Set Up Parental Controls
Kids using a OnePlus phone can rack up screen time or download age-inappropriate apps from Google Play before you notice. OxygenOS hides parental restrictions inside Digital Wellbeing instead of a standalone app, so the option is easy to miss. Setting it up lets you limit device usage time and filter content without installing a separate parental app.
Reject Calls with a Quick Response Text
If your phone rings during a meeting or while you are driving, picking up is not always an option. On OnePlus phones you can decline the call and send a short text at the same moment, so the caller knows you saw it and will get back to them. The trick is finding the reply option before the call goes to voicemail.
Create a New Event in the Calendar App
Forgetting a meeting usually comes down to never adding it to the Calendar app in the first place. On OnePlus phones, new entries split into four types - Event, Task, Reminder or Goal - and picking the wrong one can leave out details you actually need, like location or repeat settings. Knowing which type to choose upfront saves you from redoing the entry later.
Auto-Download of MMS Files via Mobile Data
When you are away from a Wi-Fi network, incoming picture or video messages on your OnePlus can quietly pull data through your mobile plan. Without a size cap, a single large attachment can eat into your monthly allowance before you even open the message. The Messages app lets you set a download limit for exactly this situation.
Delete a Calendar Event
If an appointment in the OnePlus Calendar app keeps showing up after you moved it, or it's simply no longer needed, you can remove it for good. Recurring events add an extra step, since OxygenOS asks whether to remove just one occurrence or the whole series. Picking the wrong option here can wipe out dates you still needed.
Manage App Location Permissions
If an app keeps asking for your position or drains battery in the background, it likely still has broad location access on your OnePlus phone. OxygenOS lets you set that access per app, but the three permission levels are easy to mix up if you only skim the settings once. Getting this wrong either breaks features like maps or leaves GPS running when you never actually use the app.
Remove a Widget from the Home Screen
A widget on your OnePlus home screen can end up too big, too limited, or simply in the way once you have used it for a while. Since widgets do not sit in the app drawer, there is no simple uninstall option waiting for them there. If tapping or swiping on the widget itself has not worked so far, the removal gesture works differently from deleting an app icon.
Change Font Style
Stuck with whatever font style you picked when you first set up your OnePlus? Switching it later does not require a factory reset, but the option sits inside a settings area that is easy to overlook. OxygenOS ships with only two fonts, Roboto and OnePlus Slate, so the actual change takes seconds once you find the right menu.
Enable or Disable Screen Cast
If your OnePlus phone won't show up when you try to mirror the display to a smart TV, monitor or Fire TV Stick, the Screen cast function is often switched off or blocked by a network mismatch. Wireless mirroring only works when both devices sit on the same Wi-Fi network, so a hidden toggle or a wrong network can quietly break the connection. Some OnePlus units also link this feature to a separate casting toggle, which adds another spot where it can get disabled.
Reset Advertising ID
If ads on your OnePlus phone keep referencing searches or apps you thought were forgotten, the advertising ID behind them is still doing its job. This identifier links your activity across apps so companies can keep refining the same profile of you. Resetting it breaks that link and forces every app to start building a fresh, anonymous profile.
Find a Keyword on a Website in the Browser
Scanning a long article on your OnePlus phone for one specific word can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. The browser's built-in find function highlights every match in yellow, so you do not have to scroll through walls of text. Knowing where this tool hides in the menu saves real time.
Enable or Disable Glide Typing
Typing on a OnePlus keyboard can feel slow when every single letter needs its own tap. Glide typing lets you drag a finger across the keys to form whole words instead, but the toggle for this feature sits several menus deep and many users only find it by accident. Others want it switched off again because the swipe gesture keeps producing the wrong word.
Add Emergency Information to Lock Screen
If your OnePlus gets lost or you have a medical emergency, first responders often need details fast but the phone stays locked. Without emergency information stored, allergies, blood type or emergency contacts stay invisible on the lock screen. OnePlus lets you display this data without unlocking the device.
Merge Duplicate Contacts
If WhatsApp or another messenger keeps saving people you already have stored on your OnePlus, the same person often ends up listed twice. Calls, messages, and contact details then split across two separate entries instead of staying in one place, making the contacts list harder to search.
Force Stop an App
When an app on your OnePlus phone freezes, drains the battery in the background, or simply refuses to close, the usual back button and recent-apps swipe often do nothing. This happens when a process gets stuck in memory and stops responding to normal system commands. Force stopping kills the app directly through the system, though any unsaved data inside that app will be lost.
Rename a Paired Bluetooth Device
If you pair several Bluetooth devices with your OnePlus phone, the connection list quickly becomes confusing. Some earbuds, trackers or car kits only show up with a generic model code or their MAC address instead of a proper name. That makes it hard to tell which entry belongs to which device when you want to connect or disconnect something fast.
Enable or Disable Fixed Dialing Numbers
If your OnePlus phone suddenly blocks calls to numbers that are not on a specific list, Fixed Dialing Numbers (FDN) is probably active. This call restriction only allows contacts stored on the SIM card to be dialed, which many parents use to limit a child's phone to a few approved numbers. Turning FDN on or off always requires the PIN2 code from your carrier, not the regular SIM PIN.
Enable or Disable the Emoji Switch Key
Typing emojis on your OnePlus normally means holding down the language key or hunting through a separate emoji panel, which slows you down in chats and emails. A dedicated emoji key on Gboard puts the smiley picker one tap away, but it swaps places with the globe icon used to switch languages. If you type in more than one language, that trade-off matters before you turn the option on.
Enable or Disable Auto-Capitalization
If Gboard keeps switching the first letter of a word to uppercase right after a period or a new line, auto-capitalization is behind it. The feature reads sentence breaks and inserts a capital letter automatically, which speeds up everyday typing in WhatsApp or email but gets in the way when you write in lowercase on purpose, use slang, or paste code snippets. Switching it off leaves capitalization entirely in your hands.
Set Up a Proxy Server
If your OnePlus phone seems to have no proxy option at all, you are looking in the wrong place. The setting only shows up once you open the properties of a Wi-Fi network you are already connected to. Without a valid proxy host name and port, the connection will simply fail to save.
Show or Hide Birthday Reminders in Calendar
If your OnePlus calendar suddenly stops showing a contact's birthday, a Google Account setting is usually behind it. Every linked account carries its own birthday visibility toggle, so one account displaying dates does not mean all of them do. A birthday that was visible last month can quietly vanish once a second account gets added.
Enable or Disable Camera Grid Lines
If your landscape or panorama shots keep coming out crooked, the OnePlus camera has no visual reference for a straight horizon. The Grid overlay in the Camera app adds guide lines across the viewfinder, but the toggle for it sits a few taps deep in the settings. Without it turned on, lining up horizons or symmetrical compositions comes down to guesswork.
Change Ringtone Volume
If calls go unanswered because the ringer barely makes a sound, the ring volume on your OnePlus phone is likely turned down too far. This same volume level also controls notification tones for messages, WhatsApp alerts, and system sounds, so a quiet ringer often means quiet alerts everywhere else too.
Delete an Album in Gallery
Old collections pile up in the Gallery app and take up space you want back. Before you tap Delete on an album, it helps to know that removing it wipes every photo and video stored inside, not just the album itself. Mixing up 'delete album' with 'remove from collection' can cost you files you actually wanted to keep.