How to Check Screen Time on Android (Samsung, Pixel and Other Phones)

Where screen time is on Android

Screen time on Android lives in Digital Wellbeing, a part of the Settings app. Google's own help page describes three numbers on its chart:

• Screen time: which apps you've had on screen and for how long.
• Times opened: how often you've unlocked the device and opened certain apps.
• Notifications received: how many notifications you've got and from which apps.

The menu names differ a little between phone makers, and Google notes that some steps vary by device. If you can't find it, type wellbeing or screen time into the search bar at the top of Settings.

Check screen time on any Android phone

1. Open Settings. Open the Settings app from your app list or the quick settings panel.
2. Tap Digital Wellbeing. Scroll down and tap Digital Wellbeing, or Digital Wellbeing and parental controls.
3. Read the chart. The chart shows your device use today. Your apps are listed below it.
4. Switch the view. Tap the chart for more detail on screen time, times opened and notifications received, and tap an app to see its details or change its settings.

Want Digital Wellbeing as its own icon? In Settings, tap Digital Wellbeing and turn on Show icon in the app list. Then it opens like any other app, which makes a daily check much quicker.

Check screen time on a Google Pixel

Pixel phones use Google's Digital Wellbeing as described above: Settings, then Digital Wellbeing, then the chart. Pixel Help says the chart shows your device use today, and that you can tap it for more information on screen time, times opened and notifications.

If you use Chrome, the time you spend on single websites shows up too. In Digital Wellbeing, pick Chrome from the chart (tap Show all apps if it isn't listed) to see which sites you visited and how much time you spent on each one per day.

Check screen time on a Samsung Galaxy

Samsung has its own version of Digital Wellbeing with a few extras. According to Samsung's US support page, it needs Android 10 or later, and it can't be removed or disabled.

1. Open Digital Wellbeing. Go to Settings and tap Digital Wellbeing, or Digital Wellbeing and parental controls on some models.
2. See today's use. The screen time shown is your use today. Samsung's version can also show how many times you unlocked the phone and how many notifications you got.
3. Open the weekly report. Tap the icon that looks like four vertical lines at the top right. It shows your daily average for the week and the apps you used most.
4. Look at one day. If you've set a screen time goal, tap the Screen time goal tracker and pick a day of the week to see that day's use.

Samsung also offers Driving screen time, which records phone use while the phone is connected to your car by Bluetooth, with a daily and a weekly view.

See screen time on your home screen

Google's help page describes a screen time widget for Android 9 and later that shows the top 3 apps you use each day. Touch and hold an empty part of the home screen, tap Widgets and drag the screen time widget where you want it. Seeing the number every time you unlock the phone is a gentle nudge in itself, and it costs nothing.

How to read your numbers

The total matters less than where it goes. Three questions help:

• Which one or two apps take most of the time? In most cases a single feed dominates the list.
• How often do you open the phone? A high number of unlocks with short sessions points to checking out of habit, often driven by notifications.
• When does it happen? An hour in bed at night costs more than the same hour spread over a day, because it eats into sleep.

Look at a full week before you change anything. One unusual day says little; a week shows the pattern. The time wasting calculator turns a daily number into what it adds up to over a year.

How to limit screen time on Android

Once you know where the time goes, the same Digital Wellbeing menu has tools to cut it back. They're free and already on your phone.

• App timers: in Digital Wellbeing, tap App timers, then Set timer next to an app, choose a time and tap OK. When the time runs out, the app closes and its icon dims until midnight. On Samsung, tap App timers, then Apps and app categories, select apps and use Add schedule to set days and times.
• Screen time goal (Samsung): under Screen time goal, tap Set goal and choose hours and minutes. The tracker shows each day against your goal.
• Focus mode: choose distracting apps to pause. While it's on you can't open them and don't get their notifications. It can run on a schedule, and Take a break unpauses apps for a while.
• Bedtime mode: on a schedule or while charging at night, it can switch the screen to grayscale and dim the wallpaper. On newer Samsung phones this is Sleep mode in Modes and Routines.

For a child's phone, Google's Family Link lets a parent set a daily limit per day of the week. When it runs out the device locks, apart from apps the parent allowed without a limit, and calls still work.

When the time goes to short videos

A common result of a first screen time check is that YouTube, Instagram or TikTok sits at the top, and most of it is the endless video feed rather than messages or search. An app timer then locks the whole app, including the parts you need, and after a few days it's easy to start deleting the timer.

Dam It! is an Android app built for that case. Through Android's Accessibility Service it blocks the swipe to the next video in YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, TikTok and TikTok Lite. The current video keeps playing, and videos you open on purpose from a link, a notification or a thumbnail still work. You can pause protection by holding the dashboard button. It needs no account. It doesn't cover browsers, games or other apps, and it isn't available on iPhone, so for those the built-in timers above are the better tool. For details per app, see how to disable YouTube Shorts and how to disable Instagram Reels, or compare both approaches in Dam It! vs Digital Wellbeing.