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.
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.
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.
Enable Read in Background for Select to Speak
If Select to Speak stops reading the moment you switch to another app on your Huawei phone, the background reading option is turned off. This feature is still experimental and can behave unpredictably in some apps.
Turn Off Keyboard Usage Statistics Sharing
If your Huawei phone keeps sending keystroke patterns and app usage data back to Microsoft SwiftKey, the Help improve Microsoft SwiftKey option is switched on by default. This setting shares what and how you type to refine the keyboard, which raises privacy concerns for many users. You can review and turn it off directly from the keyboard settings.
Allow or Deny Picture-in-Picture for an App
If a video freezes the moment you switch to another app, or a floating window never shows up while you type a message, the picture-in-picture permission for that app is probably the issue. Some apps get this permission by default, others need it turned on manually before the pop-up window works. Checking which side an app is on saves a lot of guessing.
Set Sound and Vibration for Calendar Reminders
If calendar reminders on your Huawei phone stay silent or skip the vibration you expect, the notification sound for the Calendar app is usually set to Mute or the vibration toggle got switched off. This sits separately from your general ringtone settings, so changing your phone's ringtone won't fix it. A quick check inside the Calendar app settings solves it.
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.
Enable or Disable Do Not Disturb
If calls suddenly go straight to a busy signal or message alerts stop making a sound on your Huawei phone, Do Not Disturb is likely switched on. The mode silences calls, messages and system alerts at once, and it can also trigger itself on a schedule without you noticing. Knowing where this setting lives helps you turn it off fast or set it up the way you actually want.
Resize a Widget on the Home Screen
A widget that takes up half the screen or shows too little information usually just has the wrong size set. On Huawei phones this happens after moving a widget between home screens or after a system update resets its layout. Adjusting the size fixes cramped text and oversized tiles without removing and re-adding the widget.
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.
Add a Guest Account
Handing your Huawei phone to a friend or family member means they can see your photos, messages and apps unless you separate their session from yours. A guest account keeps their activity in its own space so nothing touches your personal data. It is the safest way to lend out your phone without changing any of your own settings.
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.
Camera Audio Control
Taking a selfie alone often means holding a pose while fumbling for the shutter button. Audio control lets your Huawei camera fire the shot when it hears you say Cheese or speak loudly, but the option stays off until you switch it on in the camera settings. If your camera keeps snapping photos on its own during calls or in noisy rooms, this is usually the setting responsible.
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.
Add a Keyboard Language
If your Huawei keyboard only suggests words in one language, typing texts in another language turns into a mess of wrong autocorrections. Missing keyboard languages also block the quick language switch on the space bar. Adding a language directly in the keyboard settings solves both problems at once.
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.
Home Screen Wipe Effects
If swiping between home screens always triggers the same left-right slide, the transition assigned to your home screen is locked to Standard. Huawei lets you swap this animation for a different visual style, but the setting sits inside a long-press menu most people never open. Until you change it, every screen swap looks identical no matter how many home screens you use.
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.
Sort Contacts by First or Last Name
Searching for a colleague under their last name but finding your contact list sorted by first name instead makes lookups slower than they should be. Huawei's Contacts app defaults to first name sorting, which feels backwards if you are used to last name first address books. The sort order sits in a setting most people never open, so the list looks fixed until you know where to look.