How to Customize the Galaxy S10 Notification Bar

This guide shows you how to customize the Galaxy S10 notification bar and why you might want to. With the camera cutout on the screen, the notification area is a lot different, so changing your controls and settings is a big deal. That way you can access the features you use the most, quickly. Whether that’s toggling WiFi and Night Mode, changing how many notification icons appear overall, or removing things like the media controls and toggles.

When you swipe down from the top of the screen you’ll see some Quick Setting controls and recent notifications. Swipe down a second time and you’ll get an expanded view of your entire notification bar.

Everything in here is fully customizable, allowing you to do more with your phone. So, instead of fumbling through the settings menu on your phone, change it to fit your personal needs with our guide below. The video is from a Note 9, but the same steps and settings apply to the Galaxy S10. Plus, the recent Galaxy S10 Android 10 (One UI 2.0) update added even more options you’ll likely want to remove.

Customize the Galaxy S10 Notification Bar

To start, swipe down twice from the top of the screen as you see in the video above or our instructions below. That second swipe expands the notification bar area and the 3-dots at the top of the screen is where we’ll start.

1. Pull Down Notification Bar, Swipe down a second time to fully expand it
2. Tap the 3-dots Menu next to the settings gear icon
3. Select Button Order, Button Grid, Quick Panel Layout or Status Bar
4. Customize your grid size or the order of the quick settings by dragging and dropping the icons
5. Hit Done to finish

Your first option is to change the button order. That way when you swipe down those first few circle icons like WiFi, Bluetooth and silent mode can be anything you want. Like a toggle for the flashlight or airplane mode. Just press, hold and drag the icons to where you want them. And yes, there’s a flashlight option built-in.

Next, tap “Grid” to change the number of apps and settings you see on the screen. Owners can choose between 3×3, 4×3 or 5×3. In our image below you can see a few quick settings shortcuts, or almost all of them, all based on the grid you choose.

Update: It looks like Samsung removed the grid controls in Android 10, which makes no sense, as now customers can’t choose how this area looks on their phone. If we find another way to change this, we’ll let you know.

If you choose 5×3 you’ll have way more options and controls available at your fingertips simply by swiping down on the screen. Personally, 4×3 is a good middle ground. Also, you can move the screen brightness slider to the top of the bottom, but there is no way to remove it completely. You can’t get rid of the WiFi notification either. Swipe it away and it’ll just come back.

Remove the Media Controls and Quick Connect SmartThings from Notification Bar

Perhaps the most annoying thing in the notification bar is the two options at the bottom left, especially after the Android 10 update. Samsung added a one-tap option to control your media, or a “Devices” button to let you see and interact with Samsung smart home products.

If you’re like me, you don’t have any, and have no use for this on your screen wasting space. Here’s how to remove them both so the only thing at the bottom of the screen is your brightness slider.

Simply pull down twice on the notification bar and tap the 3-dots near the top (or middle) right of the notification pulldown bar. Now, tap on “Quick panel layout” and turn off the option to “Show media and devices”. It’s that simple.

Other Customization (Notification Bar Color, etc)

Additionally, there are a few other steps owners can take to personalize the notification bar area. This includes adding a battery percentage to your notification bar, changing the color, or even limiting how many icons show up at all. For me, I hate when the notification bar is 100% full, which happens quickly now that they’ve moved over to make room for the camera. So, pull down, tap the 3-dots, choose Status bar and limit it to only show three notification icons.

You can also change the font size, clock and more. The most popular change is adding a theme, which changes the entire color of the notification bar and your settings menu. In fact, a theme changes multiple aspects of your phone, and it’s how my Galaxy S10 notification bar in the screenshots here look so different from yours. I’m using a dark stock Android “Material Dark” theme by Cameron Bunch. It completely changed how my notification bar looks.

To change some of this head to Settings > Wallpaper and themes > and choose a new theme. Most themes will completely change the color of the notification bar, quick settings, and many other aspects of your device.

And finally, navigate to Settings > Display > Screen Zoom and Font to make changes to the size of text or icons. You can change your font, style, icons, the size of the text, and even the overall scale and size of content on your screen. This affects everything, including the notification bar icons.

All of these options combined will give you an improved and more personalized experience on your Galaxy S10. While you’re here, check out these 10 other cool things the Galaxy S10 can do. Or, if you’re having problems here’s our guide to fixing the biggest issues.