
Andy Walker / Android Authority
Samsung gadgets are nothing if not goldmines for treasure hunters, significantly these dealing in hidden menus. Simply glossing by way of Good Lock and its myriad modules signifies how customizable One UI is. Nevertheless, not each new function requires an exterior obtain. Typically, these choices are hidden throughout the inventory pores and skin — you want to know the place to look.
Do you employ Samsung Gallery as your default gallery app?
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Whilst you probably would’ve heard concerning the secret Wi-Fi menu lurking deep inside your Samsung cellphone’s settings, there’s one other hid menu checklist for many who depend on Samsung Gallery each day. The Gallery Labs menu gives a number of extra options for the default picture viewer. There are toggles upon toggles right here, however one particularly made its search perform extra accessible. Let me clarify.
Tips on how to activate the hidden Samsung Gallery Labs menu
Earlier than I element the precise Gallery Labs menu merchandise, you’ll have to allow the menu itself. Whereas accessing a hidden menu in a system app might sound spooky, there isn’t a lot to it. Right here’s methods to activate it:
- Open Samsung Gallery.
- Faucet the three-line Menu button on the backside proper of the display.
- Choose Settings.
- Subsequent, scroll right down to About Gallery. Faucet on it.
- Now, faucet the model quantity under the massive Gallery headline repeatedly.
- After a number of faucets, it is best to see a Gallery Labs activated caption on the backside of the web page.
To entry the Gallery Labs menu, head again to the Settings menu and scroll right down to the underside of the checklist. Faucet on it to enter the menu.
Now, for one of the best Gallery Labs setting

Andy Walker / Android Authority
I by no means fairly understood why Samsung positioned the Gallery app’s search icon proper on the high of the display. When utilizing bigger, heavier gadgets just like the Galaxy S24 FE, it’s so inconvenient to entry that I seldom use it. This implies manually trawling by way of hundreds of pictures. Nevertheless, a setting in Gallery Labs corrects this.
Below the One UI 7.x menu subheading, toggle on Add search tab. You’ll need to exit and reenter the app for the change to take impact, however when you do, you’ll see a search icon now moved to the underside tab bar. Now, as a substitute of requiring a second hand or risking dropping my system with a one-handed stretch, I can merely divert my thumb a number of millimeters, faucet the search icon, and shortly provoke a search. The screenshots under provide a visible rationalization of what the toggle does.
See it? It’s a delicate change, nevertheless it transforms the search icon from an merchandise that’s too far to achieve to at least one that’s much more readily accessible.
What else can I modify within the Gallery Labs menu?

Andy Walker / Android Authority
This isn’t the one factor you may tweak throughout the Gallery Labs menu. Though it might be the one One UI 7. x-related toggle, options added for older variations are additionally accessible.
Just a few different Gallery Labs menu highlights embody:
- Album entry-locks: For those who don’t wish to stow pictures away in Samsung’s Safe Folder, you should use this function to ban entry to them. As Samsung explains, “As soon as an album is locked, its contents will not be proven on the images and album tab.” To lock an album, choose it, faucet the menu button, and choose Lock album.
- Present EXIF in particulars: Need to see extra particular particulars about your JPEG pictures? Toggle this setting, and you’ll view all of them.
Notably, contemplating that Samsung seems so as to add new options on a per-One UI model foundation, we are able to count on extra goodies to populate with the arrival of One UI 8. For now, mess around with numerous settings to construct your optimum Gallery expertise.