Skip to content
TechBone
Samsung

Guides for Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 & S Pen (2019)

558 guides

Display & Home Screen2

Remove a Widget from the Home Screen

A Samsung home screen crowded with widgets makes it hard to find the icons you actually use, and resizing or dragging them around rarely fixes the clutter. Removing a widget only clears it from the screen, the app behind it stays installed and unaffected. This applies to any placement, whether the widget was added manually or came preloaded on the device.

Open
Calls & Messages2

Change Incoming Call Display While Using Apps

If a call pop-up covers half your screen every time someone rings while you are gaming or watching a video, the default call display setting is likely set to full screen or a large pop-up. Samsung lets you shrink that overlay to a mini pop-up so it stops blocking whatever app you are using. This setting sits in the call settings and controls only how calls look while an app is open in the foreground.

Open
Display & Home Screen2

Set Default Home Screen Launcher

Installing a new launcher from the Play Store does not always make it the active home screen on a Samsung phone. The device keeps falling back to its built-in interface every time you tap the Home button. This happens because the system default app for Home is still locked to the original launcher, not the one you just installed.

Open
Notifications & Focus2

Turn Camera and Screen Flash Notifications On or Off

If your Samsung phone stays completely dark when a new message or call comes in, flash notification is probably switched off. On top of the regular notification LED, many models can also pulse the camera flash or flash the screen for incoming alerts. With the feature disabled, you only find out about new notifications once you actively check the display.

Open
Network & Connectivity

Allow Both SIM Cards to Use Mobile Data During Calls

On a dual-SIM Samsung phone, taking a call on one SIM can cut off mobile data on the other, so messages stall and apps stop syncing until you hang up. This happens because only one SIM handles data by default while the second SIM pauses during the call. A hidden network toggle controls whether both SIMs can keep using data at the same time.

Open
Other2

Turn Nearby Device Scanning On or Off

If your Samsung phone keeps popping up connection suggestions for earbuds, watches or trackers you never paired, Nearby device scanning is running in the background. This search works independently from Bluetooth, so switching Bluetooth off alone will not stop it. The toggle sits in a separate connection menu and is easy to overlook.

Open
Display & Home Screen2

Rename a Folder on the Home Screen

New folders on the Samsung Home screen show up as a stack of app icons with no label underneath. That makes it hard to tell folders apart once you have more than two or three, especially if they hold apps from different categories.

Open
Network & Connectivity2

Turn On or Off Auto Download for Software Updates over Wi-Fi

If your Samsung phone keeps fetching system update files the moment it joins a Wi-Fi network, even though you never opened the update screen, Auto download over Wi-Fi is switched on. The setting only pulls the update package onto the device; nothing gets installed without your confirmation. On phones with tight storage, this can quietly fill up space before you notice anything.

Open
Network & Connectivity2

Set Up Private DNS

Slow page loads or DNS-based tracking often trace back to the default DNS server assigned by your carrier or Wi-Fi router. Samsung phones let you switch to a private DNS provider for faster lookups and encrypted queries, but the option sits deep in the connection settings and defaults to Automatic. Picking the wrong hostname can also break internet access on networks that block encrypted DNS.

Open
Display & Home Screen2

Add a New Home Screen Page

Running out of room for icons and widgets on your Samsung home screen? New pages usually appear automatically once an existing page fills up, but that does not always happen. If Samsung One UI stops creating pages on its own, you need to add one manually to keep organizing apps and widgets.

Open
Calls & Messages2

Restore Deleted Contacts from Trash

Deleted a contact by accident on your Samsung phone and now cannot find it anywhere? Samsung Contacts does not erase entries right away, it moves them into a trash folder for a limited time. Once that window runs out, the contact is gone for good unless you have a separate backup.

Open
Network & Connectivity2

Enable or Disable SIM Card Lock

If your Samsung phone asks for a PIN every time it restarts, or you want that PIN request back after someone removed it, the SIM card lock setting is controlling this behavior. Carriers often turn this on by default so nobody else can use the SIM if the phone gets lost or stolen. Turning it off skips the PIN prompt at every restart, but it also removes that protection for the SIM itself.

Open
Security & Privacy2

Stay on Lock Screen Until Swipe Setting

If Face recognition is set up as your unlock method, your Samsung phone stays on the lock screen even after it recognizes your face. You still have to swipe up manually to get to the home screen. This behavior comes from a separate security option that keeps the lock screen visible until you confirm the unlock with a swipe.

Open
Calls & Messages2

Schedule a Text Message

Need to send a text at 3 a.m. without staying awake? Samsung Messages can queue an SMS for a specific date and time so you do not have to send it manually. Once scheduled, the message waits in a separate list and goes out automatically, even if you close the app.

Open
Battery & Power2

Show Battery Percentage in Status Bar

If your Samsung phone only shows a battery icon in the status bar, you cannot tell your exact charge level at a glance. The icon shape gives a rough guess, but it never says if you are at 42% or 51%. Turning on the percentage display fixes that instantly.

Open
Other2

Turn Auto Capitalize On or Off

Typing a username, code snippet, or lowercase-only text and watching the first letter turn into a capital automatically gets in the way fast. This happens because the Samsung keyboard's Auto capitalize option corrects capitalization as you type, whether you want it or not. It can also interfere with quick note-taking or certain foreign-language input.

Open
Security & Privacy2

Turn Dynamic Lock Screen On or Off

If your lock screen keeps switching to unfamiliar photos instead of the picture you picked from your gallery, a wallpaper service like Dynamic Lock Screen is likely running in the background. This feature cycles through curated images on its own and can override your personal wallpaper choice. Turning it off restores full control over what appears when you wake your phone.

Open
Accounts & Cloud

Delete Saved Passwords and Login Data

If the Samsung Internet browser keeps filling in an old username or password you no longer use, the autofill data is still stored in the browser settings. This becomes a problem when you share a device, switch accounts, or a saved password is outdated and blocks a fresh login attempt. Clearing the stored login data resets the autofill fields so you can enter fresh credentials without conflicts.

Open
Notifications & Focus2

Adjust Headphone Sound Balance

If music or notifications sound louder in one earbud than the other, your headphone sound balance setting is off-center. This left-right balance sits inside Accessibility settings, not the regular volume slider, so it is easy to miss. Note that the option only shows up once headphones or a headset are actually connected, and it does not apply to calls.

Open
Accessibility2

Turn On or Off High Contrast Fonts

If body text on your Samsung phone looks thin or washes out against colorful backgrounds, low text contrast is usually the cause. The High contrast fonts feature reshapes letter outlines and adjusts color so text stands out more clearly, but it can also make some apps look bolder than expected.

Open
System & Settings

Print a Web Page

Printing a web page from the Samsung browser only works when the printer sits on the same wireless network as your phone. Missing print jobs, cut-off content or the wrong paper size usually trace back to a skipped setting in the print preview, not a broken connection.

Open
Other2

Turn Airplane Mode On or Off

When Airplane mode stays on longer than planned, your Samsung phone drops calls, texts and every network link, including mobile data, WLAN and Bluetooth. Some models let you switch WLAN and Bluetooth back on while flight mode stays active, others keep everything locked until you disable it fully. Knowing which toggle actually restores connectivity saves time at the gate or in a signal-free area.

Open
Storage & Backup2

App Download Preference (Wi-Fi Only)

If your Samsung phone keeps burning through mobile data whenever the Play Store installs or updates apps, the Play Store network setting is probably still set to use any available connection. This gets expensive fast with large app updates on a limited data plan. The Play Store has a dedicated setting that forces downloads to wait for Wi-Fi instead of falling back to mobile data.

Open
Apps & Installation2

Turn Background Data Usage On or Off

If your Samsung phone burns through mobile data even when you are not actively using an app, background data usage is likely the cause. Apps rely on this setting to refresh content, sync accounts and push notifications while running in the background. Blocking it for specific apps can cut data usage, but it may also delay alerts or updates.

Open