Change these 5 Samsung settings before letting someone borrow your phone

Published Oct 30, 2026, 7:01 PM EDT A Computer Engineer turned tech-savvy. Sanya is part of the How to Geek team, and she covers Android, Samsung, Google, apps, and everyday technology, combining hands-on experience with thorough research. She helps readers understand technology without getting lost in technical jargon. My brother’s phone stopped working one morning, so I offered to lend him my Samsung phone for the day. He just needed it to make important calls, so I didn’t mind handing it over. I wasn’t worried about him stumbling across my personal photos, WhatsApp conversations, or work files either. I’ve enabled a few privacy settings that keep this information protected before handing my phone to him. After all, I know how quickly my brother can get curious. Here are five ways I protect my privacy, thanks to these settings. He can’t go digging through my photo gallery Samsung Secure Folder keeps my private photos locked away I know my brother well enough to expect him to get a little too comfortable with my phone. The moment he realizes he has it for the whole day, he might open my Gallery and start deleting all his funny pictures. Nice try, but I’m always one step ahead. I’ve already moved his embarrassing pictures into Samsung Secure Folder. It keeps them in a separate, password-protected space, away from my regular Gallery. To set it up, I go to Settings -> Security and privacy -> More security settings -> Secure Folder (the exact path may vary by One UI version). After setting up a lock, I can add photos and files to it from Gallery or My Files. Now, even if he knows my phone PIN, he still needs separate authentication to snoop around. My message previews aren’t for his eyes Hide notification content on the lock screen I don’t want my brother reading my notifications or getting interrupted by constant pings while he’s trying to work. It could be a WhatsApp gossip update from a friend, a random app alert, or a bank OTP I don’t want him seeing. He doesn’t need a live feed of everything happening on my phone just because he’s borrowing it. I also mute notification sounds so he can focus on work. So, before handing it over, I hide sensitive notification content from the lock screen. On my Samsung phone, I go to Settings -> Notifications -> Hide content while locked. He can still see that I’ve received a notification from the app, but the actual message or OTP stays hidden. I know this doesn’t stop him from opening apps and reading their contents. That’s why I changed the next setting, too. He can make calls, but he can’t snoop around my apps App pinning locks him onto one app I know that after seeing a million notifications, my brother might get tempted to open WhatsApp and catch up on all the gossip. But he told me he only needs my phone to make calls, not snoop around my apps. So, I use Samsung’s App pinning feature to lock him into the Phone app. Once I pin it, he can make calls but can’t switch to WhatsApp, Gallery, or any other app without unpinning the screen. To set it up, I open Settings -> Security and privacy -> More security settings -> Pin app, turn it on, and enable the option to require my PIN before unpinning. Then I open the Phone app, tap its icon in Recent apps, and select Pin this app. Now, he can make his calls without wandering through my phone. My phone keeps an eye on suspicious apps Samsung Privacy Alerts help flag potential privacy risks I also check Samsung’s Privacy Alerts to catch apps that might be accessing sensitive information more often than they should. On my Galaxy phone, I open Now Brief -> Settings -> Content to include -> Device management and enable Security and privacy. Now Brief gives me a heads-up on whether an app or its permissions look off. If I spot an app asking for access it doesn’t need, I can check what it’s allowed to use under Settings -> Security and privacy -> Permission manager and revoke anything that doesn’t make sense. It won’t automatically block every suspicious action, but it gives me a reason to take a closer look. This privacy setting is more for him than me Samsung Privacy Display limits side-angle viewing Since my brother will be carrying my phone around all day, he might end up using it in a meeting room or a crowded place. I don’t want people sitting next to him peeking at his screen, especially when he’s checking his call history or other personal details. That’s where Samsung’s Privacy Display comes in. It limits what people can see from the sides, so the screen's easier to read straight on but harder to see from nearby seats. I can enable it from Settings -> Display -> Privacy Display. It’s a handy extra layer of privacy when he’s using my phone in public. After all, I’m a good sister. I trust my brother, but I trust these settings more I don’t mind helping my brother when he needs a working phone, but lending someone my device shouldn’t mean giving up control over my personal information. These small precautions take only a few minutes to set up, yet they make sharing my phone much less stressful. I don’t have to hover over his shoulder or worry about what he might accidentally stumble across. I can hand it over, get on with my day, and let him handle this.