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Samsung

Guides for Samsung Galaxy A13

532 guides

Apps & Installation2

Schedule Update Installation

Not every firmware update on your Samsung phone has to go in right away. Installing it in the middle of the day means the restart interrupts whatever you're doing. Samsung lets you pick a time within the next 24 hours so the install and restart happen automatically when you're not using the phone.

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Calls & Messages2

Clear Call Log

Every incoming, outgoing, missed and rejected call stays listed in the Samsung Phone app until you remove it yourself. Old numbers, call times, durations and even the SIM card used pile up over weeks, which can be a privacy issue if someone else picks up your phone. There is no automatic cleanup, so the log only grows unless you clear it manually.

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Photo, Video & Media2

Turn Show Palm On or Off for Selfies

If your Samsung camera keeps snapping photos every time you raise an open hand, the 'Show palm' gesture is reacting to more than just selfies. This automatic gesture starts a three-second timer whenever it detects a raised palm, which can trigger unwanted shots in group photos or video calls. Turning it on or off only takes a few taps inside the camera settings.

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Network & Connectivity2

Turn Bluetooth On or Off

If your Samsung phone keeps reconnecting to a car stereo or speaker you did not want right now, Bluetooth is still active in the background. Leaving the radio running also uses a small amount of battery even with nothing paired. Switching it off stops these automatic reconnections until you turn it back on.

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Security & Privacy2

Change System Settings App Permission

If an app suddenly stops adjusting screen brightness, auto-rotate, or sound profiles on its own, it may be missing the Change system settings permission on your Samsung phone. Blocking this permission stops those automatic adjustments but never touches lock screen or biometric security, since Samsung keeps those separate. You decide per app whether it keeps this special access.

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Notifications & Focus2

Vibrate While Ringing: Turn On or Off

If your Samsung phone stays silent on the desk during an incoming call, the vibration for ringing is switched off in your sound settings. This toggle controls only the ring vibration, separate from notification vibration or Do Not Disturb rules. Missed calls at work or in a bag often trace back to this single setting.

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Apps & Installation

Select Apps for Brief Pop-up Notifications

When brief pop-up notifications fire for every app, alerts you do not care about keep interrupting the screen while you work on your phone. Samsung lets you pick individual apps for this pop-up feature, but the setting sits deep inside the notification menu and is easy to miss. Skip it, and apps you actually want pop-ups from might stay switched off while noisy ones keep interrupting you.

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Calls & Messages2

Show or Hide Declined Events in Calendar

If a meeting you declined still disappears from your calendar view instead of showing as declined, the Samsung Calendar app is hiding it on purpose. This happens because the 'Hide declined events' option is turned on by default, which removes any event you rejected from the schedule entirely. Once you know where that switch lives, you can bring those events back into view whenever you need a full record of your invitations.

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Accessibility2

Turn On/Off Color Correction

If reds and greens blend together on your Samsung screen, or blue tones look washed out, reading charts, icons and notifications gets harder. This is usually not a display defect but an unadjusted color vision setting. Samsung includes filters for different types of color blindness, but they only help once enabled and matched to the right type.

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Network & Connectivity2

Set Default SIM Card for Calls

If your Samsung phone keeps dialing out from SIM 1 even though you meant to call from SIM 2, the default call SIM is likely locked to the wrong card. You can also set the phone to ask every time before placing a call, which helps when you keep one SIM for work and one for personal contacts. This same setting can be changed directly from the status bar shortcut, not just deep inside the settings menu.

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Notifications & Focus2

Hide Notification Pop-ups in Do Not Disturb

Even with Do Not Disturb turned on, notification banners and icons keep popping up on the screen, they just arrive silently. That happens because Do Not Disturb only mutes sound and vibration by default, it does not hide the visual notification itself. If you want your screen to stay completely clear while the mode is active, you need a separate setting for that.

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Apps & Installation2

Change Home Screen Wallpaper

If your home screen still shows the old background after picking a new photo, Samsung One UI likely applied the change to the lock screen instead. The Wallpaper menu treats the start screen and lock screen as separate targets, so choosing the wrong one is the most common reason nothing visibly changes. This applies to both the built-in wallpaper packs and photos from your own gallery.

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Calls & Messages2

Share Contacts as File or Text

Retyping a phone number or address for a friend wastes time and often introduces typos. Samsung's Contacts app can export a single entry as a VCF file or as plain text so you can send it through WhatsApp, Messages or email without manual copying. Picking the wrong format can still leave the recipient with a file their app cannot read.

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Other2

Turn Diagnostic Data Sharing On or Off

If your Samsung phone feels like it is quietly reporting crashes and app behavior in the background, the diagnostic data feature is usually the reason. This setting sends error reports and usage patterns to Samsung to help fix bugs, but it also means data leaves your device without a visible notification. Many users only notice it when checking data usage or reviewing privacy settings after a factory reset.

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Display & Home Screen2

Back Up Secure Folder Data

Your Secure Folder content stays out of every regular Samsung backup, so files you drop inside it can vanish for good if the device is reset, lost, or replaced. Because the backup itself gets stored to your Samsung account rather than to the device backup, skipping this step leaves apps, photos, and documents inside Secure Folder completely unprotected.

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Photo, Video & Media2

Allow or Deny Picture-in-Picture Access

If a video keeps playing in a floating window even after you close the app, or that floating window never shows up at all, the picture-in-picture permission for the app is set the wrong way. Samsung manages this per app, separate from the general multitasking settings, so one app can float freely while another stays blocked. Checking this permission clears up both problems in a few taps.

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Other2

Edit or Add Quick Responses in Messages

Samsung Messages ships with a set of predefined quick responses that often no longer match how you actually text people. Some feel outdated, others are missing entirely, and there is no obvious way to swap them out from the compose screen. The fix lives in a settings menu most people never open.

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Language & Input2

Turn Sticker Suggestions On or Off

Stickers and emoji suggestions from Bitmoji or mojitok can pop up every time you type on a Samsung keyboard, even in apps where you don't want them. This happens because sticker suggestions run as a separate function from regular word prediction. You can also choose which apps are allowed to show these suggestions.

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Notifications & Focus

Turn On/Off Dialing Keypad Vibration

If every digit you tap on the dial pad triggers a buzz you don't want, or the phone stays silent when you expect haptic feedback, the dialing keypad vibration setting is behind it. This option controls whether Samsung phones give a short vibration for each key press while dialing a number. It sits under the general vibration controls, separate from ringtone or notification vibration.

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Calls & Messages2

Add Emergency Contacts

If your phone is locked during an emergency, nobody can reach the people you trust unless they are saved as emergency contacts. Samsung ties this list to your Contacts profile, not to your regular address book, so numbers you already have saved will not show up on their own. Without this setup, SOS messages and lock-screen emergency calls have nobody to go to.

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Photo, Video & Media2

Turn On or Off Automatic QR Code Scanning

If your Samsung camera no longer picks up QR codes while you're in normal photo mode, the automatic QR scanning function is probably switched off. Older Samsung devices used a separate scan mode for this, but current models detect codes directly through the standard camera view. When the option is disabled, pointing the camera at a code does nothing at all.

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Language & Input2

Enable or Disable Google Voice Typing

If the microphone icon is missing from your Samsung keyboard, Google voice typing is probably switched off in the keyboard settings. This feature turns spoken words into text while you type, but only works once it is active under Language and input. You can switch it on or off at any point without changing your default keyboard app.

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Network & Connectivity2

Share Wi-Fi Password via QR Code

Typing out a long Wi-Fi password for guests or family members gets old fast, especially with mixed-case letters and symbols. Samsung phones store the network credentials internally, so you can turn that saved password into a scannable QR code instead of reading it out loud. Anyone with a QR code scanner just points their camera at the screen and connects automatically.

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Apps & Installation2

Install Print Service Plugin

If your printer does not show up when you try to print from your Samsung phone, the built-in print service most likely does not cover your printer model. Samsung ships with a standard print service that works with popular brands, but many manufacturers require their own plugin to print files correctly. Without that plugin, print jobs either fail or the printer never appears as an option.

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