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Get more comfortable with your phone, its settings, and everyday tools.
Search this topicTouch and hold the link to bring up its preview and available actions. Tap outside the preview to stay on the current page, or choose Open when you want to follow it. This helps inspect a destination without navigating away immediately, but previewing a page is not a security check or a guarantee that the site is trustworthy.
Go to Settings, Accessibility, Motion and turn on Reduce Motion. This changes supported interface movement, such as transitions and some visual effects. Try opening and closing an app to see whether the result feels better. It is separate from reducing screen brightness or increasing text size, and it does not remove every animation inside every app.
Open Settings, Accessibility, Motion and turn off Auto-Play Animated Images. This controls supported moving images, including GIFs in places such as Messages and Safari. Check the result in the app you use; third-party apps may have their own playback settings. This setting is different from silencing notifications or switching on Low Power Mode.
On a supported article, open Safari’s Page Menu and choose Show Reader. Safari displays the main text and relevant images in a simpler view. Choose Hide Reader to return to the complete webpage. If Reader is unavailable, the page may not have a compatible article layout; Reader is also not a way to unlock subscriber-only content.
In Safari, open the Page Menu and choose Page Zoom, then tap the larger A to increase the page’s text size. Use the smaller A to reduce it again; 100 percent is the default scale. Check that the page still fits and its controls remain accessible. This is a website-view adjustment rather than the system-wide text-size setting.
Go to Settings, Apps, Safari and open Downloads. Choose iCloud Drive for a location available to your signed-in Apple devices, On My iPhone for local storage, or Other for another available folder. Remember the selected destination when looking in Files later. Choosing a different destination does not automatically reorganize files that were already downloaded.
In Messages, open Filters and choose Recently Deleted. On iOS 18, start with Edit on the conversation list instead. Select the conversation, tap Recover, and confirm. Apple says recovery is limited to messages deleted within roughly the last 30 to 40 days on supported versions; it does not recover every conversation that has ever been removed.
Open the photo in Photos, tap More and choose Hide. Find it later in the Hidden collection under Utilities, authenticate, and choose Unhide when needed. With iCloud Photos, hiding also applies on your other signed-in devices. Hidden is a separate collection, not deletion, and anyone able to authenticate to that collection may still view its contents.
Open Photos, go to Collections and find Recently Deleted under Utilities. Unlock it, select the image, then use More and Recover. Deleted items normally remain there for 30 days unless permanently removed earlier. With iCloud Photos, deletion and recovery affect the synchronized library, so verify the correct image before using any permanent-delete option.
Touch and hold the Space bar until the keyboard turns into a trackpad, then slide your finger to move the insertion point. Lift your finger when it is in the right position and continue typing. This is often easier than repeatedly tapping between small letters. It works in editable text fields, not as a general mouse pointer for the phone.
Triple-tap the paragraph with one finger in an editable text area. For a single word, double-tap instead; adjust the selection handles when you need a different range. Then choose Copy, Cut or another offered action. The available editing options depend on the app and whether the text is editable rather than part of an image.
Open Control Center and enable the rotation-lock control, shown with a lock and circular arrow. Turn it off when you want a supported app to rotate again. If the control is missing, add it through Control Center customization. Even with the lock off, an app may keep a fixed orientation if its interface does not support rotation.
Open Camera in Photo mode and hold the phone so the whole code is inside the frame. When a link appears, inspect it and tap it to continue. You can also use the Scan Code control in Control Center, adding it if needed. A successful scan identifies the encoded destination; it does not establish that the destination is safe.
Go to Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement and add a new entry. Put the full text in Phrase and your short trigger in Shortcut. Choose a trigger you do not normally type as a word, then test it in Notes. This is useful for a frequently typed address or response, but avoid storing passwords in ordinary text shortcuts.
Open Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement and add the name or unusual word in the Phrase field, leaving Shortcut empty. This tells the keyboard to retain that wording without assigning it an abbreviation. Test the word afterward in an editable message. This targeted change is preferable when you want to keep automatic correction for other words.
If accessibility Zoom is active, double-tap the display with three fingers to zoom back out. Then open Settings, Accessibility, Zoom and turn it off if you do not want it. Use three fingers to pan if necessary while it is magnified. This applies to the accessibility feature, rather than a photo you enlarged with a normal pinch gesture.
Open Settings, Accessibility, Zoom, then choose Window Zoom under Zoom Region. This provides a movable lens rather than enlarging the entire display. Drag the handle beneath the lens to reposition it; the three-finger Zoom menu includes resizing and magnification controls. Test the gestures before relying on it in another app, including the three-finger double-tap that turns Zoom off.
While the keyboard is open, touch and hold its emoji or globe key. Choose the left-handed or right-handed layout to bring the keys closer to that thumb. To return to the full-width layout, tap the arrow at the empty edge. This changes the onscreen keyboard position; Reachability is the separate feature that lowers the upper screen.
Touch and hold the base letter on the onscreen keyboard, then slide to the accented version and release. For example, holding e can reveal accented e characters. The alternatives depend on the keyboard language. If the character you need is not offered, add the appropriate language keyboard rather than repeatedly inserting an unrelated symbol.
With a physical keyboard connected, open Settings, Accessibility, Keyboards & Typing and enable Sticky Keys. It lets you press shortcut keys in sequence, such as Command followed by Z, instead of holding them together. Try a harmless shortcut in a test note first. The setting is intended for keyboard combinations, not automatic repetition of a typed phrase.
Go to Settings, Accessibility, Keyboards & Typing and turn off Show Lowercase Keys. This keeps the key labels uppercase for readability. It does not mean everything you type is capitalized: Shift and Caps Lock still determine the case entered. Test a sentence afterward to distinguish the keyboard’s appearance from the actual text output.
While connected, open Maps, tap your picture or initials and choose Offline Maps, then Add Offline Map. Find the place, adjust the selected area and download it. Wait for completion before leaving service. Offline maps are available only in supported areas and cover the region you saved, so include the route and nearby alternatives you actually need.
In Maps, open your profile menu and Offline Maps, then select a saved map. Resize its covered area if you need less territory, or delete an unused map. Optimize Storage can remove unused downloads automatically. Check before a trip if you rely on a map remaining available; a smaller download only helps for places inside its saved boundary.
Source checks for these answers: September 22, 2026. Product instructions and local requirements can vary.