You can keep your phone unlocked in some situations, like when your phone is in your pocket or you're near home. When you use Extend Unlock (formerly Smart Lock), you only need to unlock once with your PIN, pattern or password.
Important:
- Some of these steps work only on Android 10 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.
- Some of these steps require you to touch the screen.
Let your phone stay unlocked
- Make sure that you have a screen lock. Learn how to set a screen lock.
- Open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Security and privacy More security and privacy Extend Unlock. If you don't find 'Security and privacy', tap Security and location.
- Enter your PIN, pattern or password.
- Pick an option and follow the on-screen steps.
Important: When Extend Unlock is turned on and active, an Unlock icon is displayed on your lock screen. Extend Unlock will keep your device unlocked for up to fours hours at a time.
To lock your device again:
- Press the Power and Volume up buttons at the same time.
- Tap Lockdown .
Turn off extend unlock
- Open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Security and privacy More security settings Smart Lock. If you don't find 'Security and privacy', tap Security and location.
- Enter your PIN, pattern or password.
- Tap On-body detection.
- Turn off Use On-body detection.
- Remove all trusted devices and trusted places. On some phones, you might need to remove trusted faces and Voice Match voices.
- Optional: To turn off your screen lock, learn more about screen lock settings.
Learn about locking options
Turn On-body detection on or off
- Open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Security and privacy More security and privacy Extend Unlock On-body detection.
- Turn Use On-body detection on or off.
How On-body detection works
- After you unlock your device, it stays unlocked as long as it senses that it’s on your body. After you put down your device, like if you set it on a table, your device can take up to one minute to automatically lock.
- After you get into a car, bus, train or other vehicle, your device can take 5–10 minutes to lock.
Important: When you're on an aeroplane or boat, your device could not lock automatically. Make sure to lock manually if needed. Learn how to manually lock your phone.Learn how to manually lock your phone.
Important: Your device stores accelerometer data about the pattern of your walk to help determine when you're carrying your device. When you turn off on-body detection, your device deletes this data.
Use trusted places
- Turn on High accuracy or Battery saving Location mode. Learn how to change Location modes.
- Let your device use your current location. Learn how to turn on location.
Important: Your trusted location is an estimate
Your trusted location can go out beyond the walls of your home or custom place. It can keep your device unlocked within a radius of up to 100 meters.
Location signals can be copied or manipulated. Someone with access to specialised equipment could unlock your device.
Show the lockdown option in your power settings
- Open your phone's settings app.
- Tap Display Advanced Lock screen display. If you don't find 'Display', tap Security and location Lock screen preferences.
- Turn on Show lockdown option. The lockdown button will show in the list of settings when you press the power button.
Turn on lockdown
- Press the Power and Volume up buttons at the same time.
- Tap Lockdown. This turns off notifications, fingerprint or face recognition unlocking, and Extend Unlock while on your lock screen.
Add your home location
- In the Extend Unlock menu, press Trusted please.
- Press Home.
- Follow the on-screen steps.
Remove your home location
- In the Extend Unlock menu, press Trusted places.
- Press Home.
- Pick the kind of removal:
- To turn off your home as a trusted location, press Turn off this location.
- To clear your home address across Google, press Edit Clear Clear.
Edit your home location
- In the Extend Unlock menu, press Trusted places.
- Tap your home location.
- Press Edit your home address or map.
- Enter the address that you want to use as your home.
Tip: If your home has more than one building at the same address, the trusted place that you want can be different from the address. To get better location accuracy, you can add the actual location of your home within the building complex. See how to add custom places (below).
Add a custom place
- In the Extend Unlock menu, press Trusted places.
- Press Add trusted place. A map will open to your current location.
- To use your current location, press Select this location Select.
- To pick a different location, press Search .
- Name the trusted location (like "Work"). Press OK.
Edit or remove a custom place
- In the Extend Unlock menu, press Trusted places.
- From the list of trusted Unlock options; pick the place.
- Pick the kind of edit:
- Delete
- Rename
- Edit address
Add a trusted Bluetooth device
- On your device, make sure that Bluetooth is on. Learn how to turn on Bluetooth.
- Open your device's Settings app.
- Tap Security and privacy More security and privacy Extend Unlock. If you don't find 'Security and privacy', tap Security and location.
- Tap Trusted devices Add trusted device.
- On the list of devices, tap a device.
- You can keep your phone or tablet unlocked for longer when it's connected to a trusted device, like a Bluetooth watch or car speaker system. We recommend avoiding devices that are always with your phone or tablet, like Bluetooth keyboards or cases.
- Optional: To remove a Bluetooth device, tap the device that you want to remove. Then, tap Remove.
- Unlock your device. If it's connected to the trusted device, it will stay unlocked.
Important: Make sure to only use trusted Bluetooth devices.
It's possible that someone could keep your device unlocked by imitating your Bluetooth connection.
If you get a notification on your device: When your device can't determine that you're using a secure connection, you'll get a notification. You could need to unlock your device.
Bluetooth connectivity range can vary. Range depends on factors like your device model, Bluetooth device and current environment. Bluetooth connectivity can be up to 100 metres. If someone takes your phone or tablet while it's near your trusted device, and if your trusted device has unlocked it, that person could access your device.
Older Android versions
If you're using Android 9 and below, you might find these options on your device.
Important: This facial recognition is less secure than a PIN, pattern or password. Someone who looks similar to you could unlock your phone.
Set up and use a Trusted face
- In the Smart Lock menu, tap Trusted face.
- Tap Set up and follow the on-screen steps. After you set a Trusted face, every time that you turn on your phone, it'll look for your face and unlock if it recognises you.
- Smart Lock doesn't store photos of you. Data used to recognise your face is kept only on your phone. Apps can't see or use the data, and it isn't backed up on Google servers.
Tip: When your phone looks for your face, you'll see the Trusted face . If your phone doesn’t recognise your face, you can unlock your phone with your PIN, pattern or password.
Improve your phone's facial recognition
- In the Smart Lock menu, tap Trusted face.
- Tap Improve face matching.
- Tap Next and follow the on-screen steps.
Remove a Trusted face
- In the Smart Lock menu, tap Trusted face.
- Tap Remove Trusted face.
- When asked if you want to remove the Trusted face, tap Remove.