Where are the gesture settings?
When phones removed their buttons, the settings that replaced them landed in three different places with three different names. We read the settings tree of all 43 systems in the catalogue and recorded where each one keeps it.
What each system calls it
10 of the 43 operating systems in our catalogue have this setting, and between them they use three different labels for it:
| Name on screen | Systems |
|---|---|
| Gestures | 6 |
| Navigation | 3 |
| Motions and gestures | 1 |
The most common is Gestures, on 6 of the 10. If that is not the word on your screen, the table above is the rest of the vocabulary to try.
Where it lives on each system
These are the shortest paths from the first settings screen on the newest release of each system. 7 of the 10 are within two taps; the rest sit deeper, and the table shows how much deeper.
| System | Path | Taps |
|---|---|---|
| Firefox OS Firefox OS 2.5 | Navigation | 1 |
| watchOS 27 | Gestures | 1 |
| Wear OS 7 | Gestures | 1 |
| Android 17 | System › Gestures | 2 |
| HarmonyOS 6.0 | Smart assistance › Gestures | 2 |
| iPadOS 27.0 | Home Screen & Multitasking › Gestures | 2 |
| One UI 9 | Advanced features › Motions and gestures | 2 |
| OxygenOS 16 | System settings › Navigation mode › Gestures | 3 |
| Symbian Belle | Application settings › Maps › Navigation | 3 |
| Mac OS X 10.6 | Universal Access › VoiceOver › Open VoiceOver Utility › Navigation | 4 |
Each system name above opens the real menu in the simulator, so you can walk the path before you touch your own device.
Why the names came out this way
Navigation is about how you move between apps — the thing the buttons used to do. Gestures is broader and often includes shortcuts that never had a button: chopping twice for the torch, turning the phone over to silence it. Motions and gestures says the quiet part out loud, bundling both.
This is the first screen to visit on a phone that feels wrong after switching brands, because the muscle memory you are missing is almost certainly configurable here.
Find it on your own device
If your system is not in the table, or the label on your screen is different again, there are three ways through it:
- Search every system at once for a setting by name — it looks inside all 43 trees, not just the one you are holding.
- Open your own system in the settings simulator and click to the screen without changing anything real.
- Follow the step-by-step guide to switching to dark mode, or see where that setting lives on every system.
Related settings in the same part of the menu:
All of it comes from the same catalogue: 43 systems, 135 versions, published as an open dataset.
Try it yourself, on the real menusOpen any of 43 operating systems in your browser and walk the Settings tree exactly as it appears on the device. No download, no account.Frequently asked questions
Where are the gesture settings on most systems?
On 7 of the 10 systems that have it, within two taps of the first settings screen. The most common label is “Gestures”, used by 6 of them. The table above gives the exact path for each system.
Why can I not find it by searching my settings?
Because settings search matches the label your system uses, and there are three different labels in use for this one setting. Searching for the word your previous device used is the single most common reason a setting appears to be missing.
How many systems have this setting at all?
10 of the 43 operating systems we catalogue. The rest either have no hardware for it or fold the behaviour into something else, which is why a feature that feels universal often is not.