You can help protect your phone by updating your security and privacy settings. Learn how to check and manage your security status with our step-by-step tutorial.
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.
Manage your security settings
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Security.
- At the top, you’ll see the security status of your device and Google Account. If there are important actions to take to secure your device or accounts, a warning message will appear.
Understand your security status
No problems found: No security issues are present on your device or Google Account.
Security can be improved: You have security recommendations.
Security may be at risk: Please review the security recommendations and take action to secure your account or device.
Security is at risk: There are critical security issues which require your attention. Please review the security recommendations and take action to secure your account or device.
Security settings you can manage
- App security:
Play Protect regularly checks your apps & devices for harmful behavior. You’ll be notified of any security risks found. - Find My Device
Make sure your phone can be found if it gets lost. Learn how to be ready to find a lost phone. - Security update
See whether your system is up to date. Learn how to check and update your Android version. - Screen lock
Lock your phone with a PIN, pattern, or password. Learn how to set a screen lock. - Face & fingerprint unlock
Use your fingerprint or face to unlock your phone and authorize purchases. Learn how to set up fingerprints or face unlock. - Google security checkup
Review signed in devices, saved passwords, recent activity, and more related to your Google Account. - Google Play system update
Check for updates to your Android operating system.
Advanced security settings
- Smart Lock
Set your device to stay unlocked in certain circumstances. Learn how to turn on Smart Lock. - Device admin apps
Find or remove apps that can administer your phone. - SIM card lock:
Require a PIN to use your device. - Encryption & credentials
If your phone isn't encrypted by default, learn how to encrypt data on your phone. To manage certificates, learn how to add or remove certificates. - Suspicious message alerts
Get alerts for text messages that may include a suspicious request, fake link, or potential scam. - Trust agents
Let your phone use automatic-unlock options like Trusted Places or Voice Match. Learn how to turn on automatic unlock. - App pinning
You can pin a screen to keep it in view until you unpin it. Learn how to pin screens. - Confirm SIM deletion
Verify it’s you before erasing a downloaded SIM. - Open source licenses
View the Android open source licenses associated with your device.
Work profile security
If you use a work profile on your device, you can also manage these settings:
- Use one lock: Use the same device screen lock as your personal account on this device.
- Work profile lock: Set up a different screen lock than your personal account on this device.
- Face & fingerprint unlock for work: Only access your work profile by unlocking your device with your face or fingerprint lock.
Manage your privacy settings
- Open your phone's Settings app.
- Tap Privacy.
Privacy settings you can manage
- Privacy Dashboard
Show which apps recently used permissions. - Permission manager
Control app access to your data. - Camera access
Control camera access for all apps and services. - Microphone access
Control microphone access for all apps and services. - Show passwords
To help you use passwords that are more complex and secure, you can see what you type. - Notifications on lock screen
Decide which notifications to show on lockscreen. - Private Compute Core
Get suggestions based on the people, apps, and content you interact with. Learn more about device learning. - Personalize with app data
Allow apps to send content to the Android system. - Show clipboard access
Show a message when apps access text, images, or other content you’ve copied. - Autofill service from Google
Manage saved passwords, credit cards, and addresses. - Google location history
Save where you go with your device. - Activity controls
Choose the activities and info you allow Google to save. - Ads
Personalize ads and manage your advertising ID. - Usage & diagnostics
Share data to help improve Android.