Enable or Disable Automatic Brightness
If your Huawei display stays too dark indoors or glares in direct sunlight, automatic brightness is likely fighting your manual settings. The sensor reacts to ambient light and readjusts the screen on its own, which can feel unpredictable if you prefer fixed brightness levels.
Enable or Disable App Icon Badges
If your app icons keep showing a number or red dot even after you have read every message, the icon badge notification setting is still active for that app. On some Huawei phones badges stay visible for apps like Messages or Email regardless of how often you clear the notification tray. This setting controls whether unread counts appear on the icon itself, separate from the notification shade.
Set Default SMS Messages App
If a new messaging app you installed from the Google Play Store never actually receives your texts, the old app is probably still set as default. Huawei phones send every SMS and MMS through whichever app is marked as the standard, no matter how many others sit on your home screen. Switching that setting is the only way to make a new app take over completely.
Answer Calls with the Fingerprint Sensor
Struggling to answer calls when the touchscreen is hard to use, your fingers are wet, or you are wearing gloves? Huawei phones can accept a call with a long press on the fingerprint sensor, but this option is usually switched off by default. Without it, every incoming call still needs the on-screen slide gesture, even if that is exactly what is causing you trouble.
Switch Between User Accounts
Managing several user profiles on a Huawei phone gets confusing once you are past the initial setup. Right after creating a new account, the phone asks directly if you want to switch, but that prompt only appears once. After that, many people end up digging through the Settings app every time they just want to swap to another profile.
Unhide Albums in Gallery
Albums you hid in Gallery for privacy do not vanish, they just stop appearing in the main overview. If a folder with photos or videos suddenly seems missing on your Huawei phone, it is usually parked in the Hide albums list rather than deleted.
Activate or Deactivate a SIM Card
If you run Dual-SIM on your Huawei phone, you might want to switch off one number without pulling the physical card out. A deactivated SIM stops receiving calls, texts and mobile data until you turn it back on. This control sits inside the mobile network settings, not on the SIM tray or lock screen.
Turn Vibrate on Touch On or Off
Every tap on the back button, a menu item, or a toggle triggers a short buzz on your Huawei phone, even when you just want a quiet browsing session. Or the opposite happens: you rely on that haptic click to confirm a tap and suddenly it stops firing. Either way, the setting sits inside the sound options, not the vibration settings you would expect.
Enable or Disable Speak Passwords
When TalkBack reads out loud every character you type into a password field, anyone nearby can hear your login details. This happens because the Speak passwords option inside TalkBack is switched on by default on some Huawei phones. Turning it off keeps password entries silent while TalkBack still announces everything else.
Turn Personal Hotspot On or Off
When other devices show no internet connection through your Huawei phone, the personal hotspot is often switched off or was never configured. You can also give it a custom name and password so people around you connect quickly without sharing your regular Wi-Fi.
Set Alarm Volume Separately
If your alarm sounds too quiet or too loud even after adjusting the ringtone, the problem is not the ringtone at all. On Huawei phones the alarm has its own volume level, separate from calls and media playback. Missing this setting is a common reason people oversleep or get startled awake.
Set Up Fingerprint Unlock
If your Huawei phone still asks for a pattern, PIN or password every time you wake the screen, fingerprint unlock probably has not been set up yet. Huawei phones require an existing backup unlock method before a fingerprint can be registered, since the print alone is never used as the sole security layer. Without that fallback in place, the fingerprint menu blocks you from adding a print at all.
Set Up or Reset APN Settings
When mobile data stays off even though your SIM is active, a wrong or missing APN entry is often the cause. Carriers usually push this configuration automatically, but a failed update or a manual change can break the connection. If your Huawei phone shows a signal but no internet access, the APN list is the first place to check.
Add a New User Account
Sharing your Huawei phone with family or a colleague usually means everyone sees your apps, photos, and messages. Adding a separate user account keeps each person's home screen, apps, and background apart from yours. Some settings, like WiFi, still stay shared across every user on the device.
Show WiFi Password as QR Code
Typing out a long WiFi password for a visiting friend gets annoying fast, especially with mixed-case letters and symbols. Your Huawei phone can turn the password of a network you are already connected to into a scannable QR code instead.
Show Alternate Calendars in the Calendar App
If your Calendar app only shows Gregorian dates, religious or cultural holidays like Islamic, Hebrew, or Chinese Lunar dates stay invisible next to your regular entries. EMUI hides this option inside the Calendar settings by default, so most users never notice it exists. Adding an alternate calendar shows a second date line under each day without replacing your main calendar.
Turn Location Access On or Off
If your Huawei phone keeps showing the location icon in the status bar even though you are not navigating or checking in anywhere, general location access is probably switched on for every app at once. This master switch overrides individual app permissions, so weather, maps, and social apps all lose GPS access the moment you turn it off. It is a different setting from disabling location for a single app.
Power Saving Mode: Enable or Disable
If your Huawei phone suddenly delays downloads or holds back new emails, Power Saving mode is probably running in the background. It throttles background activity on purpose to stretch battery life until you can recharge, which can make notifications and app updates feel slower than usual.
Enable or Disable Background Data and Roaming for Apps
If a messenger like WhatsApp only shows new messages after you open the app, or your data bill spikes right after a trip, background data and roaming permissions for that app are usually the reason. EMUI lets you allow or block both separately for every installed app, so getting the setting wrong means either late notifications or an unexpected roaming charge.
Show Step Count on Lock Screen
If the step counter your Huawei phone tracks with its built-in pedometer never shows up on the lock screen, the Magazine lock screen style is probably not active. Without it, the Show step count toggle in your settings has no visible effect, so the number stays hidden even though tracking runs in the background.
Forward an SMS Message
If you want to pass on a text you received without retyping it, EMUI hides the forward option inside the message menu rather than as a visible button. This is why many Huawei users only send screenshots instead of the actual message.
Allow Calls Through Do Not Disturb
When Do Not Disturb is active on a Huawei phone, urgent calls can get silenced along with everything else, so an important contact never gets through. EMUI lets you carve out exceptions so specific calls still ring while the rest stays muted. Getting this wrong usually means either missed calls from people who matter or a phone that keeps buzzing during focus time.
Enable or Disable Dial Pad Sounds
Every tap on the Huawei dialer can trigger a beep or tone, and that gets annoying fast if you dial numbers in a quiet room or share the phone with someone who hates the noise. The keypad tones setting controls whether you hear anything at all and which tone plays. Switching between None, Default and Melody changes how the phone reacts to every digit you press.
Set Up a VPN Connection
Public Wi-Fi hotspots and open mobile networks let anyone nearby read your unencrypted traffic. On a Huawei phone the built-in VPN client stays empty until a server profile is added, so the connection option does nothing on its own. Once a valid server address, protocol and login details are entered, the phone tunnels your data, hides your IP and reaches sites that would otherwise be blocked.