What Now Brief Is and Where to Find It

Now Brief is a Samsung feature that shows you a summary of your day — weather, calendar events, news, and reminders — when you unlock your phone or swipe to a specific screen. It appears on many Samsung Galaxy devices running One UI 5.0 and later. The feature lives on your home screen or lock screen, depending on your phone model and settings.

Now Brief pulls information from your Samsung account, Google services, and installed apps. Some people find it useful; others find it cluttered or distracting. If you want a cleaner home screen or lock screen, turning it off takes just a few taps.

Key Takeaways

  • Now Brief appears on your home screen or lock screen as a widget showing weather, calendar, and news summaries.
  • You can remove it by long-pressing the widget and selecting delete, or by turning it off in Samsung Free settings.
  • Disabling it in settings prevents it from reappearing on new home screens you create.
  • The exact steps vary slightly between phone models, but the process is the same on all recent Samsung Galaxy devices.

Remove Now Brief from Your Home Screen

The fastest way to get rid of Now Brief is to delete the widget directly from your home screen. Long-press the Now Brief card or widget — hold your finger on it for about two seconds until a menu appears. You should see options including "Remove" or a trash icon.

Tap the remove or delete option. The widget disappears when ready. However, this only removes it from that particular home screen. If you create a new home screen or restart your phone, Now Brief may reappear. To prevent that, you also need to disable it in settings.

Turn Off Now Brief in Samsung Free Settings

Open your phone's Settings app. Scroll down and tap Apps, then Samsung Free (or search for "Samsung Free" in settings if you cannot find it in the list). Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner, then select Settings or Preferences.

Look for an option called Show on Home Screen, Home Screen Widget, or Display. Toggle this setting off. On some models, you may also see a Lock Screen option — turn that off too if you want to remove Now Brief from your lock screen as well.

After you disable these settings, Now Brief will not reappear when you add new home screens or restart your device. The widget is now fully disabled.

Disable Now Brief on Your Lock Screen

If Now Brief appears on your lock screen instead of (or in addition to) your home screen, you can remove it separately. Go to Settings and tap Lock Screen. Look for Lock Screen Widgets or Widgets.

Find Now Brief in the list and tap it, then select Remove or toggle it off. Some Samsung models let you tap and hold the lock screen itself to edit widgets directly — if so, long-press the Now Brief widget and select delete. The exact method depends on your One UI version, but both approaches work.

What to Do If Now Brief Keeps Coming Back

If Now Brief reappears after you remove it, you likely disabled it in one place but not the other. Check both your home screen settings and your lock screen settings to make sure you turned it off in both locations. Also verify that you disabled it in Samsung Free settings, not just deleted the widget.

If it still returns, restart your phone after disabling it. Sometimes the changes do not take effect until you reboot. If you continue to see it, check whether you have multiple user profiles or a work profile on your device — Now Brief settings can differ between profiles.

Alternative: Customize Now Brief Instead of Removing It

If you want to keep Now Brief but make it less intrusive, you can customize what it shows. Long-press the Now Brief widget and tap Edit or Customize. You can usually toggle off specific sections — weather, calendar, news, or reminders — so only the information you want appears.

You can also resize the widget to make it smaller. Long-press it and drag the edges to shrink it, so it takes up less space on your home screen. This middle ground works well if you use some of the information Now Brief provides but do not want the full card.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will turning off Now Brief affect my calendar or weather apps?

No. Disabling Now Brief only removes the widget from your home screen and lock screen. Your Calendar, Weather, and other apps continue to work normally. Now Brief is just a summary card — removing it does not delete any data or disable any services.

Can I turn off Now Brief on my lock screen but keep it on my home screen?

Yes. The lock screen and home screen have separate widget settings. You can disable it in one place and leave it enabled in the other. Go to Lock Screen settings to remove it from your lock screen, and Samsung Free settings to remove it from your home screen.

What is Samsung Free, and do I need it?

Samsung Free is a Samsung service that delivers news, weather, and other content through widgets and cards. You do not need it to use your phone. If you do not want any Samsung Free content, you can disable the entire app in Settings > Apps > Samsung Free, then tap the three-dot menu and select Disable.

Does removing Now Brief save battery?

Slightly. Now Brief refreshes periodically to update weather and news, which uses a small amount of battery. Removing it will not dramatically extend your battery life, but it does eliminate that small drain. If battery life is a concern, disabling it is one of many small steps that add up.

Why does Now Brief appear on my new home screens automatically?

Samsung includes Now Brief as a default widget on new home screens. If you have not disabled it in Samsung Free settings, it will keep appearing. Make sure you toggle off the "Show on Home Screen" option in Samsung Free settings, not just delete the widget from your current screen.