Just get a Pixel 11? Here are the first 10 settings you need to change

The Google Pixel 11 series is officially out in the wild. As with pretty much every Pixel Google has released before, the new phones aren’t necessarily set up to give you the best experience out of the box.

There are plenty of useful features and settings that are either disabled by default or require manual configuration. And with the Pixel 11 series bringing a heap of new software features, there are even more things worth tweaking this year.

So, if you’ve just picked up a new Pixel 11, here are 10 settings and features I’d recommend changing right away.

Customize your photos with Camera Looks

Pixel phones have long been known for their cameras, and with the Pixel 11 series, Google is giving you more control over how those photos actually look with a new feature called Camera Looks.

Instead of applying a filter after taking the photo, Camera Looks lets you choose the overall color and tone before you shoot. For the “Default Look,” you can choose between four different levels of HDR processing. Additionally, you can swipe through more stylized Looks that have a much bigger impact on colors, contrast, etc.

The feature defaults to the “standard” style we’ve always had, though, so you’ll need to change it yourself:

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap the Settings icon in the bottom-right corner.
3. Tap Looks.
4. Swipe through the available styles and choose whichever one you want to use as your default.

Turn on the new Creator Suite tools

Google has also focused heavily on social media creators with the Pixel 11 camera. There’s now a built-in teleprompter that lets you read a script directly from the screen while recording, along with social media grid lines that show where things like usernames, captions, Like buttons, and other UI elements will appear once you upload the video. It’s something you don’t even get natively on the iPhone right now.

These tools aren’t enabled by default, though. To enable these features:

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Switch to Video.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Head into the Creator tab.
5. From there, you can enable whichever creator features you want to use.

Set up Extreme Charging

While Google hasn’t dramatically increased battery capacities this year, it has quietly added a useful charging feature called Extreme Charging. Similar to features we’ve seen from OnePlus, Oppo, and Vivo, Extreme Charging lets the Pixel temporarily prioritize faster charging when you’re in a hurry. There are a couple of catches, though.

Extreme Charging only works when your battery is below 50%, and unfortunately, you’ll need to manually enable it every time you want the faster charging speed.

To enable it, plug in your Pixel when the battery is below 50%, then head to Settings > Battery & charging > Extreme Charging and tap Turn on now.

Show the exact battery percentage

While you’re already inside the Battery settings, I’d also recommend enabling the battery percentage.

For some reason, Pixel phones still don’t show the exact battery percentage in the status bar by default. Personally, I’d much rather know exactly how much battery I have left than try to judge it from a tiny icon.

To do this, head to Settings > Battery & charging and enable the Battery Percentage toggle.

Customize HiLight for your favorite contacts

One of the more interesting additions to the Pixel 11 Pro models is HiLight, Google’s new multicolor LED on the back. The light can activate when you’re using Gemini with the phone face down, but it can also display different colors depending on who’s calling. The catch is that you’ll need to assign those colors yourself.

1. Open the Phone app.
2. Select the contact you want to customize.
3. Find HiLight Color inside the Contact settings.
4. Choose a color and tap Done.

It’s also worth noting that you can only use HiLight for contacts you have favorited. To do this, select a contact and tap the star icon at the top of the page. Once you do this, the HiLight option will appear.

Let your Pixel escape bad Wi-Fi automatically

Google has finally switched to a MediaTek modem with the Pixel 11 series, but there’s another setting worth enabling if you want the most reliable internet connection possible: Adaptive Connectivity.

When you’re connected to a weak Wi-Fi network, your Pixel can automatically switch over to cellular data to give you a faster connection rather than keeping you stuck on painfully slow Wi-Fi. It’s particularly useful when you’re moving around your house or somewhere with patchy Wi-Fi coverage.

Head to Settings > Network & internet > Adaptive Connectivity, then enable Auto switch to mobile network.

Never lose a notification again

If you get bombarded with notifications throughout the day, chances are you’ve swiped all of them away at some point, only to realize that one of them was actually important.

Thankfully, Android has a feature called Notification History that keeps a record of the notifications you’ve recently received, including the ones you’ve dismissed. Unfortunately, it’s disabled by default. To enable the feature:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Notifications.
3. Tap Notification History.
4. Tap the toggle next to Use notification history.

Like other Pixel phones, the Pixel 11 supports AI-powered notification summaries. These use the on-device Gemini model to condense longer notifications into something easier to read quickly, and you can enable them in the Notifications settings as well.

Make your lock screen useful with widgets

With Android 16 last year, Google finally brought lock screen widgets back to Pixel phones. The problem is that lock screen widgets are still disabled by default, even on the Pixel 11, so you’ll need to enable them manually.

To set up lock screen widgets:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Wallpaper & style.
3. Scroll down and select More lock screen settings.
4. Tap Widgets on lock screen.

Once enabled, whenever your phone is on the lock screen, you can swipe right to access your favorite widgets without unlocking the device. For example, I’ve added widgets for stocks, weather, and Google Tasks so I can quickly access all of them directly from my lock screen.

While you’re already inside the lock screen settings, I’d also recommend setting up the lock screen shortcuts. Head into Shortcuts, and from there you can customize what appears on both the left and right sides of your lock screen.

Don’t forget about Now Playing

It’s 2026, and Now Playing remains one of my favorite underrated Pixel features.

The feature automatically identifies songs playing around you and displays the title directly on your lock screen. It also keeps a history of songs you’ve heard, which is incredibly useful when you hear something you like at a cafe or restaurant and forget to look it up immediately.

On the Pixel 11, Now Playing is easier to find than before, thanks to its dedicated app. To ensure the feature is set up:

1. Open your app drawer and tap the Now Playing app.
2. Tap the settings icon in the top-right corner.
3. Tap Use Now Playing if it’s not currently enabled.

Set up Emergency features

Finally, there’s one setting I hope you’ll never need to use, but everyone should still configure: the built-in emergency features on your Pixel 11, such as Car Crash Detection.

If your Pixel detects that you’ve been involved in a serious car crash, it can vibrate, sound an alarm, and ask whether you need help. If you confirm that you do or don’t respond, the phone can contact emergency services and share your location with your emergency contacts.

To enable this, head over to Settings > Safety & emergency > Car Crash Detection and enable the toggle. Optionally, you can enable the Emergency Sharing toggle, which automatically shares your location with your emergency contacts.

It’s one of those features you could enable today and completely forget about afterward. Hopefully, you’ll never need it, but if you ever do, having it already configured could make a huge difference.

These are some of the settings I’d recommend changing as soon as you set up your new Pixel 11. Of course, there are plenty of other Pixel settings worth tweaking, but these should get you started.

Which one are you changing first? Let us know in the comments below.