I changed one Samsung Galaxy setting, and notifications make sense again

Published Sep 11, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Cory Gunther is a senior author and Newsletter Editor at Valnet, covering cutting-edge tech, Android, and more for How-To Geek. He's covered Android, cars, and technology for over a decade. When he's not reviewing the latest gadget, you can find him off-roading in his Toyota truck, fixing said truck, or doing something outdoors with friends and family. He's covered CES, SEMA, and MWC and reviewed countless phones, TVs, speakers, EVs, e-bikes, and more. Before Valnet, Cory worked for GottaBeMobile. His writing has also appeared on SlashGear, InputMag, and AndroidCentral. He's written over 9,000 articles. The notification pull-down bar on Samsung Galaxy phones has changed quite a bit over the last few years, and not for the better. If you feel like your notifications aren't the same, out of order, and just seem a bit weird lately, you're not alone. The last two One UI updates changed the look and order of alerts, but one quick change in settings can fix it. With the release of One UI 7 in 2025, Samsung ruined notifications and copied Apple. They started stacking notifications, split the pull-down bar, and made a few other changes I don't love. Now, a left-side swipe opens notifications, and swiping down on the right side opens all your quick setting toggles. And while that's easy enough to fix, the next thing you'll want to do is change the order and priority of your notifications. Here's how to make it right. I want to see notifications that are important Change the sort and filter notifications setting Credit: Cory Gunther / How-To GeekCredit: Cory Gunther / How-To Geek With One UI 7, the default notification sorting method changed from Priority toTime. This means notifications now appear in the order they arrive. And while that might be what some prefer, you can revert to the old style. Yes, your Samsung phone from a few years ago showed you notifications based on priority, and I think that's the better system. My notifications made sense, I felt like the most important things were at the top, and checking my phone was quick and easy. Now, I just have a flood of junk based on when it was received. Here's how to revert to the previous system. Head to Settings > Notifications and scroll down to Sort and filter notifications. From here, simply change the option back to "Priority," and you're all set. Credit: Samsung If you've been wondering why your Galaxy phone's notification order has changed over the last year or so, it's because Samsung revamped the sorting system with One UI in 2025. By now, almost every Galaxy owner has at least One UI 8.5, or even One UI 9, and you probably learned to live with the weird order of alerts. By changing it back to priority rather than time, the system will intelligently recognize which notifications are more important, such as text messages or emails, and place them at the top of the list. Then, some of those less important things will be further down the screen. Basically, it'll be back to the way it was for years, back when notifications actually made sense and weren't just a huge list of distractions. While you're in notification settings, feel free to tap on Hide content while locked, or go into the lock screen controls, and fix that, too. Recent updates to Galaxy phones removed lock screen notifications and moved them to the status bar as tiny icons. If you'd rather see full-width lock screen notifications where they should be, this is where you'll do that. Seeing what matters Notifications the way they should be Credit: Cory Gunther / How-To Geek I don't know about you, but I'd rather see the most important notifications first, not just a giant list of every alert ordered by when it arrived. That doesn't help us use our phones less; instead, it requires more time to check, clear, and sort through the endless alerts our devices get these days. However, if you've been using this new layout of time-based notifications since your phone received One UI 7 early last year, you're probably used to it by now. Thankfully, there's a way to get the best of both worlds. By that, I mean notifications sorted by time, while the software still flags what's important and puts it at the top. There's a neat new Galaxy AI feature on One UI 8.5 or newer called Notification Highlights. It's in the same Settings menu, but under a new Highlights AI category. From here, turn on "Prioritize notifications," and your Galaxy phone will continue to display notifications in the order they were received, but it'll also use Galaxy AI to show you important notifications first. I've actually been using this AI feature since late last year with the One UI 8.5 beta, and it's honestly my favorite way to see notifications on my Galaxy phone. Either way, choose what's right for you. Keep the default setting that Samsung changed last year, revert to the old style following the steps above, or use a combination of both. For me, changing things back to priority-based made my notifications make sense again, and helps me use my phone less. It's a win-win.