My Samsung Galaxy phone felt slow and bloated until I changed these One UI settings

Samsung’s One UI has always been one of my favorite Android skins, but after months of use, my phone started feeling heavier than it should.

Apps took an extra beat to open, the interface felt busy, and there were too many suggestions, background services, and visual extras fighting for attention.

So, I went through One UI’s settings and changed a few options that made a big difference. Now, my Samsung Galaxy phone feels faster, cleaner, and far less bloated.

Put unnecessary apps to deep sleep

The first setting I changed was one I had ignored for far too long: deep sleeping apps.

Samsung gives you a lot of control over background activity in One UI, and I realized I had dozens of apps sitting quietly in the background even though I didn’t need them to do anything until I actually opened them.

After all, not every app deserves permission to refresh, sync, or stay active behind the scenes.

So, I headed to Settings > Device Care > Battery > Background usage limits > Deep sleeping apps and started adding unnecessary apps to the list.

I added shopping apps, travel apps, old games, streaming apps I rarely opened, and random utilities.

Now, my phone isn’t constantly waking up for apps I barely use. It’s one of the easiest ways to make One UI feel lighter without uninstalling everything.

Clean up RAM and adjust RAM plus

When I notice apps taking longer to open or the recent apps screen feeling crowded, I go to Settings > Device care > Memory and clean up RAM from there.

It closes unnecessary background processes and gives the phone a quick refresh without forcing me to restart it.

I also changed the RAM Plus setting. By default, many Galaxy phones keep it at a lower value, such as 2GB, but I moved it to 6GB.

RAM Plus uses part of the phone’s internal storage as virtual memory, so it is not the same as having more actual RAM.

Still, it helps when I keep several apps open, switch between social apps, the browser, camera, notes, or return to an app without wanting to reload it from scratch.

This made multitasking feel a little more stable for me. I wouldn’t say RAM plus single-handedly made my Galaxy faster, but combined with deep sleeping unused apps and cleaning up memory occasionally, it helped One UI feel less congested.

Disable unnecessary recommendations and gestures

Another cleanup that made One UI feel less bloated was disabling unnecessary recommendations from Samsung apps.

Individually, things like Galaxy Store suggestions, Samsung News cards, and wallet prompts seemed harmless, but together they made the phone feel cluttered.

I turned off non-essential notifications, and then I went through other apps and switched off recommendations, promotions, and tips.

Then I started disabling the little One UI extras I never used.

I don’t need Samsung News opening from the home screen with a single swipe, so I turned off that left feed page.

I also disabled the swipe-up gesture for Samsung Wallet because I kept triggering it accidentally when I only wanted to unlock the phone or move around the interface.

I did the same with Edge panels.

None of these changes is dramatic on its own, but together they make One UI feel more intentional.

Enable auto optimization

I went to Settings > Device care > Auto optimization and turned on the option to restart the phone when needed.

It’s a small setting, but it helps One UI refresh itself automatically when the phone is idle and not being used.

Instead of waiting until my Galaxy phone starts acting sluggish, this gives it a chance to clear things up in the background without me thinking about it.

I don’t expect Auto optimization to fix every performance issue, but it works well as a maintenance tool.

For me, this setting is less about instant speed and more about long-term smoothness.

Disable One UI wallpaper services

Another One UI setting I disabled right away was the wallpaper service on the lock screen.

On some Galaxy phones, Samsung shows services like Glance that add changing wallpapers, news cards, recommendations, and other content directly to the lock screen.

So, I went to Settings > Wallpaper and style and checked the lock screen wallpaper services from there.

If a service like Glance was enabled, I turned it off and switched back to my own wallpaper collection.

This tweak didn’t make my Galaxy faster in the traditional sense, but it made the phone feel less bloated every time I unlocked it.

Tweaks that saved my Galaxy

Samsung’s One UI is packed with useful features, but that is also exactly why it can start to feel heavy over time.

I didn’t need to factory reset my phone, install a new launcher, or blame the hardware to fix it.

A few settings changes were enough to cut down the noise and make my Galaxy feel smoother and more focused again.

The best part is that none of these tweaks ruined the Samsung experience for me. They simply removed the parts I wasn’t using anyway.