Add an App Shortcut to the Home Screen
When the app drawer is turned on, your home screen stays mostly empty and every app only shows up in the full overview list. That means an extra swipe and tap each time you want to open something you use daily. Adding a direct shortcut fixes that without switching off the drawer.
Enable or Disable Google Voice Typing
If dictation stays greyed out on your OnePlus keyboard or the microphone icon simply refuses to appear, Google voice typing is likely switched off in your keyboard settings. The feature converts spoken words into text for messages, emails and notes, but it only works once it is active for your virtual keyboard. A locked device after a restart can also block access until you unlock it first.
Disable Lock Screen Password
If your OnePlus phone still asks for a pattern, PIN or password every time you wake the screen, the lock screen security feature is still active. This also keeps fingerprint and face unlock tied to that passcode, so removing it wipes any saved biometric data. You need your current unlock method on hand before you can turn the request off.
Add a Printer Manually by IP Address
If your OnePlus phone does not detect your printer automatically, the built-in Default Print Service probably does not recognize your model. This happens with older or less common printers that are not listed in the supported device catalog. You can still connect the printer over your local network by entering its IP address directly.
Enable or Disable Switch Access
If touch input is not an option for you, controlling a OnePlus phone can feel out of reach. Switch Access lets you navigate, select items, scroll and type using an external switch connected over USB or Bluetooth instead of tapping the screen. Turning the feature on or off happens in the accessibility settings, not through a hidden gesture.
Enable or Disable Battery Saver
When your OnePlus phone drains faster than usual, background apps, animations and sync jobs are often still running at full power. Battery Saver throttles that activity to stretch the remaining charge, and it can also switch on by itself at a set time, for example overnight while the phone is idle.
Power Button: Choose Power Menu or Voice Assistant
On many OnePlus phones, holding the power button on the side launches Google Assistant instead of the shutdown menu. That makes it awkward when you actually want to restart, power off, or trigger emergency mode. The behavior comes from a setting most people never touch after setup.
Add Members to a Contacts Group
A label or group in the OnePlus Contacts app stays empty until you actually assign people to it. Many users create a group but then struggle to find where to add contacts afterward, especially when they want to select several people at once instead of adding them one by one.
Enable Developer Options
If USB debugging, extra logging or other tweaks are missing from your OnePlus, the developer options are still hidden. Without them you cannot access advanced system tools like ADB access or performance overlays. OxygenOS keeps this menu hidden by default to protect casual users from unwanted changes.
Open WiFi Network Notification
If your OnePlus keeps popping up alerts every time you walk past a coffee shop or airport hotspot, the open network notification is doing its job a little too well. This constant pinging gets old fast in busy public areas. You can control exactly when and if these alerts show up.
Enable or Disable Keyboard Auto-Correction
Typing a technical term, a name, or slang on your OnePlus and watching Gboard swap it for a completely different word is frustrating, especially in a WhatsApp chat or a work email you cannot easily edit after sending. Auto-correction speeds up typing for most people, but it also guesses wrong often enough to break sentences or change meaning. If wrong substitutions keep showing up, the fix sits in the keyboard's text correction settings.
Delete a Single Text Message
Sometimes only one message in a long thread needs to disappear, not the entire conversation. On a OnePlus phone, the standard option to clear a whole chat removes far more than you actually want to get rid of. Deleting a single message only changes what you see on your own device, so the other person keeps their copy of it.
Print a PDF File via Wi-Fi
When a printer sits in the same room but a PDF still will not print from your OnePlus phone, the Wi-Fi printing feature usually is not activated correctly. Android needs to detect the printer on the same network before the print dialog shows any device to choose from. Without that connection, the option list stays empty even though everything looks fine at first glance.
Edit Quick Settings in the Status Bar
If your quick settings panel is cluttered with icons you barely use, or a toggle like Flashlight or Screen Recorder is nowhere to be found, the layout just needs a manual edit. OxygenOS keeps every extra shortcut hidden in a separate row until you drag it into the visible panel yourself. Until you sort that list, you keep swiping past icons you never touch while the ones you actually need stay out of reach.
Optimize App Battery Usage
If a specific app keeps draining your battery in the background even when you are not using it, OxygenOS might not be limiting its power use the way you expect. Each app on your OnePlus phone has its own battery optimization setting, and the wrong choice here causes either faster battery drain or delayed notifications.
Remove a Fingerprint
If a fingerprint no longer unlocks your OnePlus reliably or a scan keeps failing at the payment screen, an old or damaged fingerprint entry is often the cause. Up to five fingerprint IDs can sit on one device, and a faulty one among them slows down every unlock attempt. Removing the wrong finger entirely also switches off fingerprint unlock and fingerprint payment if no other ID remains.
Enable or Disable App Notification Dots
When WhatsApp, Messenger or another app gets a new message, OnePlus shows a small dot above the app icon by default, even after you have already checked the notification shade. This behavior comes from a single system toggle called Allow notification dots, not from the apps themselves. If the dots feel redundant or distracting next to your badge counts, you can switch the whole feature off in one step.
Enable or Disable Incognito Mode in Chrome
If a search on your OnePlus suddenly opens inside a dark grey browser tab with a small mask icon in the status bar, incognito mode is active in Chrome. Bookmarks, history and autofill data stop saving in that tab, which can be confusing if you expect your usual browsing setup to load. Knowing where this mode lives helps you switch it on for private searches or turn it off when regular browsing feels off.
Change Camera Mode
If the OnePlus camera keeps opening in the wrong mode, or you cannot find the switch between Photo, Video and Pro, the mode bar at the bottom of the viewfinder is easy to overlook. Many users only ever tap the shutter button and never realize the row of mode labels above it can be swiped or tapped directly. Knowing exactly where that bar sits saves time whenever you need to switch quickly between stills and video.
Hide Apps on Home Screen and in App Drawer
If an app keeps showing up on your home screen or inside the app drawer even though you never use it, the shortcut is simply set to visible in the launcher settings. This is common for pre-installed apps or tools you only open occasionally and do not want cluttering your layout. The fix works whether or not the App Drawer is switched on, since OxygenOS handles hidden shortcuts separately from the visible grid.
Change Google Backup Account
If you have several Google Accounts added to your OnePlus phone, your backups can end up saved under the wrong one. That makes it hard to find contacts, app data, or settings later, especially after a reset or when setting up a new device. Switching which account handles Backup fixes where that data actually lands.
Switch Between User Accounts
If several people share the same OnePlus phone, jumping into full system settings just to swap accounts feels slow. Each user profile keeps its own apps, wallpaper and data separate, so picking the wrong one mid-task can mean losing your open apps or notifications. The switch actually lives in the quick settings, not buried in a settings menu.
Enable Fingerprint Unlock
If you are still typing in your PIN or pattern every time you pick up your OnePlus phone, you are missing the fingerprint sensor built into most models. Fingerprint scanning lets the device recognize you instantly without a code, but it only works once a fingerprint has been enrolled in Security settings. Skipping this step also blocks fingerprint-based app locks and quick approvals for payments.
Enable or Disable Magnification (Accessibility Zoom)
Small text and icons on your OnePlus can be tough to read, especially in apps that ignore your font size settings. The Magnification accessibility feature lets you zoom in with a triple-tap or a dedicated shortcut, but it stays off until you switch it on. If tapping the screen three times keeps zooming in by accident, the same setting is the cause.