Navigation buttons have been the default on Samsung phones for years, but they also take up precious screen space and feel dated in 2026. On the other hand, swipe gestures on Samsung phones remove the bar completely and lets you navigate with quick gestures of your thumb. So if you want to learn how to set up, customise and master Samsung swipe gestures, follow our in-depth guide below.
How to Enable Swipe Gestures on Samsung Phones
Turning on Samsung full screen gestures takes just a few taps. Here is how to do it on any modern Samsung phone.
- Open the Settings app and tap on Display.
- Now, scroll down and open Navigation bar.
- Here, choose Swipe gestures instead of Buttons and that's it.
The three navigation buttons will disappear straight away and a thin navigation pill will appear at the bottom of the screen. Your phone is now running on full Samsung gesture navigation and you can start swiping around.
You will also find a Circle to Search toggle on this same screen, which lets you press and hold the navigation pill to search whatever is on your display. If you ever want to use the navigation buttons, simply open Settings > Display > Navigation bar and tap on Buttons.
Samsung Swipe Gestures: What Each Swipe Does
Once you have enabled Samsung gesture navigation on your Galaxy phone, learn what each gesture does on One UI.
- Go to the Home screen: Swipe up from the bottom centre of the screen.
- Open Recent apps: Swipe up from the bottom and hold for a second.
- Go back: Swipe inward from the left or right edge of the screen.
- Switch between recent apps: Swipe left or right along the navigation pill at the very bottom.
Note that on older Galaxy phones you could swipe up from the bottom-right strip to go back. Samsung changed this with One UI 6.1 and it's one of several navigation tweaks the company has made over the releases. You can find all the latest changes in our dedicated One UI 8 features article.
Apart from that, if you use Circle to Search powered by Google, you can still trigger it with gestures enabled. Just long-press the pill and the feature will pop up, ready for you to circle anything on display.
Adjust Samsung Swipe Gesture Sensitivity
If your swipe gestures are too sensitive, head to Settings > Display > Navigation bar > Swipe gestures and tap More options. On the latest One UI 8.5 build, you will find a Gesture sensitivity slider. You can adjust it based on your preference.
This is especially helpful if you use a case that wraps around the edges of the display and your edge swipes keep failing. You can increase the sensitivity so the Back gesture registers more easily. If you find yourself triggering gestures by accident, reduce it instead.
It's worth noting that older One UI versions offered Allow back gesture on keyboard and Show button to hide keyboard. However, none of those options are available on the current One UI 8.5 build. To bring those gestures back, you will need Good Lock and here is how to use it.
How to Bring Back the "Swipe From Bottom" Gestures and Gesture Hints
If you miss Samsung's bottom gestures or want to hide the gesture hint line, Samsung offers an official way through the Good Lock app and its NavStar module. It's completely free and doesn't need root or any unusual permissions. Here is how to get started.
- Go ahead and install Good Lock (Download) from the Galaxy Store and open it.
- Now, move to the Plugins tab and download NavStar.
- Next, open NavStar, head to the Swipe gestures tab and turn on Enable extra gesture settings.
- Now the hidden options will reappear in system settings. Open Settings > Display > Navigation bar > Swipe gestures > More options.
- You will now see extra options like Swipe from bottom, Button order and Gesture hints.
- Choose Swipe from bottom to bring back the three-strip bottom gestures.
You can also turn on or off Gesture hints depending on whether you want the line at the bottom. NavStar also lets you change the colour of the navigation pill, make it fully transparent or even add the Back gesture to full-screen apps.
Other Useful Samsung Swipe Gestures
One UI is packed with handy swipe gestures scattered across the Settings app and most of them live under Settings > Advanced features > Motions and gestures. Here are some of the best ones.
Palm swipe to capture lets you take a screenshot by swiping the edge of your hand across the display. It doesn't work when the keyboard is on screen so close it first. If you want learn every screenshot trick, check out our guide on how to take a screenshot on Samsung phones.
One-handed mode shrinks the whole interface down to a corner so you can easily navigate a big phone with your thumb. You can enable the Gesture option under Settings > Advanced features > One-handed mode. Now, swipe down from the centre of the navigation pill to activate it.
Lastly, Edge panels give you a shortcut tray for apps, contacts and tools and you can activate it by sliding the top-right pill on the edge of the screen. You can enable it under Settings > Display > Edge panels.
And that is everything about Samsung swipe gestures. Once you have everything dialled in, these gestures make One UI feel faster and more spacious. Give yourself a couple of days to build the muscle memory and you won't go back to buttons. In case, you are interested in AI features, check out all the Galaxy AI features currently available on Samsung phones.
