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Samsung

Guides for Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1 (2019)

532 guides

Security & Privacy2

Add Trusted Places for Smart Lock

Typing your PIN every time you walk through the front door or reach your desk at work gets tiring fast. Smart Lock's Trusted places feature can skip the lock screen at locations you use often, but the unlock zone is based on estimated location rather than an exact address. That's why the phone sometimes stays unlocked a bit outside your home or starts locking again before you're actually inside.

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Apps & Installation2

Uninstall Secure Folder

Secure Folder can't just be deleted from your Samsung phone - it has to be uninstalled through its own settings menu. Confirming the uninstall wipes everything stored inside it, including apps, photos, contacts and documents. Once removed, you can set up a new Secure Folder from scratch later.

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Apps & Installation2

Uninstall an App

An app you no longer use keeps taking up storage space and might still run background processes on your Samsung phone. Deleting it through the Google Play Store removes the app itself, but the built-in Settings menu gives you a direct way to remove it along with its stored data. Once removed, any saved data, logins, or app files linked to that app are gone for good.

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System & Settings2

Factory Reset: Settings Guide

If your Samsung phone freezes, lags after a system update, or you are handing it over to someone else, a factory reset wipes the entire internal storage. Every app gets uninstalled and every linked account, including your Samsung account, is removed from the device. Once the reset finishes, none of that data can be recovered unless you saved a backup beforehand.

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Notifications & Focus2

Change Timer Volume

The timer alarm on Samsung phones ignores the physical volume buttons and the usual sound settings, because it runs through its own separate slider. Users often turn up media or ringtone volume expecting the timer to get louder, but the timer stays at whatever level was last set inside the Clock app itself.

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Storage & Backup2

Activate a Downloaded Keyboard

A new keyboard from the Play Store shows up as installed but never appears as an option when you try to switch input methods. Samsung keeps every keyboard disabled by default until you turn it on in the keyboard management settings. Without this step, the downloaded keyboard stays invisible even though it is already on your phone.

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Photo, Video & Media2

Change Screenshot File Format

By default, every screenshot on your Samsung phone gets saved as a JPG, which compresses the image and can slightly soften text or fine details. If you need sharper captures for documents, UI comparisons, or editing work, JPG's lossy compression becomes a real limitation. Switching the format to PNG keeps every pixel intact at the cost of a slightly larger file size.

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Other2

Add or Remove Bookmarks in Samsung Internet

Typing the same web address every day gets tedious fast, and the Samsung Internet history list is not built for quick access to your favorite pages. Bookmarks solve that, but many users cannot find where to add a page or how to delete one that is no longer needed. Folders and sorting options add another layer of confusion once the bookmark list grows.

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Calls & Messages2

Turn On/Off Accidental Touch Protection

If your Samsung phone wakes up in your pocket or bag and taps random apps or dials contacts, the screen is registering touches it should ignore. This usually happens when the display turns on in a dark or enclosed space and the accidental touch protection feature is off or misconfigured. The result can be missed calls, sent messages, or apps opened without your knowledge.

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Other2

Turn On Secret Mode in the Internet App

If browsing history, cookies, and saved form data keep showing up after you close a tab, the Internet app is still saving everything by default. Secret mode stops Samsung's browser from storing history, cookies, site data, or site permissions for the whole browsing session, not just one tab. On a shared device or public Wi-Fi, skipping this setting leaves a full trail behind for the next person who opens the browser.

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Calls & Messages2

Turn Call Waiting On or Off

If a knocking tone interrupts your calls out of nowhere, or you never notice a second caller trying to reach you, Call waiting is probably set the way you don't want. This Samsung feature decides whether an incoming call during an active conversation gets signaled to you or blocked outright. Getting the setting wrong means either missed calls or unwanted interruptions mid-conversation.

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Other2

Close All Tabs in Samsung Internet

Too many open tabs in Samsung Internet slow the browser down and make it hard to find the page you actually need. Scrolling through dozens of thumbnails just to spot one tab wastes time and drains memory. Closing unused tabs regularly keeps the browser fast and responsive.

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Notifications & Focus2

Turn Keyboard Sounds On or Off

Every tap on the Samsung keyboard triggers a click sound that can get annoying, especially in quiet rooms or during calls. This tone runs independently from your ringtone, notification and media volume, so lowering those won't silence it. Two separate settings areas manage the keypad tone, and mixing them up is the usual reason one toggle does not seem to work.

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Apps & Installation2

Force Stop an App

When an app on your Samsung phone stops responding, swiping it away from the recent apps overview usually does not help. That gesture only tells the app to wrap up background tasks, it does not kill a stuck process. If a software glitch is blocking the app, it keeps running in the background, drains battery, or leaves the screen frozen.

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Notifications & Focus2

Turn an Alarm On or Off

New alarms on a Samsung phone switch on automatically the moment you save them, which is why a forgotten wake-up call can fire off the next morning without warning. Turning an alarm off does not delete it - the entry stays saved and ready to switch back on later. The toggle can be flipped from inside the Clock app or directly from an alarm widget placed on your home screen.

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Calls & Messages2

Send a Group Text Message

Typing out the same text to five people one by one gets old fast, and picking each contact by hand in Messages is easy to mess up. If you already saved a group of people in Contacts, there is a faster way to reach everyone at once without adding them individually. The trick is knowing where the Groups option actually sits inside the Messages app.

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Notifications & Focus2

Turn Lock Screen Notifications On or Off

If notification icons keep showing up on your Samsung lock screen even though you want more privacy, or they suddenly stopped appearing at all, the Notifications setting under Lock screen controls that behavior. This single switch decides whether senders, message previews, or just small icons appear before you unlock the phone. Getting it wrong can mean missing calls or messages, or exposing content you would rather keep hidden.

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Apps & Installation2

Reset App Preferences

If a link keeps opening in the wrong app, notifications stay silent, or a permission you never touched suddenly blocks a feature, one of your apps might have leftover setting changes piling up. Instead of checking every app individually, Samsung lets you roll all app preferences back to default in one step. This does not remove any app data, so accounts, files, and photos stay untouched.

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Other2

Turn Autofill Service On or Off

If your phone keeps filling in the wrong username, an old address, or a password you no longer use, the Autofill service is likely set to a provider you did not choose. On Samsung phones this function can pull data from Google, from Samsung Pass, or be switched off completely, and mixing providers often causes those wrong entries or missing suggestions in login and shipping forms.

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Other2

Delete a Conversation

Deleting single texts one by one takes forever when an entire chat thread is cluttering your Messages app. On Samsung phones you can remove a full conversation at once, including every SMS or MMS it contains, instead of clearing messages individually.

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Security & Privacy2

Manage App Permissions via Permission Manager

When you install a new app on your Samsung phone, it starts with no access to your camera, microphone, storage or location. Only once you open the app or trigger a specific feature for the first time does a permission prompt appear on screen. If you tapped Deny by accident or want to review which apps can read your contacts, gallery or location, you need Permission manager to check and change each permission individually.

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Notifications & Focus2

Change Ringtone for Calls

If every call on your Samsung phone still uses the same generic ringtone, the setting is hiding under sound options rather than notifications. On dual-SIM phones this gets more confusing, since each SIM line can carry its own separate ringtone. Custom tracks also will not show up in the ringtone list until they are copied onto the phone storage first.

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Other2

Change Mobile Data Usage Limit

On many Samsung phones, mobile data cuts off automatically once usage hits a limit you never chose yourself. The phone applies its own default cutoff instead of a value based on your actual plan, so the connection can drop mid-month without warning. Mobile data only comes back once the new billing cycle starts, unless you raise the limit yourself.

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Battery & Power2

Turn Adaptive Battery On or Off

If notifications from an app you rarely open arrive late or not at all, Adaptive battery is probably holding that app in a deeper sleep state in the background. The feature only limits background activity for apps you barely use and leaves apps you open daily untouched. It has no effect on screen brightness or overall device performance, so switching it off will not speed up your phone.

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