Add a Printer Manually via IP Address
If your Huawei phone lists no printers during the network scan, the WLAN or WiFi Direct discovery has failed to reach the device. This happens on isolated subnets, guest networks, or with printer models that block broadcast discovery. Adding the printer by its IP address skips the automatic search entirely.
Switch Between 12-Hour and 24-Hour Time
If your Huawei phone displays 3:45 PM instead of 15:45, or the other way round, the clock format is likely tied to your system language rather than a fixed choice. This dependency means switching language can silently change how time appears on the lock screen, notifications, and widgets. A manual toggle for 24-hour time removes that guesswork.
Restrict App Access to Mobile Data or Wi-Fi
If a video streaming app keeps burning through your mobile data plan even when you are not actively watching anything, background network access is usually the cause. Some apps also switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data without asking, which drains your data allowance faster than expected. You decide per app whether it may use mobile data, Wi-Fi, or both.
Change the System Language
If your Huawei phone still runs in the language you set up years ago, you don't have to reset the device to fix that. EMUI lets you add extra languages under Language and region, but a newly added language stays inactive until it's moved to the top of the list. Skip that step and the phone keeps using the old language no matter how many times you pick the new one.
Screen Lock Tone: Enable or Disable
Every time you lock your Huawei phone with the power button, a short click plays and there is no obvious switch for it inside the main sound menu. If that beep annoys you, or it suddenly disappeared after you changed a sound profile, the toggle actually sits inside a secondary settings screen. Keep in mind the tone stays silent automatically whenever your phone is set to Mute or Silent, even if the toggle itself is turned on.
Enable or Disable Magazine Unlock
If your Huawei lock screen keeps swapping in a new photo every time you wake the display, Magazine Unlock is running in the background. The images refresh automatically over Wi-Fi and rotate through a category you can pick, which some people find distracting or unnecessary. If you never chose this look, or you want it back after a reset, the switch sits inside the wallpaper settings rather than the lock screen menu itself.
Restore Deleted Contacts
Accidentally deleted a contact on your Huawei phone and now it seems gone for good? EMUI actually keeps deleted contacts in a temporary folder instead of removing them right away. That window closes automatically after a set number of days, so the contact becomes unrecoverable once it expires.
Choose or Add a Backup Account
Google Drive only stores photos, contacts and app data once EMUI knows which Google account should receive the backup. If no account is linked yet, or the wrong one is selected, Backup & restore looks active but stays empty. This mix-up is common on phones that were set up with a second or work Google account.
Wake Screen for Notifications
If your Huawei phone display stays black when a new message or notification arrives, the wake screen option is likely turned off. This setting controls whether the screen lights up automatically for incoming alerts, separate from your normal lock screen timeout. Without it, you only see new notifications after pressing the power button yourself.
Enable Gentle Notifications for an App
Every notification on your Huawei phone triggers a sound, a vibration and a full pop-up by default, even for apps you only check occasionally. If a chat or news app keeps interrupting you but you still want to see missed messages later, muting it completely removes that overview. Gentle notifications quiet the alert while keeping a discreet trace of it in the notification panel.
Check for Security Updates Manually
If the security update notification on your Huawei phone got dismissed or never showed up, you might be running on an outdated patch without knowing it. This leaves known vulnerabilities unpatched until the next automatic check happens, which can take a while depending on your network and settings. A manual check confirms whether a new patch is already available for your device.
Manage Do Not Disturb Access for Apps
If an app on your Huawei phone keeps buzzing through Do Not Disturb, it has been granted permission to bypass that mode entirely. This usually happens after you approved a notification-related prompt without noticing what it actually allowed. Once granted, the app can send alerts, calls or messages even while your phone is set to stay silent.
Change the Region Setting
On many Huawei phones the region field switches on its own whenever the device connects to a different mobile network. This can happen right after a trip abroad or when a SIM briefly loses signal and reconnects to a foreign carrier. The automatic change can affect app stores, weather data, and date formats without any warning.
Enable or Disable the Number Row
On most Huawei phones the keyboard only shows letters, so typing a phone number or a password with digits means switching to the symbols page every time. SwiftKey Keyboard has a number row option that keeps the digits visible above the letters, but it sits deep inside the typing settings and is easy to miss.
Change the App Lock PIN
If apps behind App Lock keep asking for an old code, or you want a stronger PIN, remember that App Lock on Huawei phones runs separate from your screen lock. You can update it directly inside the App Lock settings, but only after entering the current app lock code. Forgetting that code is usually what stops people before they even reach the option to change it.
Set Default Launcher App
If your Huawei phone keeps opening the old home screen even after installing a new launcher, the system is still pointing to the previous default app. This happens because EMUI only switches the active launcher when you confirm the change in the app settings, not automatically after installation. Until that setting is updated, widgets, shortcuts and the app drawer stay tied to the launcher you had before.
Turn Google Location History On or Off
Even without opening a single Google app, your Huawei phone can still log where you go through Google Location History. Many people only discover this after checking their Google account and seeing a detailed timeline of past visits. This background tracking runs independently of Maps, Search, or any other Google service, and you can switch it off directly from the phone settings.
Enable or Disable Quick Period on the Keyboard
If double-tapping the space bar keeps adding a period and a space in the middle of a sentence, the Quick period feature in your keyboard is switched on. It can also work the other way around: you expect a fast period shortcut while typing and nothing happens because the option is off. Either way, the setting sits inside the keyboard preferences, not in the general typing settings.
Unlock Safe with Fingerprint
Every time you open the Safe on your Huawei phone, you have to type the full password before you can see anything inside. That gets tedious if you store documents or photos there and check them several times a day. Fingerprint ID can replace the password step, but the option is not turned on by default.
Turn Off Notifications for Specific Apps
If your Huawei phone keeps buzzing with alerts from apps you barely open, the notification switch for that app is probably still turned on. EMUI shows notifications for every installed app by default, so noisy apps stay active until you switch them off one by one. This gets annoying fast if messaging or game apps flood your lock screen while important alerts get lost in the mix.
Enable or Disable Google Voice Typing
Typing long messages on your Huawei phone takes forever when you have to tap out every word by hand. Google voice typing turns spoken words into text directly in the keyboard, but on many EMUI devices the option is buried and easy to miss or accidentally switch off. After a restart the feature can also seem to disappear until the phone is unlocked again.
Enable or Disable Autocorrect
When Huawei's keyboard swaps in the wrong word right as you hit send, the SwiftKey autocorrect feature is usually to blame. It rewrites words mid-sentence based on its suggestion bar, even when the word you typed was already correct. If this keeps producing typos or awkward phrasing in your messages, you can switch the feature off or back on in a few taps.
Delete a Folder from the Home Screen
A folder full of apps still sits on your Huawei home screen and there is no obvious delete option in the long-press menu. EMUI treats folders as containers, not standalone objects, so the delete function only kicks in once the folder is almost empty. If you just want the group gone without losing any apps, the trick is moving apps out one by one.
Merge Duplicate Contacts
Seeing the same person listed twice or three times in your phonebook usually means the contact was saved separately by your SIM, a synced account, and an app like WhatsApp. Each source keeps its own entry until you combine them, which also splits Calls and Messages history across multiple records. Huawei's built-in merge function is designed to clean this up without deleting any of the underlying data.