How do I navigate my Galaxy smartphone?

Learning how to use a new phone can be a pain, especially if you are switching to a totally new manufacturer or operating system. Fortunately, Samsung's One UI is specifically designed to make using and navigating your phone a breeze. One UI was created to make using your phone natural and intuitive while keeping things as simple as possible. Find out how to use and customise your new home screen, find your apps, use the quick settings and more. 

 

If you still need to set up your new device, follow along with the video below.

Samsung Galaxy | Set-up your new phone Samsung Galaxy | Set-up your new phone

Your Galaxy smartphone will have a number of buttons and ports around the outside of the device. Each Galaxy device has Volume keys and a Power/Side key so that you can easily adjust the volume and turn your device on. The diagram below shows all of the buttons and ports that are on the Galaxy S10 but depending on your specific device, the buttons and ports may be different. Consult your user guide or download the E-manual to find out more about your buttons and ports.

Buttons and ports on the S10

The main screen on your Galaxy smartphone is called the home screen. This is the first screen that you will see when your device has been turned on or unlocked. Your home screen gives you quick and easy access to your favourite apps and widgets and shows you what is going on through notifications. 

Please note: your home screen may look different to the one below, however, the structure will be the same

Basic navigation of the home screen
1 Current time: the current time is displayed in the top left of the screen
2 Notifications: any notifications you receive on your phone will be displayed here as notification icons. The icons that you see will depend on the app that is sending you a notification and what it is about. In this example there is a notification from Bixby routines, a voice message and some information about the weather
3 Phone status: in the top right of the screen there are a few icons that display the status of your phone. In this example the icons are showing that the phone is on mute, it is connected to Wi-Fi, we have good signal from our mobile network and that our battery is half full
4 Widgets: Android phones allow you greater levels of customisation through widgets. Widgets are extensions for the apps on your device. This widget is linked to google and gives us a search bar that will take us directly to the internet
5 App icons: You can move icons for your apps onto the home screen, giving you quicker access to your favourite apps
6 App folders: you can organise your apps into folders, allowing you to arrange your apps as you choose
7 Home screen page indicator: you can create multiple home screens on your smartphone. This indicator shows you what page you are on. In this example we can see that we are on our main home page as it is coloured white
8 Favourites: the app icons displayed here are the favourite apps. These are different from other app icons as they will stay in the same place no matter what home screen page you are looking at
9 Recent apps: tapping this button will display all of your recently used apps. You can then close an app by swiping it upwards, open the app again by tapping on it or close all your apps by tapping Close all
10 Home: the home button will take you to your main home screen
11 Back: the back button will take you back to the last screen you were viewing

All of the apps on your phone can be found in your app pages. Your Galaxy smartphone will come with a selection of pre-installed apps for you to use, but you can always download more from the Galaxy Store and Play Store.

1 Swipe up on the home screen
Swipe up on the home screen
2 Your apps will be displayed
Your apps will be displayed
3 If you have lots of apps they will be split across multiple pages. You can see which page you are on through the app page indicator. Your apps will always open on the first page
You can see which page you are on through the app page indicator
4 Swipe left to view the next page of apps
Swipe left to see more apps
5 Swipe right to go back to the previous app screen
Swipe right to go back to the previous page
6 Tap an app to open it
Tap an app to open it
7 Hold an app to view more options. You will now be able to select multiple items/apps at once, remove or add the app to your home screen, disable the app and find out more information about it
Hold an app to view more options
8 Depending on the app you held, you may also see some additional options. For example, holding down the Camera app gives you options for photo and video. These are the common uses of the app. Tapping one of these options will quickly take you to this feature without having to navigate there
You may see some additional options

Finder search on your Galaxy device allows you to search through the contents of your settings and compatible apps, removing most of the steps to navigate to what you are looking for. You can use Finder search to find specific settings, contents of your emails, files and much more. If you can't find it, search for it.

Please note: in the example below we are looking for a new wallpaper app but you can use Finder search to look for anything 

1 Swipe up on the home screen
Swipe up on the home screen
2 Tap Finder search at the top of your apps page
Tap Finder search
3 Enter a search term. This should be what you are looking for, or related to what you are looking for. In this example we are looking to download an app for new wallpapers, so can search wallpaper
Enter a search word
4 Tap the magnifying glass to search
Tap the magnifying glass
5 You will be shown contents relating to your search term from all compatible apps. In this example there are results from the Settings, Email, Galaxy Store and Play Store. As we want to download a new app, we should look at the Galaxy Store and Play Store results
You will be shown content relating to wallpaper
6 If you can see the result you were looking for, tap to select it
Tap to select a result
7 If you can see results similar to but not exactly what you are looking for, tap Search in app to see more results
If you can see similar results, tap Search in app to see more otions
Accessing quick settings

Your Galaxy smartphone has access to a convenient quick settings menu that allows you to easily turn on and off some key features of your device.

1 Swipe down from two points at the top of your screen to view your quick settings
Swipe down from two point at the top of the screen
2 Your quick settings are displayed. A feature will be coloured blue if it is currently turned on
Your quick settings will be displayed
3 Swipe left to view more quick settings
Swipe left to view more quick settings
4 Swipe right to return to the previous screen
Swipe right to return to the previous screen
5 Tap a quick setting to turn it on or off
Tap a quick setting to turn it on or off
Galaxy S10: How to customize your home screen Galaxy S10: How to customize your home screen

You can make your phone easier to use and navigate by customising your home screen. You can move apps and create app shortcuts, create extra home screen pages and add useful widgets. You can also customise your home screen by adding your own wallpaper. Find out more about changing the wallpaper on your Galaxy smartphone.

 

How do I move my apps?

1 Tap and hold the app icon you want to move
Tap and hold the app you want to move
2 An information window will appear above the app icon. Keep holding the app icon
An information box will appear
3 The app can now be moved around. Guide lines will appear on the home screen to show you where it can be placed
Guide lines will appear to help you move the app
4 Drag the app icon to the very edge of the screen to move it onto a different home screen
Drag the app to the edge of the screen
5 Release the app icon to place it
Release the app icon to place it
6 To add an app icon from your apps page to your home screen, tap and hold it until the information window appears
Tap and hold an app from your apps page
7 Tap Add to Home. It will be added to your last home screen page
Tap add to home

How do I create a folder?

1 Tap and hold the app icon you would like to place in a folder
Tap and hold the app icon you want to place in a folder
2 Drag the app icon onto another app icon you would like in the same folder
Drag the app icon onto another app icon
3 Once a grey outline appears around the outside of the second app icon, it is ready to create a folder. Release the first app icon to confirm
Once a grey outline appears around the second app icon a folder can be created
4 You will be shown your folder. Tap Enter folder name to name your new folder
Tap Enter folder name
5 Tap Add apps to move additional apps into the folder
Tap add apps to add additional apps to the folder

Find out more about using and managing apps on Galaxy smartphones.

 

How do I add extra home screen pages?

1 Tap and hold a blank area of your home screen
Tap and hold a blank area of the home screen
2 Swipe left until you see a page with a + icon in the middle
Swipe left
3 Tap the + icon to add a new home screen page
Tap the + icon

How do I add a widget?

1 Tap and hold a blank area of your home screen
Tap and hold a blank area of the home screen
2 Tap Widgets
Tap Widgets
3 Tap the widget you want to add
Tap the widget you want to add
4 If prompted, choose the size or type of widget you would like. The available options will depend on the widget you are adding
Choose the size or type of the widget
5 Tap and hold your preferred widget to move it to the home screen
Tap and hold your preferred widget
6 Drag the widget around the screen to move it to your preferred position
Drag the widget to move it
7 Release the widget to confirm
Release the widget to confirm

If you're experiencing unusual behaviour on Samsung mobiles, tablets or wearables, you can send us an error report or ask us a question in the Samsung Members app.

 

This allows us to take a closer look at what is happening. The data is anonymised and only held for the duration of the investigation. Find out more about sending an error report through the Samsung Members app.

Related Questions

Thank you for your feedback!

Contact Info

Online

There are a number of a different ways of contacting us via Live Chat, Email and more
Learn more

Call

Speak to one of our dedicated team of experts
Learn more

Face to face Support

Whether your product is in warranty or out of warranty, we're here to help.
Find a Support Centre
View more