try the following:
• Update Google Play services. In the Google Search widget on your home screen,
search for “Google Play services”, then touch the app to open it.
• Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced > Trust agents and enable Smart
Lock.
4. Unlock your phone, then touch Voice Match.
5. Turn Access with Voice Match on . If you haven't already set up the “OK, Google”
launch phrase, follow the onscreen instructions to record your voice.
6. Be sure Lock screen personal results is on .
Unlock your phone
1. At the lock screen, say “OK, Google”.
Your phone unlocks and is ready for commands.
2. Speak a command to perform a task.
If the phone does not recognize your voice, then unlock it with your password, PIN, or pattern.
Turn off voice authentication
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Security & location > Smart Lock.
3. Unlock your phone, then touch Access with Voice Match.
4. Turn Lock screen personal results off .
Other settings : Security & location : Lock and unlock phone 174
Use fingerprint security
Set up fingerprint security
Use the fingerprint sensor to unlock your phone, make fast and secure online and in-store
purchases, and sign into bank and finance apps.
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Fingerprint.
3. Follow the onscreen instructions to scan your fingerprint using the sensor on the back of
your phone.
Fingerprints are stored securely on the phone.
Add more fingerprints
Keep in mind that:
• If multiple users share the phone, users should add their fingerprints from within their user
profile, instead of adding multiple fingerprints to your owner profile.
• Anyone whose fingerprints are added to a user profile can unlock the phone and authorize
purchases with the associated Google account or apps.
Add a fingerprint for each finger you want to use with the sensor:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Fingerprint and enter your pattern, PIN, or password to verify your identity.
3. Touch Add fingerprint.
4. Use the fingerprint sensor to scan another fingerprint.
5. Rename each fingerprint. Touch the current name, type a name, and touch OK.
Remove a fingerprint
1. Go to Settings > Security & location.
2. Touch Fingerprint and enter your pattern, PIN, or password to verify your identity.
3. Touch next to the fingerprint.
Use fingerprint to unlock phone
To wake and unlock your screen, or any time you see on the screen, touch the sensor to
verify your identity.
Other settings : Security & location 175
Tip: You can temporarily turn off fingerprint unlocking and lock screen notifications with
Lockdown mode.
Use fingerprint to sign in to apps
To use the fingerprint sensor with third-party apps:
• Be sure the app supports fingerprint recognition.
•Install the app and open its settings to adjust options, like enabling fingerprint unlock.
• Consult the app's help info for more instructions.
Why am I still asked for PIN/pattern?
For maximum security, you still need to enter your pattern, PIN, or password:
• Every time you power up your phone
• When more than 72 hours have passed since you last unlocked the phone
• When you go to Settings > Security & location > Fingerprint
• When the sensor can’t read the fingerprint
Fix a problem
Problem: Sometimes the sensor can’t read my fingerprints.
Each finger has a unique print. If you’ve added only one fingerprint, add more for other fingers
you want to use with the sensor.
The sensor may have trouble reading fingerprints if your finger is:
• Wet
• Oily
• Dirty
• Injured
If a registered fingerprint isn't working as expected, remove and re-add the fingerprint. If your
finger is injured, add fingerprints for your other fingers and use them until healed.
Problem: Fingerprint option disappeared from Security & location menu.
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if your issue is fixed.
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
2. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
3. Check for app updates.
Other settings : Security & location 176
Open the Play Store app and touch > My apps & games.
4. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
If the sensor works correctly in safe mode, a 3rd party app is probably causing the issue.
These apps can cause issues: lock screen apps, app locks that use the fingerprint sensor,
RAM boosters, and RAM cleaners.
5. Reset the phone.
Use location services
About location information
You can let your phone use GPS, Wi‑Fi networks, and mobile networks to estimate your
location. Apps that have your permission can use this information to deliver location-based
services, such as the ability to check in, view commute traffic, find nearby restaurants, or tag
your photos with the location where you took them.
Turn location on or off
To control what location information your phone can use:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Location.
2. Turn it on or off to give or remove permission to use your location information. When it's off,
your phone can't find your precise location or share it with any apps. However, turning this
off disables many useful features and apps.
Tip: To add a Location tile to quick settings, open quick settings. Touch . Then drag the
Location tile where you want it.
Review apps using your location
To see which apps have recently accessed your location:
1. Go to Settings > Security & location > Location.
2. Under Recent location requests, review the list of apps that have recently received your
location.
3. To prevent an app from accessing your location:
1. Touch App-level permissions.
2. Turn Location off .
Other settings : Security & location 177
Lock SIM card
Set up SIM lock
Your SIM card came with a default PIN from your carrier. You can use it to set up an optional
SIM card lock, which prevents others from using your cellular plan and accessing account
information if your phone is stolen.
If you add a SIM lock, you will be prompted to enter the PIN each time you swap SIM cards or
restart the phone.
1. Be sure you have the PIN your carrier provided with the SIM card. If you don’t have it,
contact your carrier.
2. Go to Settings > Security & location > Advanced > SIM card lock.
3. If your phone has dual SIM cards, touch the SIM to lock.
4. Turn Lock SIM card on .
5. Enter your carrier-provided PIN and follow the onscreen instructions.
Unlock SIM card
When prompted, enter the PIN used to set up the SIM lock.
Caution: If you enter an incorrect PIN multiple times, the SIM will be disabled.
If you accidentally disabled SIM
If you enter an incorrect PIN multiple times, the SIM will be disabled.
Contact your carrier for a PIN unlock key (PUK) to re-enable the SIM.
Other settings : Security & location 178
Add or remove accounts
Add Google account
When you set up your phone, you were prompted to add a Google account. If you skipped this,
be sure to set one up now so you can download apps from Play Store, get a customized
information feed, and take full advantage of the Calendar, Gmail, and other apps included with
your account.
To add a Google account:
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Accounts > Add account.
3. Touch Google and follow the onscreen instructions to add an existing account or to create
a new one.
4. Once the account is added, Calendar , Contacts , and other account features and apps are
updated with information from that account. You can review and change what syncs with
your phone for that account.
Tip: Keep your apps up-to-date. To see if newer versions of the apps associated with your
Google account are available, open the Play Store app and touch > My apps & games.
Add non-Google account
Non-Google accounts are automatically added when you:
• Set up corporate email
• Set up personal email for non-Gmail addresses
• Install apps that require a username/password to log in, such as messaging, shopping, or
streaming content
To review these accounts or add another:
1. Go to Settings .
2. Touch Accounts > Add account.
3. Touch the type of account to add and follow the onscreen instructions.
If you don't see the type of account you want to add, install the related app from Play Store,
then sign into your account through the app.
4. Once the account is added, account-related features and apps are updated with
information from that account. To review and change what syncs with your phone, touch
the account type, then account name.
Other settings : Accounts 179
Remove account
If you remove an account, information you synced will be removed from your phone, but it is not
deleted from your account.
To remove other accounts:
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Touch the account name.
3. Touch REMOVE ACCOUNT.
Tip: If you have trouble removing a corporate account, go to Settings > Security &
location > Advanced > Device admin apps and remove the checkmark for the account,
then try to remove it again.
Sync accounts and apps
About syncing
You can manage how apps connected to your accounts are synced on your phone. Keep them
all automatically up to date or just sync specific apps. You can also manually sync your data
only when you need to.
The more you sync, the more battery your phone uses, so if you need to conserve, turn off sync
for account features or apps you find less important. If you want to reduce usage of mobile
data, turn off auto-sync entirely and instead sync accounts manually, or wait to sync manually
over Wi-Fi.
Adjust auto-sync options for an account
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Touch the account name.
by the account name means that some or all of the account's information is configured to
auto-sync.
by the account name means that the account will not auto-sync.
3. Touch Account sync.
4. Review the information and turn on/off types of account information to sync. For example,
set your Google account to sync your Calendar and Gmail but not to sync for Drive.
When you turn off sync, the information is not removed from your phone; it just is no longer kept
in sync with the version on the web.
Other settings : Accounts 180
Turn auto-sync off/on for all accounts
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Turn Automatically sync data on or off .
To collect messages, email, calendar, or other app updates, you must sync the accounts
manually.
Sync manually
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Touch the account name.
3. Touch Account sync > > Sync now.
Fix a problem
If you’re having problems, try these troubleshooting steps.
Manage information in your Google account
Google collects information from you to provide personalized services and tailored content, as
outlined in the Google Privacy Policy.
You can review, delete, and control the information Google collects about you. Learn more from
Google about:
•Viewing and controlling what information is collected (search, YouTube, recordings of your
voice commands, location).
•Deleting your search history and other activity.
Other settings : Accounts 181
Set up emergency information
You can set up emergency information, such as your emergency contact, and medical
information, such as your blood type.
First responders or other people can view this information from your lock screen.
To set up your emergency information:
1. Go to Settings > System > About phone.
2. Touch Emergency information.
3. Set up your information.
To view this information, a first responder or other person would:
1. Swipe up on the lock screen.
2. Below the keypad, touch Emergency.
3. Touch Emergency information twice.
Record your IMEI number
The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number is the unique code that identifies
your phone. You’ll need it if you contact support regarding a warranty, and it’s important to have
if your phone is stolen.
Service providers can use the IMEI to block a stolen phone from cellular networks, and many
police departments keep a record of stolen phones using this number.
You may never need your IMEI number, but it’s a good idea to record it, just in case.
To find the IMEI number:
1. Go to Settings > System > About phone.
2. See IMEI for your number.
3. Record and save the number where you can easily access it.
You can also find your IMEI number by dialing *#06# in the Phone app. On some phones, the
MEID HEX number is your IMEI number.
Find legal and product information
To view the electronic regulatory label for your phone, go to Settings > System > Regulatory
information.
Other settings : System 182
For safety, environmental, warranty, and other legal information, go to Settings > System >
Legal information.
Printed legal information may also be provided with your phone.
To find your phone's model number, go to Settings > System > About phone > Model &
hardware > Model Number (SKU).
Customize the keyboard
Quickly access keyboard settings
When you're typing, touch & hold the comma key and drag it to to customize your Gboard
settings.
Change how keyboard looks
To change the background color of your keyboard:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Theme.
3. Select a color to use as the background.
4. Touch Apply.
Adjust keyboard sounds
To control whether your keyboard makes sounds:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Preferences.
3. To hear sounds when you type, turn Sound on keypress on .
4. To adjust how loud the sounds are, touch Volume on keypress.
Adjust keyboard vibration
The onscreen keyboard vibrates when you touch a key. Turn off vibration feedback if you prefer
not to use it or want to improve battery life.
To adjust keyboard vibrations:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Preferences.
3. Do any of the following:
Other settings : System 183
• Turn Haptic feedback on keypress off or on.
• If on, touch Vibration strength on keypress and move the slider.
Disable glide typing
With glide typing, you drag your finger over the letters in a word. If you want to turn this off and
only use multi-touch typing:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Glide typing.
3. Turn Enable glide typing off .
Limit or turn off suggestions
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Text correction.
3. Adjust settings:
• If you don’t want predictions based on your previous word, turn Next-word
suggestions off . You will only see suggestions for the current word you're typing.
•If you don’t want ANY suggestions, turn Show suggestion strip off .
Turn off auto-correction or spell check
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Text correction.
3. Adjust settings:
•If you don’t want words corrected while you type, turn Auto-correction off .
•If you don’t want misspelled words to be underlined, turn Spell check off .
Use multiple languages
Change display language
You selected the language for your phone during set up. To change it:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Languages.
2. Touch & hold the language you want and drag it to the first position in the list.
3. If you don’t see the language you want, touch to add it, then drag it to the first position.
Other settings : System 184
All languages added to the list will appear on the keyboard's spacebar.
To remove a language, go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Languages, then
touch > Remove.
Add language to keyboard
If you want a keyboard for a language that isn't a display language:
1. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard.
2. Touch Gboard > Languages.
3. Touch ADD KEYBOARD.
4. Select the language.
5. Touch Done.
Then, switch between languages on the keyboard by touching .
Other settings : System 185
Share your phone
Ways to share your phone
•Add users. If you share your phone with family, friends, or within a business, you can set
up separate user spaces for each of them.
•Lend to people as guest. This is a more temporary space that you or the guest can delete
when finished.
•Pin the screen. This lets you keep one specific app or screen in view. For example, you
can pin a game and your child cannot navigate anywhere else on your phone.
About owners, users, and guests
The owner can:
• Determine whether users and guests can make phone calls and send text messages,
which also allows them to see the phone's call history and text history.
• Reset, update, and uninstall any apps.
• Delete user and guests, removing any associated accounts and data from the phone.
Users and guests can:
• Set up Google accounts and other types of accounts.
• Set up a screen lock.
• Customize the home screen and settings for their spaces.
• Add and delete apps for their spaces, and update any apps they use, regardless of who
installed them.
Important: To prevent others from switching to your owner profile and accessing your
information, set a screen lock before you share your phone with users or guests.
When sharing your phone with users and guests, some apps are only available to the owner,
not to other users and guests.
Switch users
Only the owner can switch to the guest profile for loaning the phone and can switch between
user profiles.
To switch user profiles or see which is currently active, open quick settings. At the top of the
screen, you'll see one of these icons after you've set up a user or added a guest.
Other settings : System : Users and guests 186
Icon Meaning
Owner (If you set up your profile in Contacts and included a picture, you'll see it and your
name instead.)
Guest
Added user
Add, modify, remove users
Add a user
You must be the device owner to add users.
1. To prevent others from switching to your owner profile and accessing your information, set
a screen lock before you share your phone.
2. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users.
Tip: To add users from quick settings on your lock screen without unlocking the phone,
go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users and turn Add users from lock
screen on .
3. Touch Add user > OK.
4. Give the phone to the new user to set up the profile.
Restrict calls and messages
From your owner profile, you control whether users can call and send texts with your phone:
1. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users.
Or from quick settings, touch > More settings.
2. Next to the user name, touch .
3. To allow the user to make calls and send messages, switch on Turn on phone calls &
SMS.
Other settings : System : Users and guests 187
Remove a user
You can remove yourself as a user. You must be the device owner to remove other users.
1. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users.
Or from quick settings, touch > More settings.
2. Do one of the following:
•To remove yourself as a user, touch .
•To remove other users if you are the device owner, next to the user name, touch .
3. Touch Remove user.
Add or delete guest
Lend to guest
Create a temporary profile for sharing your phone with someone.
1. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users.
2. If you want to prevent the guest from making calls, touch and switch Turn on phone
calls off.
3. Touch Guest.
4. If you’ve lent your phone to a guest previously, touch Start over to clear the last guest
settings, or touch Yes, continue to keep last guest settings.
End guest session
1. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Multiple users. Or from quick settings, touch .
2. Touch Remove guest > Remove.
All data from and apps installed during this session are deleted.
Other settings : System : Users and guests 188
Phone is slow or unstable
Pinpoint the problem
What type of issue are you seeing?
• If your phone is slow when running all apps and tasks, it's probably a problem with your
phone, not an app on your phone. Try the troubleshooting steps below.
• If the problem is specific to one app, try these app-specific troubleshooting steps.
• If you're using Wi-Fi and your phone is slow when you view websites or watch videos
online, it could be a problem with your connection. Try using a different Wi-Fi network or
contact your Internet Service Provider.
Troubleshoot phone performance
After each step, check to see if the issue is fixed:
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
• Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off.
• If your phone is frozen, reboot it by pressing and holding the Power button for 7-10
seconds.
2. Check for system updates.
Go to Settings > System > Advanced > System updates.
3. Check for app updates.
Open the Play Store app and touch > My apps & games.
4. Check available storage and clear space if needed.
Phone feels warm or hot
Overview
It's normal for your phone to feel warm, or even hot, depending on how you're using it.
If your phone ever becomes too hot, it will ask you to turn it off so it can cool down. Some
phones will stay on but limit the phone's capabilities until it cools down.
If your phone is too hot to touch, use a different phone, tablet, or computer to contact Motorola
support.
Fix a problem : Hardware issues 189
Reasons your phone may get warm
Doing one or more of the following activities may cause your phone to get warm:
• Playing videos, games, or other media apps
• Using GPS navigation
• Tethering your phone or using it as a Wi-Fi hotspot
• Using phone while it's charging
• Downloading or uploading a lot of data
Ways to keep your phone from heating up
• Pause resource-intensive features or apps until your phone cools down.
• Always use the charger that came with your phone.
• Keep your phone away from direct heat or excessive sunlight.
• Don't keep your phone in enclosed or poorly ventilated areas where heat can easily build
up.
• Reduce your phone's display brightness.
If you're not using or charging it
Sometimes a process can get stuck in the background. If your phone is hot but you're not using
or charging it, turn your phone off and on again. This will stop the previously stuck process and
resolve the issue.
Phone won't turn on
If your phone isn't starting, won't turn on, has a black or blank screen, or turns on but
immediately turns off, try these steps to fix the issue.
1. Hold down your phone's Power button for 5-7 seconds, or up to 30 seconds.
This should restart (or "reboot") your phone.
2. Charge the phone.
If your phone has a sign-of-life indicator, look for a white light near the top front of the
phone. This indicates that the phone is charging but battery is too low to power the screen.
If you're having trouble charging, try these troubleshooting steps.
3. If you don't see a battery icon after you plug your phone in to charge, the issue could be
with your screen. Check if your phone rings by calling it from another phone. If it rings, the
issue is with your screen and you can try these troubleshooting steps.
Fix a problem : Hardware issues 190
4. Perform an external reset of your phone. Learn how.
Phone restarts or crashes
If your phone randomly reboots, restarts, or shuts down without restarting, try the following.
1. Restart your phone:
1. Hold down the Power button for about 30 seconds.
2. If this doesn't work, connect your phone to charge for at least 5 minutes. Then, while
connected to the charger, restart again by holding down the Power button for 30
seconds.
2. Troubleshoot your phone:
1. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
2. Check available storage and clear space if needed.
You may see issues if your phone's internal storage is almost full. To free up space,
remove unnecessary files and clear cached data.
3. Troubleshoot your apps:
1. Check for app updates.
2. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as
needed.
If your problem doesn't go away in safe mode, restart your phone and continue to the
next section.
4. Reset to factory settings:
To remove any processes on your phone that may be causing the issue, you can reset your
phone to factory settings.
A factory data reset will remove all data from your phone.
Screen is frozen or won't respond
Tip: If your screen goes black when the phone rings so you can't answer the call, clear data
for the Phone app.
If your phone freezes, stops responding, or is stuck on a blank or white screen, try the following:
1. Restart your phone. Hold down the Power button for about 30 seconds.
Fix a problem : Hardware issues 191
2. If this doesn't work, charge your phone for at least 5 minutes. Then, while connected to the
charger, restart again by holding down the Power button for 30 seconds.
If your phone freezes again, check for a larger issue:
1. Restart your phone to unfreeze it.
2. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
3. Check available storage and clear space if needed.
You may see issues if your phone's internal storage is almost full. To free up space, remove
unnecessary files and clear cached data.
4. Check for app updates.
If you can't unfreeze the phone, reset your phone to factory settings, to remove any
processes that may be causing the issue.
A factory data reset will remove all data from your phone.
SD card problems
Phone doesn't recognize new SD card
If your phone isn’t recognizing a new card that you inserted, try these steps. After each step,
check to see if the issue is fixed.
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
2. Inspect card for damage or alignment issue:
1. Turn your phone off and remove the card. Inspect for damage. If not damaged, reinsert
the card.
2. Be sure the card sits completely in its slot and that the tray slides easily into the
phone.
3. Turn the phone on.
3. Check that the card is mounted:
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. If you see Ejected under the card name, touch the name then touch MOUNT.
3. Turn your phone off and then on again.
4. Check that the card’s type and capacity is compatible with your phone. If not, use a
different SD card that meets the requirements.
5. Insert a different SD card to confirm that the issue is with the original card and not with your
phone.
Fix a problem : Hardware issues 192
Phone can't format SD card
Try the following:
• Check that the card’s type and capacity is compatible with your phone. If not, use a
different SD card that meets the requirements.
• Try formatting the card using an SD card reader and an SD card formatter app on a
Windows computer.
Phone stopped reading SD card
After each step, check to see if the issue is fixed:
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
2. Inspect card for damage or alignment issue:
1. Turn your phone off and remove the card. Inspect for damage. If not damaged, reinsert
the card.
2. Be sure the card sits completely in its slot and that the tray slides easily into the
phone.
3. Turn the phone on.
3. Check that the card is mounted:
1. Go to Settings > Storage.
2. If you see Ejected under the card name, touch the name then touch MOUNT.
3. Turn your phone off and then on again.
4. If the card is formatted as portable storage, use another device to check if the card is
readable:
1. Insert card into another device.
2. If that device can read the card and files are present, back up files to your computer.
This won't work for cards formatted as internal storage.
5. Check for errors with a USB SD card reader connected to a Windows computer:
1. Insert the card into a USB card reader.
2. Open My Computer, right-click on the SD card, and select Properties > Service >
Check disk for errors. Depending on the size of your card and usage, this process
could take up to an hour.
6. Reformat card using an SD card reader and an SD card formatter app on a Windows
computer. Formatting the card erases all data on the card. Before you reformat, if you can
access your SD card files from your PC, copy them to your computer. Then, use the SD
card formatter app to format your card to FAT32.
Fix a problem : Hardware issues 193
7. Try a new SD card.
Apps can't view files on SD card
If none of your apps can view files on the card:
1. Install a different file manager app from Play Store. Use that app to check if files are visible
on the card.
2. Check if files are visible using a Windows computer:
1. Turn your phone off and remove the card.
2. Put the card in the computer’s SD card slot or a connected USB SD card reader.
If a specific app can’t view files the card:
1. Open the app from which files are missing.
2. In the app's settings, set the storage location to be the SD card, not internal or phone
memory.
Computer can't view files on SD card
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if your issue is fixed:
1. Use a USB cable that’s capable of data transfer and isn’t for charging only.
2. Be sure you have set the USB connection type to allow file transfer.
Fix a problem : Hardware issues 194
Problems making/receiving calls
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if your issue is fixed.
icon is missing
If disappeared from your home screen, you just need to add a shortcut for the Phone app.
SIM card not recognized
If you see or in the status bar or a message that the SIM is not recognized:
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off. Then turn it on to establish a new
connection with the network.
2. Do one of the following:
• If your phone allows one SIM card, turn your phone off, then remove and reinsert the
SIM.
• If your phone allows dual SIMs, disable the SIM, then enable it again. Go to Settings
> Network & internet > SIM cards. Turn the SIM off . Then turn it on .
3. If your phone has dual SIMs, turn your phone off, then remove the SIM that is not
recognized and try it in the other SIM slot.
4. Contact your carrier to make sure your account is set up properly.
5. Ask your carrier to replace the SIM card.
6. Perform an external phone reset.
No signal
1. If you usually have a signal but the status bar shows in your current location, move
to another area where you can receive a signal, like outdoors. If you’re uncertain whether
your carrier provides service in that location, check the coverage map on your carrier’s
website.
2. If airplane mode is on, turn it off.
3. Turn your phone off and then on again.
4. Check for app updates.
5. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
6. Check that the Preferred network type is set to Global. ( Settings > Network & internet
> Mobile network > Advanced > Preferred network type.) If you’re experiencing service
issues when it is set on Global, try a different setting.
Fix a problem : Call and SIM issues 195
7. Manually set the network operator:
1. Go to Settings > Network & internet > Mobile network.
2. Touch Network operators > Search networks.
3. Wait 30 seconds for the search results.
4. Choose your network operator (carrier).
5. Wait 30 seconds for the network to refresh the signal.
8. Remove your SIM card and reinsert.
9. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
10.
Reset the phone.
Have signal, but can’t make calls
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off. Then turn it on to establish a new
connection with the network.
2. Clear the cache for the Phone app.
3. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
4. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
5. Reset the phone.
Phone doesn’t ring or ring loud enough
1. Check your volume setting.
2. Look for in your status bar. If you see it:
•Open quick settings and touch to turn Do Not Disturb off. Your phone will ring for
incoming calls.
• Make sure your phone is set to screen calls at the appropriate times.
3. Check that your ringtone is not set to None.
4. Is your phone connected with a Bluetooth device? If so, all audio is routed to the Bluetooth
device.
5. If you're using a ringtone that you installed, try using a ringtone that came with the phone.
6. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
Begin with application types like launchers, task killers, or anti-virus apps.
Fix a problem : Call and SIM issues 196
Can't answer ringing phone
1. Clear the data for the Phone app.
Touch & hold , then touch > Storage > Clear storage.
2. Check that Phone app notifications haven't been disabled.
Touch & hold , then touch > Notifications and make sure they are on .
Consistent busy signal
Outbound calls
1. If you hear a fast busy signal when you call a number, all cellular circuits may be in use,
preventing the call from going through. Try calling again later.
2. If you hear a fast busy signal every time you call the same number, your number may be
blocked by an app. Try calling from a different number.
Incoming calls
If you have a signal and can make calls, but callers tell you they consistently get a busy signal
when calling you, check that you haven’t blocked their numbers.
Problems during calls
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if your issue is fixed.
Screen goes black
1. If you are using a case, cover or screen protector, remove it and see if it was causing the
issue.
2. Check your proximity sensor.
Dial a call and set the phone on a table (don't use speaker mode), then hold your hand
over the proximity sensor to see if you can turn the screen off and on.
3. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
Calls are dropping
1. Check your signal strength:
• Weak signal from your cellular provider is a common cause of dropped calls. In the
status bar, see how many bars your network connection has. If you see only one or
two bars, change locations to improve your signal strength, particularly if you are
indoors.
Fix a problem : Call and SIM issues 197
2. Turn your phone off and then on again.
Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off. Then turn it on to establish a new
connection with the network.
3. During a call, check that the proximity sensor works by covering it to confirm that it turns off
your screen, preventing accidental touches during calls. You can also download an app to
automatically lock your screen during calls; search for “call screen lock” on Play Store.
4. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
5. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
6. Reset the phone.
People can’t hear me on calls
1. Check that nothing is covering the microphone:
• If you are using a case, cover or screen protector, remove it and see if it was causing
the issue.
• Check that the protective film that ships with the phone has been removed.
2. Check to see if your phone is using Voice privacy. (This feature is not available on all
models.) Turn it off to see if sound quality improves:
1. Touch .
2. Touch > Settings > Calls.
3. Turn off Voice privacy.
3. If the issue occurs while using the speakerphone or a Bluetooth headset, check your signal
strength.
In the status bar, see how many bars your network connection has. If you see only one or
two bars, change locations to improve your signal strength, particularly if you are indoors.
4. Turn your phone off and then on again.
Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off. Then turn it on to establish a new
connection with the network.
5. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
6. Turn off Voice Match.
1. Open the Google app.
2. Touch More > Settings > Voice > Voice Match.
3. Turn Access with Voice Match off .
Fix a problem : Call and SIM issues 198
Saying “OK, Google” won't work from all screens, but you can touch the search widget first,
then say “OK, Google”.
7. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
8. Reset the phone.
Poor sound quality on calls
Start by checking your volume setting. You can only adjust the call volume with the Volume
buttons while you’re on a call.
Wired headset
1. Make sure the headset is inserted completely into the headset jack.
2. If you are using a case or cover, remove it and re-insert the headset to see if it was
interfering.
3. Try a different headset to determine if the issue is with the original headset.
Earpiece
1. Check that nothing is covering the microphone:
• If you are using a case, cover or screen protector, remove it and see if it was causing
the issue.
• Check that the protective film that ships with the phone has been removed.
2. While in a call, try using the speakerphone or a wired headset to see if the sound quality
improves. If it doesn’t, the issue is probably network signal strength instead of hardware.
3. Turn your phone off and then on again.
Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off. Then turn it on to establish a new
connection with the network.
4. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
5. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
6. Reset the phone.
Bluetooth device
Check battery level of Bluetooth device and phone, and charge if necessary. Bluetooth devices
may disconnect or create noise when the phone or Bluetooth battery are low.
Can't make/receive calls
Try these troubleshooting steps.
Fix a problem : Call and SIM issues 199
Charging problems
If the phone charges slowly or will not charge, try these troubleshooting steps. After each step,
check to see if your issue is fixed.
1. Make sure the USB plug fits securely into the phone.
2. If the battery has been completely depleted, connect the charger and wait about 10
minutes until it has enough voltage to charge, then press the Power button.
3. If you're charging by connecting to a wall outlet:
• Use the charger that came with the phone.
• Remove any case, to see if it's impeding the charger/port connection.
• Inspect the charger for damange to the wire or plug. If you see damage, try charging
by connecting to your computer with a USB cable.
• If the outlet you’re using is controlled with a switch, check that it is turned on.
• Check the outlet for damage or loose parts. If you see damage, try another outlet.
4. If you're charging by connecting to your computer, check the USB connection:
1. Swipe the status bar down.
2. On the USB notification, touch , then touch the notification.
3. Touch No data transfer.
5. Reboot the phone by holding the Power button for 7-10 seconds.
6. Reset the phone.
Battery drains too fast
Battery life varies
The way you use your phone can really affect how long you can go before recharging your
battery. Navigating, playing games, browsing the web, making calls and texting all require
energy. So, your battery life may vary day to day, depending on what you're doing.
If your battery is draining faster than expected
If your battery life seems shorter than usual, a quick and easy step is to reboot your phone,
especially if you haven't turned it off in longer than a week.
1. Press and hold the Power button.
2. Touch Restart.
Fix a problem : Battery issues 200
Bluetooth problems
Bluetooth turning on automatically
Some third-party apps that control Bluetooth devices (smart watches, fitness and vehicle
monitors, etc.) automatically turn Bluetooth on. If they do, this can prevent you from turning
Bluetooth off.
To check if a third-party app you installed is automatically turning Bluetooth on, use safe mode
to identify the problematic app, then uninstall it.
Can't pair
After each step, check to see if your issue is fixed:
1. First, check the basics.
2. Make sure the phone and Bluetooth device are in discovery mode.
3. Refresh the available devices list:
1. Go to Settings > Connected devices.
2. Touch Pair new device.
4. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
5. If you’re having trouble pairing with your car, see the car manufacturer's instructions for
your model.
6. Reset the phone's connections, then power cycle the phone.
Can’t reconnect previously paired device
Unpair the Bluetooth device, then pair it again:
1. Go to Settings > Connected devices > Previously connected devices.
2. Next to the paired device, touch > FORGET.
3. Pair the device again.
Can't hear music
After each step, check to see if your issue is fixed:
1. First, check the basics.
2. Check that the volume is up on your phone and car or Bluetooth device.
3. Check that other devices paired with your phone aren't playing the music.
4. Check that Media audio is on:
Fix a problem : Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB issues 202
1. Go to Settings and touch Bluetooth.
2. Next to the paired device, touch .
3. Make sure Media audio is checked.
5. If the problem is with a car, check the car's instructions.
Can't make or hear on calls
After each step, check to see if your issue is fixed:
1. Check that other devices paired with your phone aren't getting your calls.
2. Check that Phone audio is on:
1. Go to Settings and touch Bluetooth.
2. Next to the paired device, touch .
3. Make sure Phone audio is checked.
3. If the problem is with a car, check the car's instructions.
Connection drops
After each step, check to see if your issue is fixed:
1. Check battery level on your phone and on the Bluetooth device and charge if needed.
Bluetooth devices may disconnect or create noise when the phone or Bluetooth battery is
low.
2. Adjust positioning:
• Make sure you are wearing or positioning the device appropriately.
• Keep metal objects, such as keys or coins, away from the phone and device to avoid
interference.
3. Clear data for this system app:
1. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications, then touch .
2. Touch > Show system.
3. Touch Bluetooth > Storage > Clear storage.
Paired device can't see contacts
Check that contact sharing is on:
1. Go to Settings > Connected devices.
2. Next to the paired device, touch .
Fix a problem : Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB issues 203
3. Make sure Contact sharing is on.
4. Check and adjust sharing settings on the paired device or in the device’s app.
Fix it: Check the basics
After each step, see if your issue is fixed:
1. Check battery level on your phone and Bluetooth device, and charge if either is low.
2. Keep the phone and Bluetooth device within 30 feet of each other, closer for better
performance.
3. On your phone, turn Bluetooth off and then on again.
4. Turn off the Bluetooth device to disconnect it. Then turn it back on to automatically
reconnect with the phone.
5. Power cycle both your phone and the Bluetooth device.
If that doesn't fix it, follow the steps for specific problems in the sections above.
Wi-Fi problems
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if the issue is fixed.
Can't connect to a network
1. When you enter the password to connect:
• Get the password from the Wi-Fi router and make sure you enter it correctly on your
phone.
• If the CONNECT button is greyed out, the password you entered isn’t long enough.
Confirm the router’s password and re-enter it on your phone.
2. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
3. Check that the Wi-Fi router firmware is up to date.
4. Reset the phone’s network connections.
5. Reset the phone.
Connection drops
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if the issue is fixed.
1. Turn off Wi-Fi scanning.
2. Set Wi-Fi to always remain connected, even when the phone sleeps.
Fix a problem : Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB issues 204
3. Forget the network connection. Then set up the Wi-Fi connection again.
4. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
5. Restart your wireless router by unplugging it from the power outlet for about 30 seconds
and then plugging it back in. Once the wireless router is running again, try to reconnect.
6. On a computer, log into your router and try adjusting one or more of these router settings:
• If the router has multiple bands, disable the lower band.
• Change the encryption/security setting of the SSID from WPA-password to WPA-PSK.
• Don't use automatic channel selection. Instead, assign a fixed channel, such as
Channel 6.
7. Reset the phone’s connections.
Hotspot problems
If you can't connect a computer or tablet to your phone's Wi-Fi hotspot:
1. The cellular network for your phone may not be in range. Check the signal icon in your
status bar to ensure you have strong connection. If not, try these troubleshooting steps.
2. Re-enter the password on the device to match the hotspot password set up on your phone.
Make sure that the encryption type and security settings match on the device and your
phone.
3. Disconnect and then reconnect:
1. Turn off the connection from your device.
2. Turn off the phone's hotspot.
3. Restart your device.
4. Wait for 1 minute, then turn on and enable the hotspot on your phone.
5. Reconnect the device.
If you've connected a computer or tablet but can't access certain web sites:
1. Power cycle your computer or tablet.
2. Make sure the browser version is up to date.
Can't transfer files or connect to computer
If you're having problems using a USB connection to connect your phone to your computer, try
these troubleshooting steps.
Fix a problem : Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB issues 205
Check your computer
Windows computer
1. Check your computer’s settings to make sure that Windows automatically detects new
hardware.
2. Restart your computer.
Mac computer
• Check that your computer is running Mac OS X 10.5 and up.
• Check that your computer has Android File Transfer installed and open.
• Restart your computer.
Check your phone
1. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
2. Hold down your phone's Power button for 5-7 seconds, or up to 30 seconds.
Check your USB connection
1. Try a different USB cable. Not all USB cables can transfer files.
2. To test the USB port on your phone, connect your phone to a different computer.
3. To test the USB port on your computer, connect a different device to your computer.
Fix a problem : Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB issues 206
Forgot unlock code
If you've forgotten your PIN, pattern, or password for unlocking your screen, you'll need to erase
your phone, set it up again, and set a new screen lock.
1. Make sure you know your Gmail address and password, which you'll need when setting up
the phone. If you've forgotten them, use Google's website to retrieve them.
2. Perform an external reset of your phone. Learn how.
Can't sign in to Google
If you’ve forgotten the Gmail address and password for your Google account:
1. Visit Google’s website to reset the password.
2. On a computer, log in to Gmail and confirm that the new password works.
3. Wait 24 hours after changing your password before resetting your device. For security, you
can't use an account to set up a phone after reset if that password changed within 24
hours.
Account sync issues
If your account is having problems syncing, you may see a message or an icon.
In most cases, these issues are temporary and your account will sync again after a few
minutes. If you keep having sync issues, try the solutions below.
Sync account manually
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Touch the account to sync.
3. Touch Account sync.
If your phone syncs, your issue is fixed. If not, try the troubleshooting solutions below.
Basic troubleshooting
After each troubleshooting step, try manually syncing to test if sync works.
1. Check that auto-sync is on.
1. Go to Settings > Accounts.
2. Touch the account.
Fix a problem : Account and sign-in issues 207
by the account name means that some or all of the account's information is
configured to auto-sync.
by the account name means that the account will not auto-sync.
2. Make sure your Internet connection works.
For sync to work, you need an Internet connection. To test if your connection is working,
open a browser and load a website. If the website doesn't load, get help connecting to Wi-
Fi or to cellular data.
3. Check if you have account issues.
For sync to work, you need to be able to sign in to your Google account. Make sure that
you can sign in to your account in other ways and on another device. For example, try
checking your Gmail with your computer's browser.
• If you can sign in, the issue is with your phone. You can move on to the next solution.
• If you can't sign in, your account may have an issue.
4. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
Advanced troubleshooting
After each troubleshooting step, try manually syncing to test if sync works.
1. Remove and re-add your account.
2. Clear cache and data for the Contacts app.
1. If you've saved any contacts since you last synced, back them up. Open the Contacts
app and touch > Settings > Export, then export to a VCF file and email the file to
yourself.
2. Clear the cache and data for the Contacts app.
3. Download the VCF file that you emailed to yourself, then import those contacts
(Contacts > > Settings > Import).
Fix a problem : Account and sign-in issues 208
App or widget problems
App or widget missing from home screen
If a widget disappeared from your home screen, then add the widget by touching & holding an
empty spot on your home screen.
If an app disappeared from your home screen, the shortcut for opening the app was removed
and you just need to add a shortcut.
If an app disappeared from your list of all apps, you need to reinstall it.
App crashes, won’t open, or isn’t working
After each step, check to see if the issue is fixed:
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
Press and hold the Power button, then touch Power off.
2. Check that you have not disabled permissions for the app. If any permissions are turned
off, turn them on and try using the app again.
3. Update the app.
4. Force stop the app. This completely shuts down the app, including any background
services that may be causing your issue.
5. Clear the app’s cache. This frees up space by removing temporary files.
6. Clear the app’s data. This erases all data saved in this app.
7. Contact the app’s developer.
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. Touch the app and swipe down to see contact information.
8. If all else fails, delete the app.
Tip: To figure out which third-party app is causing performance problems, use safe mode.
App disabled in safe mode
If apps are disabled because you’re in safe mode, you can’t use them until you exit safe mode.
To exit safe mode, turn your phone off and then on again.
Fix a problem : App issues 209
Problems with Play Store
For help with Play Store, read Google's troubleshooting information.
Problems with Gmail
For help with Gmail, read Google's troubleshooting information.
Problems with app you installed
After each step, check to see if the issue is fixed:
1. Check for updates to the app.
2. If you can open the app, touch or > Help and look for troubleshooting information.
3. Clear the app's cache.
4. Go to the developer’s website for support.
1. Open the Play Store app.
2. Touch > My apps & games.
3. Touch the app and swipe down to see a link to the website.
Messaging problems
If you’re having problems sending or receiving messages, try the following:
1. Check for updates to your messaging app.
2. Check if a software update is available for your phone.
3. Turn your phone off and then on again.
4. If the problem persists, follow the steps below for specific problems. After each
troubleshooting step, check to see if your issue is fixed.
Red ! on text message
If you see , your text message was not sent.
1. Check your signal strength:
• Weak signal from your cellular provider is a common cause of unsent messages. In
the status bar, see how many bars your network connection has. If you see only one
or two bars, change locations to improve your signal strength, particularly if you are
indoors.
2. Open the conversation and resend the message.
Fix a problem : App issues 210
Can't hear notifications
Adjust your notification settings.
Can't send or receive messages
1. Change your preferred network to Global.
2. If you recently switched from iPhone and are having trouble sending messages to or
receiving them from an iPhone, your phone number may still be associated with
iMessaging. You need to deregister your account.
3. Contact your carrier.
Can't send or receive pictures or videos
Your data plan must support MMS (multimedia messaging) and cellular data must be on.
Messages app stopped
1. Check that you have not disabled permissions for the Messages app. If any permissions
are turned off, turn them on and try using the app again.
2. Force stop the app. This completely shuts down the app, including any background
services that may be causing your issue.
3. Uninstall any recent app updates.
Touch & hold , then touch App info > > Uninstall updates.
4. Clear the app’s cache. This frees up space by removing temporary files.
5. Reset the phone.
Keyboard not working
If your keyboard has problems, like a missing spacebar:
1. Check for updates to your keyboard app.
2. Turn your phone off and then on again.
3. Clear the cache for the keyboard app.
Problems with Facebook, WhatsApp, other apps
If you’re having problems with messaging apps that you installed:
1. Check for updates to the app.
2. If you can open the app, touch or > Help and look for troubleshooting information.
Fix a problem : App issues 211
3. Turn your phone off and then on again.
4. Clear the app's cache.
Camera problems
Photo looks blurry
Wipe the lens clean with a soft, dry cloth and retake the photo.
If new photos still look blurry:
• Increase resolution (photo size) in the Camera app. A smaller photo size results in lower
image quality.
• Avoid zooming when taking a photo. Pixelation always occurs when you zoom a digital
photo. If you use zoom during the shot itself, pixelation will be more evident.
• If you're indoors and taking a panoramic photo, switch to regular mode. Panorama works
best for outdoor shots; the algorithm that stitches the images together isn’t optimized for
indoor, up-close shots.
Accidentally deleted photos
You can try to recover recently deleted photos.
If recovered, be sure to back up your photos to the cloud.
Can’t delete photo
If a photo or video you deleted comes back, check if it’s on your SD card. To delete it, use the
Files app. (If you don’t have this app, download a file manager app and use it to delete the
photo from your card.)
Or, remove your card from the phone and use a computer to delete photos from the card.
WhatsApp camera issues
If you installed WhatsApp and have problems taking photos or videos with it:
1. Check for updates to the app.
2. Clear the app's cache.
3. If the problem continues, open WhatsApp, touch > Settings > Help, and search for
information about your issue.
Fix a problem : App issues 212
Error: Please restart camera
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if the issue is fixed:
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
2. Clear the cache for the Camera app.
3. Check for updates to your Camera app.
4. Use safe mode to see if apps you installed are causing the issue and uninstall as needed.
If the camera works correctly in safe mode, a third-party app is probably causing the issue.
5. If you’re storing photos/videos on your SD card, remove the card and see if you can take
photos without getting the error. If so, replace the SD card with a new card. Make sure the
new card is certified A1 and has a fast write speed.
Error: Camera busy
This error can occur if you use the camera in one app and then switch to another app that
requires permission to access the camera.
After each troubleshooting step, check to see if the issue is fixed:
1. Turn your phone off and then on again.
2. Check which apps have permission to access the camera.
Settings > Apps & notifications > App permissions > Camera
Review the list of the apps on your phone that request camera access and remove access
for apps that look suspicious or that you don’t use.
3. Clear the cache and data for the Camera app.
Error: Trash is full
If you’re getting messages about the trash being full:
1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch > Trash.
3. Touch > Empty trash.
Fix a problem : App issues 213
Update Android software
For best performance, keep your phone updated with the latest available Android software.
Check Android version number
To check what version of Android your phone is running:
1. Go to Settings > System > About phone > Android version.
2. The number displayed is your phone's Android version.
Get Android software updates
Your phone notifies you if an Android software update is available.
To manually check for updates, go to Settings > System > Advanced > System updates.
If an upgrade is available, follow the onscreen instructions to install it.
Tip: To save data charges, use a Wi‑Fi connection to download software updates.
You can't downgrade to a previous software version after installing an update.
Timing for Android software updates
For the latest update plans, see the software update website for your country. Our support
agents get their Android update information from here too. If the website doesn't have a update
release date for your phone, then we don’t know the release date yet.
We deliver Android updates from Google to you as soon as possible, but with several phone
models, regions, and distribution channels we may have hundreds of software versions to test
before releasing an Android software update to your phone. Because dependencies on carriers
and other key partners for certifications, independent testing, and requests for changes take
more time, all phone owners don't receive updates at the same time, even in the same region.
Reset Wi-Fi, cellular data, and Bluetooth
If you're having problems with connections, review this information first:
•Wi-Fi
•Bluetooth
•Cellular data
•Hotspot (internet sharing)
Then, if you’re still experiencing problems, try resetting all network settings:
Fix a problem : Maintenance procedures 214
1. Go to Settings > System > Advanced > Reset options.
2. Touch Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth > RESET SETTINGS.
3. If you're using dual SIMs, select the SIM to reset for mobile data settings.
4. Touch RESET SETTINGS.
5. Try to reconnect to Wi-Fi, cellular data, and Bluetooth, or try to share your internet
connection again.
Reset phone
What a reset does
Resetting your phone erases all data and brings it back to out-of-the-box condition. This data
will be erased from the phone:
•Google account
• Media (music, photos, videos)
• System settings and data
• App settings and data (including text messages)
• Downloaded apps
Before you reset
1. Back up your data.
If your phone works and you can unlock it, be sure to:
• Copy your photos, videos, and music to a computer or to cloud storage.
• Make sure that any changes you made to contacts or calendar are synced to an
account.
2. Make sure you have your security information:
• The username for a Google account on your phone. (Settings > Accounts)
• The password for that Google account. If you've forgotten the password, you can reset
it. Wait 24 hours before resetting the phone if you reset your password.
• If you set a screen lock, make sure you know the PIN, pattern, or password.
To restore your data after resetting, you'll need to enter security information. This shows
that you or someone you trust did the reset and helps prevent others from using your
phone without permission.
Fix a problem : Maintenance procedures 215
Reset phone from Settings
To erase all data and reset your phone:
1. Go to Settings > System > Backup.
2. If you’re resetting because you suspect a third-party app is causing problems, turn off Back
up to Google Drive. Instead of automatically restoring apps after the reset, you’ll want to
restore them one at a time to determine which is causing the problem.
3. Touch , then touch Advanced > Reset options > Erase all data (factory reset).
External reset
If you can’t access Settings , do an external reset.
Everything will be deleted from your phone. However, if you personalized your wallpaper or
startup message at the time of purchase, you can preserve the personalized content shipped
with your phone.
1. Charge your battery 30% or more.
2. Turn off the phone.
3. Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power button at the same time until the
phone turns on.
4. Press the Volume Down button until you see Recovery mode.
5. Press the Power button to restart in Recovery mode.
6. If you see an Android robot with a red exclamation mark, press and hold the Power button,
then press and release the Volume Up button to display the menu options.
7. Use the Volume buttons to scroll to Wipe data/factory reset, then press the Power button
to select it.
8. Use Volume buttons to scroll to Yes, then press the Power button to select it.
9. Use Volume buttons to scroll to an option and press the Power button to select it:
•Userdata only: preserves personalized content shipped with your phone, including
power up message, image, wallpaper, and ringtones
•Userdata + personalized content: deletes all content and data
Allow several seconds for the reset to complete.
10.
Use Volume buttons to scroll to Reboot system now, then press the Power button to
select it.
Allow several minutes for the reboot to complete. If the phone doesn't finish rebooting,
press & hold the Power button until the screen turns dark, then release it to power up
normally.
Fix a problem : Maintenance procedures 216
11.
If you reset your phone because you suspect a third-party app is causing problems, when
you set up the phone again, be sure you don't copy all apps. Then, restore one app at a
time and use the phone for a while. If the phone has no issues, install the next app and
retest.
Get more help
Issue Where to get help
Billing or cellular network
issues
Contact your carrier.
Learn to use an app Open the app and touch or > Help.
Phone issue Visit mobilesupport.lenovo.com for solutions, user forums, live
contact options.
Fix a problem : Maintenance procedures 217