Huawei P20 Pro Tips and Tricks

Android 8 (Oreo)
Phone: Huawei P20 Pro
Factory OS: Android 8 (Oreo)

Have you updated your Operating System?
Then view tips for the most recent OS version(s): Android 9 (Pie)
Or view tips for all Android versions

Having notifications come through on the lock screen can be handy because you don’t have to unlock your phone to see what the notification is about.

The problem with this is that someone may see the content of a notification (a text message for example) which you would like to keep private.

To change this setting to only display that the notification has arrive (rather than the actual content), then go to Settings – Sounds and notifications.

Then under the Notifications section, select Notifications on lock screen.

Select Hide content to only show the notification and not the content itself.

You can also select to turn Lock screen notification ‘ON or OFF’ from this menu.

To enable or disable the vibrate function when you receive text messages go to the standard Messaging App and press More. Then Settings and then Notifications. Then select Vibrate.

Here are the top 5 tips to make your phone run faster:

1) Use only essential widgets on your homescreen – each widget consumes memory and processing power which can slow your down your phone.

2) Uninstall apps that you don’t use – after awhile your phone can get cluttered as some Apps are designed to always run in the background. If you rarely use an App, then uninstall it to free up memory and CPU resource.

3) Install Apps to your phone memory – if you have an SDCard, always install Apps to the phone memory, which can be accessed faster. If you have Apps on the SDCard, then move them back to the phone memory with an App called Move2SD available from the Play Market.

4) Use Static rather than Live wallpapers – Live wallpapers consume processing power and memory. Unless you really must have them, uninstall them.

5) Kill tasks occasionally – Some Apps will run in the background indefinitely unless you kill them. Most of them won’t cause a problem, but it pays to check your running tasks from time to time. Hold down your Home key and check the Task Manager.

One last thing: Don’t use Task Killers. Android manages tasks very well and Task Killers just make your phone unstable and can slow it down further.

By default, your phone will recognise swear words, but insert x’s instead of the word. To change this, go to Settings – System – Language and input – Virtual Keyboard- Google Voice Typing

Then you may need to select your voice input system. Then toggle the Block offensive words option.

Depending on how your device is setup, sometimes when Apps are installed, a shortcut icon is automatically placed on your homescreens.

This can be annoying for users who want to keep their homescreens clutter-free.

To stop this, go to the Play Store and press the menu icon in the top right. Then choose Settings and untick Add icon to Home Screen

There are a number of ways, as below. The first two of these may be disabled on some networks/carriers or Android versions however.

1) Go to Settings – Device – Applications – Application Manager. Then swipe from right to left until you are on the All screen (at the top). Then scroll down to Contacts Storage – Clear Data.

2) Go to Contacts. Then hold and press on a contact. Then choose the All option at the top of the screen and select Delete. .

3) Go to Settings – Personal – Accounts and sync. Then press More at the top and choose Disable auto sync. Then go to Gmail (or an account that your phone syncs with) and delete all of your Contacts from there. Then re-sync your phone.

4) Download an App called ‘Delete All Contacts’ and use that as a last resort.

The methods above will delete contacts from the Phone only, not the SIM card.

To copy files between your phone and PC, go to the Android Play Market and download an app called Air Droid.

This is an extremely useful App that connects your phone to your PC wirelessly, allowing you to move files and many, many other things.

Alternatively if you just want to copy using USB then simply plug a micro USB cable into your phone and it should appear as another drive on your PC.

Some phones do not allow data transfer to PC, to enable this feature go to Settings – Developer Options – Networking, and then tap on USB configuration and change it from ‘Charging’ to ‘MTP’.

Note: Developer Options is not always enabled by default. To enable, go to Settings – System – About Device. Then tap on Build number 7 times to enable this secret option.

Sometimes you may need your screen to stay on when plugged in via USB.

To do this, Drag down your notifications screen and press Settings. Then under System, select Developer Options. Then check Stay Awake.

If you can’t see Developer options then you need to enable this. Go to Settings – System – About device and press on Build number 7 times. Developer options will now appear in the System section of your settings.

Looking for a charger for your Huawei P20 Pro? Our guide shows you the best deals and provides advice on charger types.

Important: We take no responsibility for chargers purchased that are incompatible with your device. Please check your user manual or product descriptions before you buy.

The good news is that unless you own an iPhone (which uses the Apple Lightning Charger), almost all smartphones on the market today use the standard 5 watt Micro USB connection. This is great for consumers because it means you can normally borrow a charger from someone else if your phone is out of juice (unless they own an iPhone of course). Many shopping centres and events also provide charging stations for this connection.

Charger types
Chargers can be classified into the following four categories:

USB Charger– This is normally a simple cable that connects from your phone (micro USB port) to your laptops or desktop PCs (normal USB port). They’re super cheap and super convenient. They are often included in your phone box, but we recommend you buy extras so you can leave one at home, one at work, one at friends place etc.

Mains Charger– These also normally come in your phone’s box, but it’s also useful to have them dotted around the house or workplace so you’re never far away from a re-charge.

Car Charger– If you have a car, you should get a car charger. These simply plug into your cigarette lighter and the other end plugs into your phone. We recommend buying one for each car that you own.

Portable Charger – Also known as an external battery pack, these are great for camping, festivals or going anywhere where you may not have a mains power supply. They come in many sizes ranging from tiny portable ones providing one charge, to large power packs allowing you to charge your device multiple times.

Get the best chargers!
To help you choose, we’ve listed the best-selling chargers for the Huawei P20 Pro. Simply click on the products below to find out more (if you don’t see any products below, make sure you pause any ad blocking software):





When browsing on your phone you may notice images are quite blurry. This is because your telecom provider is compressing the images before they are downloaded on to your phone.

There is no way to prevent this, but if you have a WiFi connection nearby, then you can turn that on. This will mean that all browser downloads come through the WiFi connection, rather than the carrier, and your images will appear normally.?

This also depends on your service provider and data package.