1. Palm Swipe to Capture

On Samsung Galaxy phones, you can swipe the edge of your hand across the screen (from left to right or right to left) to capture a screenshot. Before you can use this gesture, make sure it is enabled in settings as shown below:

  1. Open Settings on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
  2. Go to Advanced features followed by Motions and gestures.
  3. Enable the toggle next to Palm swipe to capture. Note: This gesture will not work if the keyboard is showing in an app. Minimize the keyboard and then use the gesture. Tip: Check out the best tips for taking and editing screenshots on Samsung Galaxy phones.

2. Fingerprint Sensor Gesture

Typically, you have to swipe down from the top edge of your phone to open the notification panel. But to make things quicker, you can swipe down or up on the fingerprint sensor of your Samsung Galaxy phone to open or close the notification panel respectively. Once the notification panel appears, swipe down again on the fingerprint sensor to open the Quick Settings panel Note: This gesture will not work on under-display fingerprint sensors. Also, the gesture is paused if the sensor is detecting your fingerprint i.e., on the lock screen or while doing any other authorization via fingerprint. To use this gesture, you must enable it in the settings as shown below:

  1. Open Settings and go to Advanced Features > Motions and gestures.
  2. Tap on Finger sensor gestures and enable the toggle next to Open notification panel. Pro Tip: You can use the fingerprint sensor to open the Samsung Wallet app as well.

3. Mute Calls by Placing your Hand on the Screen

To quickly silence an incoming call or alarm on your Samsung Galaxy phone, simply place your hand on the phone’s screen. This gesture will mute the calls and alarms without pressing any button. Just like the above two gestures, you must enable it first. Go to Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures. Enable the toggle next to Mute with gestures. Pro Tip: You can also silence the calls by turning your phone face down.

4. Swipe to Call or Text (Phone and Contacts Apps)

In the Samsung Phone and Contacts apps, you can use gestures to quickly call or message someone. Swipe right or left on a contact or a number to call or write a message to them respectively. To enable swipe to call or text gesture, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Samsung Phone app on your phone.
  2. Tap on the kebab menu (three-dot icon) at the top and select Settings.
  3. Go to Other Call settings.
  4. Enable the toggle next to Swipe to calls or text.

5. One-Hand Mode Gesture

You can activate the one-handed mode on your Samsung Galaxy phone by swiping down from the middle (Center) of the bottom edge of the screen. For the unaware, the one-handed mode minimizes the display size so that it’s easier to use with one hand. To activate the one-handed mode gesture on a Samsung Galaxy phone, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Settings > Advanced features and tap on One-handed mode.
  2. Enable it on the next screen and select Gesture.

6. Edge Panel Gesture

Another useful gesture available on Samsung Galaxy phones is the Edge panel gesture. Edge panel is a feature where you can add various customizable panels like clipboard, favorite contacts, smart select, etc. This panel can be accessed by swiping inwards on the Edge handle. Go to Settings > Display > Edge panels to enable it. Do check our detailed post on how to use the Edge panel on Samsung Galaxy phones.

7. Gestures on Samsung Galaxy Fold Series

On Samsung Galaxy Fold phones, you get the following swipe for split screen gestures for multi-tasking on the main screen:

Swipe diagonally (or inwards) from any of the top corner edges to put the app in a pop-up view. Using two fingers, swipe inwards from the left or right edge or upwards from the bottom edge to put the app in split-screen mode.

Tip: Check out the hidden features of Samsung Galaxy Fold phones.

8. Access Samsung Pay (Wallet)

You can open the Samsung Wallet app (earlier Samsung Pay) by swiping up the Wallet (Pay) bar on the home or local screen of your Samsung Galaxy phone. Follow these steps to enable the Samsung Wallet gesture:

  1. Open the Samsung Wallet app (or Samsung Pay) on your phone.
  2. Go to Menu at the bottom and tap on the Settings icon.
  3. Tap on Quick access followed by Access location and default card.
  4. Enable the desired locations from where you want to access the Samsung Wallet app.

9. Navigation Gestures

With navigation gestures, you can navigate your phone using gestures instead of navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen. This gesture isn’t exclusive to Samsung Galaxy phones. You can use it on any Android phone. Here’s the list of navigation gestures that you can use:

Swipe up and hold the screen for a second to open the Recent apps screen. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the home screen. Swipe inwards from the left or right edge of the screen to go back. Swipe right or left at the bottom of the screen to quickly switch between recent apps.

To enable navigation gestures on Samsung Galaxy phone, follow these steps:

  1. Open Settings on your phone.
  2. Go to Display followed by Navigation bar.
  3. Select Swipe gestures. Tip: Check out the best navigation gesture apps for Android phones.

10. Navigation Gestures from Bottom

The gestures in the above section work from sides and bottom both. If you don’t like it and are used to pressing the navigation buttons at the bottom, Samsung lets you swipe up on the navigation buttons instead of pressing them to perform the desired action of opening the recent apps screen, going back, or going to the home screen.  

  1. Go to Settings > Display > Navigation bar.
  2. Select Swipe gestures and tap on the More options button under it.
  3. Select Swipe from bottom. Now, you can swipe up on each area of the navigation button to perform an action.

11. Swipe Inwards from the Bottom Corners

Like other Android phones, you can launch Google Assistant quickly from any screen on your Samsung Galaxy phone using a gesture. Simply swipe diagonally (inwards) from one of the bottom corners of your Samsung Galaxy phone to open the digital assistant app. The digital assistant app can be Google Assistant, Bixby, Finder, or even Samsung Internet browser. To use this gesture, you must enable it first as shown below:

  1. Open Settings > Display > Navigation bar.
  2. Select Swipe gesture and press the More options button.
  3. Enable the toggle next to Swipe to open assistant app. Tip: To change the digital assistant on your Samsung Galaxy phone, go to Settings > Apps > Change Default apps > Digital assistant app. Select the preferred digital assistant app.
  4. Can I shake my Samsung phone to turn on the flashlight? No. This feature isn’t available on Samsung Galaxy phones.
  5. Is there a triple-tap feature on Samsung Galaxy phones? Yes, you can use triple-tap for screen magnifications. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Visibility enhancements > Magnification > Magnification shortcut > Triple tap screen.

Hidden Features of Samsung Phone

Just like these hidden gestures on Samsung Galaxy phones, you will find other useful features on a Samsung device. Know how to use modes or remove the background from a Samsung Galaxy phone.