How to Lock Android Smartphone without Using Power Button

If you want to lock your Android smartphone screen without pressing the side mounted physical power button, this article will help you in creating a shortcut on your mobile phone screen which can be used to lock your mobile phone quickly and easily using a few taps on screen.

Many times smartphone users might need a way to lock their smartphone without using the power button. For example, the side mounted power button is damaged and not working or the power button is far from reach on larger devices and users find it difficult to press the button using single hand.

Recently I encountered an annoying issue when the power button was not locking my Samsung smartphone while using the screen mirroring feature. To resolve the issue, I used the same method mentioned in this article to lock the phone without using the power button.

In this article, we’ll discuss a secret feature present in all Android smartphones which can be used to easily lock the phone by tapping or touching on the phone screen when you don’t want to use the physical power button.

Following image shows the lock screen option available on the phone screen:

Problem: Samsung Galaxy Smartphone doesn’t Lock Screen Upon Pressing Power Button During Screen Mirroring

Recently while using my Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone, I came across a weird situation where the power button was not turning off the screen and not locking the phone.

Actually I was using the screen mirroring feature to cast my smartphone content on my Samsung smart TV. In Samsung smartphones, screen mirroring feature is known as “Smart View“. After a few minutes, I had to take a break so I pressed the side power button to lock the smartphone. But it didn’t lock the phone screen.

I was surprised to see that the power button was just showing and hiding the screen content upon clicking the button. It was not locking the phone as it’s supposed to do. In my older Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphone, this issue never appeared. The power button always locked the phone even if I was using the screen mirroring feature.

It was a huge security and privacy issue as anyone can access and use my smartphone in my absence. I think it’s a new feature or limitation in the latest Android 14.0 or Samsung OneUI 6 which doesn’t lock the smartphone during screen mirroring session.

If you are also using a Samsung smartphone and facing similar issue where you are unable to lock the screen using power button, I have a easy solution mentioned below to quickly lock the phone screen without using the power button.

I’m now using this method to lock my Samsung smartphone screen whenever I use screen mirroring feature and required to lock the phone.

Use Accessibility Assistant Menu in Any Android Smartphone to Lock Screen

All Android smartphones (10 and later) come with a hidden secret feature called Accessibility Menu or Assistant Menu which can be used to quickly access several shortcuts and options from anywhere on your phone screen. It also contains an exclusive direct shortcut to lock or turn off smartphone screen.

You can enable the Accessibility/Assistant Menu feature in your Android smartphone to lock the screen without using the physical power button or to access various frequently used options and favorite apps.

This secret feature can be used to access many useful system options such as lock screen, power off screen, adjust brightness or volume, etc.

You can also assign a hotkey to quickly show/hide the Accessibility/Assistant Menu icon on your smartphone screen so that you can keep it hidden all the time and whenever you need it, just use the hotkey to show the icon on screen.

How to Enable Accessibility Assistant Menu Feature in Android Smartphones

If you want to enable and use the secret Accessibility or Assistant Menu feature in your Android smartphone to lock your phone screen or access other useful options, following steps will help you:

STEP 1: Open Settings app in your smartphone and search for Accessibility Menu or Assistant Menu. In Samsung smartphones, the feature is present with the name Assistant Menu but in other Android smartphones, the same feature might be present with the name Accessibility Menu.

Samsung contains the option under Settings -> Accessibility -> Interaction and dexterity -> Assistant Menu page.

In Pixel and few stock Android devices, the option should be present under Settings -> Accessibility -> Accessibility Menu page.

STEP 2: Now you can simply set the toggle button given next to the option to ON to enable the menu icon on your phone screen.

You can also customize the Accessibility/Assistant Menu functionality and change following options:

• Add/remove options from the menu
• Assign shortcut key or gesture to enable/disable the menu icon
• Customize appearance options such as icon size, transparency level, etc

You can also press and hold the icon and then move the icon anywhere on your phone screen according to your requirements.

Now whenever you need to lock your phone or access frequently options, you can use the Accessibility Menu or Assistant Menu icon.

Also Check:

3 Excellent Uses of Message Yourself Feature in WhatsApp

Enable iPhone Like Smooth Back Gesture Animation in Android Smartphones

Secure Your Samsung Smartphone Using Maintenance Mode before Sending for Repair