Unlock with your face

You can set your phone to unlock when it recognises your face.

Whenever you turn on or wake the phone, it will search for your face and unlock when it recognises you. Keep in mind that someone who looks similar to you could unlock the phone.

Set up face matching

  1. Make sure you have set a screen lock on the phone.
  2. Go to Settings.

  3. Touch Security > Smart Lock > Trusted face.

    If you don't see Smart Lock, try the following:

    • Update Google Play services. In the Google Search widget on your Home screen, search for ‘Google Play services’, then touch the app to open it.
    • Go to Settings > Security > Trust agents and enable Smart Lock.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions. Make sure you frame your entire face with the outline.

Unlock your phone

  1. Show your face to the lock screen.

    appears when the phone is looking for your face. When it recognises you, it unlocks and displays .

  2. Swipe up.

If it doesn't recognise you, it stays locked and displays one of these icons.

IconHow to unlock
Use your password, PIN or pattern
Use the fingerprint sensor

Turn off face matching

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Touch Security > Smart Lock > Trusted face.
  3. Unlock your phone, then touch Trusted face.
  4. Touch Remove trusted face.

The phone will no longer recognise your face, and the feature is turned off. To turn it on again, set up a new trusted face.

Fix a problem

If you're having trouble getting the phone to recognise your face:

  1. Go to Settings.

  2. Touch Security > Smart Lock > Trusted face.

  3. Touch Improve face matching.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions.