Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100) – Shortcuts & Tips [updated]

Tips and stuff you won’t find in the manual, collected from the xda-developers forum, personal experimentation and other sources. Please use only tips you understand – if you don’t know what a factory reset means, you do not want to find out :)

Explanation

„Pinch“ means using 2 fingers to zoom in our out (Google this if you don’t know the word). The buttons are depicted here:
Samsung Galaxy SII buttons

User interface

Home screen

Android Apps

(Forum link: Feature discoveries – xda-developers)

Miscellaneous hints

Factory reset (Everything will be deleted!)

Via these three ways:

  • Turn phone off, press and hold: volume Up + home + power. Use volume keys to navigate up/down, home to execute.
  • In the phone keypad: Enter *2767*3855#
  • Menu: Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset.

Codes (enter via phone keypad, the ones below work for me)

*#0*# LCD Screen test *#06# Show IMEI Number *#2222# HW Version *#1234# Phone info *#34971539# Camera Firmware *#9900# Sysdump (Logfiles etc.) *#0228# Battery diagnostics *#7284# Phone utility *#7353# Function testing *#9090# Service Mode *#*#197328640#*#* Service Mode Menu *2767*3855# Factory Reset (not tested.. :)

44 Replies to “Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100) – Shortcuts & Tips [updated]”

  1. My S2 buttons at the bottom stopped working. Is this a software isssue, or hardware? Tried updating to new Android software through Kies, but still no buttons. T-Mobile is replacing my phone later this week, but I want to know why!

    Thanks

  2. My Samsung (of this model) has just developed a bug whereby the screen won’t turn off, ever. It started two days ago when the battery went completely flat. It is now charged, but loses power at an incredibly fast rate, because the screen is always on. The screen time-out is set to 30 seconds, but changing that setting does not fix it.
    Any ideas of what I can try to fix it would be greatly appreciated!

  3. Very good tips! Thanks!
    I have question: how to get rid of unwanted “hub” apps?
    Thanks for your help
    Galaxy S2 user

  4. I set my s2 to factory settings and lost all my pics on picasa. I guess I had synced my picasa with the phone and have now lost all the pictures from picasa. Can you please let me know if I can bring back my old pics on picasa?

  5. can voice talk short cut in the home power button be disabled?please help.thanks!♥♥♥♥

    1. Yes, open “S Voice”, go to the settings in the context menu and uncheck “Open S Voice” (Might be named differently, I currently just have the German version).

      1. i cannot find the open s voice! i dont have in the settings i bought my fone in singapore.help :(

  6. I downloaded several application on my S2 but the short cut are scattered. Some have full but the others are not. How do I fuse all the application so there wont be too many pages. Thanks

    1. I found that also quite annoying and used either the list view there or a completely different tool to manage the apps.

  7. Good tips! Recently I synced Picassa on my S2 and its cool to see the pics on my phone. When I connected the S2 to my laptop and browsed the ‘phone’ folder, I couldnt locate where the picassa pics are stored? do you have any idea where to find the picassa synced photos in S2 memory? Thanks in advance :)

    1. They aren’t stored on the accessible part of the SD card – I assume they are in the /data-folder which is not accessible from the PC/Mac (You can try with tools like ES Explorer but be careful because you might break stuff).

  8. can someone tell me how to change the text settings so the recipients text isnt on top and mine on bottom? its annoying to scroll up everytime to see what they are texting. it should be in order of my texts then the next text… etc..
    please help!

  9. hi i want to ask that my samsung galaxy s2 screen automaticaly on when it is locked…tell me why…it turns on and off every 5 min with out any notification…

  10. hey … im rly ineed for help …my battery gettin low by itssel without usin the phone with the wi-fi turns off ( its like every 30 mins it loses 1% from the battery ) is that okay or is that normal ..and if its not … is there any solution for that… i rly need ur halep and i would be thankfull for helpin :)

    1. This usually is caused by apps which are “always-on”. Try to uninstall apps you don’t need and check the preferences in “Accounts & Syncing”.

  11. I just purchased a samsung galaxy s2. I done the update for it but it didnt work, it froze so i took the battery out and put it back in then switched it on. Nothing comes up except for a blank screen and 3 icons, a phone, a orange triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle and a pc icon. i have tried reseting it but nothing happens, the icons go away then come back again, please, do you know how to fix this?

    1. Hi – sounds there have been problems while updating but the bootloader somehow still works.

      First I’d try is to update it again or do a phone reset via KIES. If that doesn’t help you should bring it back to the dealer (probably not your fault as it seems) – or you can update yourself via Odin. But that’s an advanced procedure, it requires you to thoroughly read through forums. Here you find some hints:

      http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s2-international/490172-galaxy-s2-gt-i9100g-phone-yellow_triangle-pc-icon-usb-jig-does-not-go-download-mode.html

  12. Q; i was wiping my screen and some how moved my 4 shortcuts from the bottom to the right side of the sceen. how do i put them back????? ive tried settings, etc. please help. :)

    1. You can remove an account in the settings: Account and sync. There click on the account and you can delete it with a button at the bottom.

  13. My custom(downloaded) default ringtone keeps ringing silent when someone calls, but when I choose this custom ringtone in my settings>sound>phone ringtone>android system> the ringtone is there and when I tap on it, it plays correctly. Any suggestions?

  14. where is the left soft key im trying to get my phone back on to grid

  15. When I press my power button it takes a picture of the screen. This is without pressing the home button at the same time. Thanks

    1. If this happens after restarting the phone it sounds like a mechanical failure. Either the home button is somehow pushed in always or another hardware problem. But usually you should also encounter other problems if the home button is always “on”, maybe time to take the phone back to the store..

    1. IUsually you should just get a call which you need to confirm – but how to confirm is dependent on the collect call method which varies by country and phone company. This is not specific to a special mobile handset.

  16. Please help I cannot get my new Samsung Galaxy s2 to pinch the screen it will not do it any ideas

  17. thank you =)

    Very usefull.

    Any ideas in how to set a different screen for home default?

    When I press home button it goes to home screen #1, but I want to go to home screen #3 as default… any idea in how to configure it?

    Anyway thanks for the tips, very usefull

    1. I think with the standard Samsung Launcher (TwLauncher) you can’t choose your default home screen. You can reorder screens (pinch out and drag them) or use a different launcher, like Go Launcher Ex or ADW Launcher, these offer some more features.

Comments are closed.