Five Samsung settings to change before you lend your phone

Lending your phone does not have to mean handing over your private life. A How-To Geek writer, Sanya Shah, explains five Samsung settings she turned on before lending her phone to her brother for a day of calls. Each one covers a different risk, from photos to bank codes. Setup takes a few minutes.

Keep photos and files behind a second lock

Secure Folder is a separate, protected space on a Samsung phone. Photos and files placed inside it stay out of the regular Gallery. Even if the borrower knows the phone's PIN, they need separate sign-in to open it.

To set it up, open Settings, then Security and privacy, then More security settings, then Secure Folder. The exact path may differ by One UI version, which is Samsung's software layer. After creating a lock, add items from Gallery or My Files.

Hide alerts and lock the phone to one app

Messages and one-time bank codes often pop up on the lock screen. Under Settings, then Notifications, choose Hide content while locked. A borrower can still see that an app sent an alert, but not the message or code inside it.

That setting does not stop someone from opening apps. App pinning does. It locks the screen to a single app, such as Phone. The borrower cannot switch to WhatsApp or Gallery without unpinning, and that step can require your PIN.

• Open Settings, then Security and privacy, then More security settings, then Pin app.
• Turn it on and require your PIN before unpinning.
• Open the Phone app, tap its icon in Recent apps, and choose Pin this app.

Two extra layers

Privacy Alerts help you spot apps that may be using sensitive information more than they should. To turn them on, open Now Brief, then Settings, then Content to include, then Device management, and enable Security and privacy. If an app looks off, check Settings, then Security and privacy, then Permission manager, and remove access that does not make sense.

Privacy Display is for public places. It limits what people can see from the side, so the screen is easy to read straight on but harder to read from nearby seats. Find it under Settings, then Display, then Privacy Display.

What these settings do not do

None of this is a complete shield. Hiding lock screen content does not block someone from opening an app and reading it. Privacy Alerts will not automatically stop every suspicious action. They only give you a reason to look closer.

Used together, the settings cover the main worries when a phone changes hands: private files, message previews, wandering through apps and prying eyes nearby. The article also mentions muting notification sounds so the borrower is not interrupted while working.