In a world where phone call scams are just another part of life, the ability to screen your calls before you pick up the phone is more important than ever. Samsung recently joined the ever-growing number of phone makers to offer this hidden feature, adding it to the Samsung Galaxy S26 series.
Call Screening on Galaxy S26 is not as good as some of the other options out there. Google’s version is leagues ahead, and it even falls slightly behind Apple’s equivalent, which only arrived last year. That’s not to say it’s a bad feature to have; any level of protection is better than nothing, but you will need to switch Call Screening on before it can do anything.
Article continues below
You may like
1. Open Call Settings
The first step is to head into the Settings menu, then head to Apps > Samsung Apps > Call settings. Alternatively, you can access the Call Settings by launching the phone dialer and then clicking on the three dots in the top right corner to enter the settings.
2. Turn on Call Screening
From there, you need to tap the Call Screening option, then toggle the feature ON at the top of the page. You’ll be asked to select a language, and then Download that language if you choose anything other than U.S. English.
This will give you the option to choose whether to screen calls from unknown numbers as and when they happen. However, there is an auto-screen option that can handle this for you.
2a. How to manually screen calls
If you choose not to automatically screen your calls, you will need to initiate the process manually. For this to happen, you’ll need to wait for a phone call, then tap the Call Assist button, followed by Call screening and Galaxy AI will get to work.
3. Turn on Auto Screen calls
Galaxy AI can automatically screen calls from unknown numbers, but you’ll need to toggle on the Auto Screen feature first. You’ll then be asked to confirm you want to turn on Caller ID and spam protection as well. We recommend you choose the Turn On option.
3a. Turn on Caller ID and spam protection
Make sure to hit the toggle to turn on Caller ID and spam protection, then Agree to the terms of service and privacy policy. Following that Toggle on the Block spam and scam calls option, and choose whether you want to block them all or only the most high-risk scam calls.
4. Configure your Auto screen calls settings
Finally, you’ll need to tell Auto Screen calls which calls you want to screen. The options are Suspected spam and scams or a blanket screening on all Unknown callers. It’s up to you to decide the right option for your needs.
There you have it. From here on out, the Samsung Galaxy S26 will automatically screen your calls to help you avoid malicious or unwanted contact — whether it’s from scammers or just people you’d rather not talk to.
Follow Tom’s Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom’s Guide on YouTube and follow us on TikTok.
