How To Set Up Guest Mode on Your Android Phone

Though you may never have noticed, your Android phone can support multiple user accounts in much the same way as Windows and macOS — and while you probably don’t share your smartphone with too many people on a daily basis, there’s a guest mode feature that can help if you ever need to lend your phone to a family member, friend or colleague.

Here we will walk you through the process of enabling guest mode and also explain how it works. The instructions below are for the latest version of Android 13 on a Google Pixel 6 Pro – but if you’re using a different version of Android or a different manufacturer’s phone, there shouldn’t be too much of a difference in how to proceed or the available features (a a quick web search can usually help if you get stuck).

To get started you actually need to enable multiple users on your Android device, which you do by opening Settings and then selecting it system and Multiple users. Do that… on Allow multiple users toggle switch, and you can then add new users to the device (Add User) and enable guest mode (Add Guest).

Decide Add Guest, and you’re presented with a very basic settings screen: there’s an option to switch to the guest account, an option to enable or disable phone calls in guest mode, and an option to remove the guest account. You cannot add multiple guests at the same time. So if more than one person needs access to your handset on a regular basis, you need to start creating users.

Incidentally, creating new users is a more complicated process: it’s like setting up your phone for the first time. The new user needs a Google account (at least if they want to use Google apps or download something from the Play Store), they can set their own screen unlock method, and so on. If you choose simplicity, choose guest mode. If you really share the phone with someone else all the time, add them as a user.

The user option is also the go-If you have a child who uses your phone regularly, rather than a nephew or niece who occasionally borrows it to play a game or two, you can add a child account of yours Google family groupand manage what your child can do on the device.

For now, We’re focusing on guest mode, and you can switch to it from that system and Multiple users page or by dragging down from the top of the screen with two fingers and tapping the user account button at the bottom of the Quick Settings pane. You can use the same methods to go back to your default account.

If your guest wants to download apps or check Gmail, they’ll have to enter a Google account – they can use yours if they want, but that sort of defeats the point of using guest mode at all. Apps like Google Chrome and YouTube can be used and calls can be made without signing in, though she allowed the feature when you configured guest mode from the start.

What really sets guest mode apart from a full user account is how easy it is to start all over again. Each time you switch to guest mode, you will be asked if you want to continue the previous session (Yes, continue) or delete everything and restart (start again). This includes Google accounts that the guest has logged into, websites that the guest has opened in Chrome, and so on.

There are also no way for guests to access the files or messages on your phone: everything from your text messages to your emails to your saved photos is locked and inaccessible. guests are It’s also not possible to switch to a different Wi-Fi network and, as you’d expect, they can’t reset your phone. either.

Guest mode also provides some privacy protections for the guest: when they’re done with what they’re doing, they can go to the switch account screen (via settings or below in the quick settings panel) and then select remove guest– that erases everything trace of what they do and logs them out of all their accounts.

Android includes a useful feature to keep an eye on the effects of guest mode on your device. If you open Settings and then select storage and scroll down to the bottom of the list Guestyou can see how much storage space your guest account and other user accounts are using on the phone.

So there you have it – a feature built right into Android that might be completely irrelevant to some users, but is very helpful to others, and is pretty easy to use (especially once you set it up). for now, At least there is no comparable option available on iOS.