How to Change or Remove Lock Screen Shortcuts on Android 6, 7

Lock Screen Shortcuts allow you to access a definite app directly from the Lock Screen. By default you can launch dialer app by swiping from the left corner or camera by swiping from the bottom right. In this case you can unlock device without launching apps only by swiping exactly from the bottom middle of the screen. The bad thing is you can accidently launch some app when you don’t need it if you failed to draw a streight line right from the bottom middle of the screen. This is annoying. But you can remove right and left shortcuts from the lock screen. Once you’ve done it, you will be able to unlock your Android device using any swipe – from the corners or from the bottom. So from this article you will learn how to:

1. remove lock screen shortcuts to make the unlocking easier;
2. change the shortcuts to launch completely different apps or widgets instead of dialer and camera.

How to change lock screen shortcuts

Follow these steps to modify the shortcuts:

1. Go to Settings: 
2. Scroll down to Device section.
3. Tap on Lock Screen: 
4. Select Lock Screen Shortcuts: 
5. Tap on the icon you want to change a shortcut for (left or right):

6. Tap Select application: 
7. Select Apps: 
8. Specify the app you prefer: 

In our example we now can launch Chrome by swiping from the left corner or Gmail by swiping from the right: 

How to remove lock screen shortcuts

This is how to remove shortcuts from the lock screen if you are tired of launching wrong apps when unlocking your Android.

1. Tap on the left shortcut and select None in the drop-down menu.
2. Do the same to the right icon just to turn it off:

Now it doesn’t matter whether you swipe from the left corner or the right corner or directly upwards from the bottom. – You will unblock your Android anyways: 

That’s it. If you have something to add, drop a comment below.

Related: How to change lock screen apps on Galaxy S10, S9, Note running Android 9 Pie with One UI