How to Customize Quick Settings on Pixel Android 17

Quick Settings give you one-tap access to Wi-Fi, flashlight, Do Not Disturb, and dozens of other controls. On Pixel phones running Android 17 you can rearrange those tiles, resize them, and, on recent builds, change the overall order of the brightness slider, tiles, and media player.

The process takes under a minute once you know where the editor lives. Changes apply immediately and survive reboots. This guide walks through the official steps from Pixel Help and notes the extra Layout options that appeared in Android 17 QPR2 and later betas.

If you are still deciding whether to install a preview build, the Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 install guide covers enrollment and the risks of leaving the beta program.

Open the Quick Settings editor

Start from any screen.

1. Swipe down once from the top of the screen to open the compact panel.
2. Swipe down a second time (or swipe down with two fingers) to expand the full Quick Settings shade.
3. Tap the pencil (Edit) icon in the corner of the panel.

The editor opens with your current tiles at the top and a tray of available tiles below. On builds that include the Layout feature you will also see a Layout tab at the bottom of the editor.

Add, remove, and reorder tiles

The tile editor works the same way it has for several Android versions, with small refinements on Android 17.

• To add a tile, scroll the lower tray, press and hold the tile you want, then drag it into the active area.
• To remove a tile, press and hold it and drag it back into the lower tray (or tap the minus icon if it appears).
• To reorder, press and hold any active tile and drag it to a new position.

Android 17 also splits some combined toggles. Wi-Fi and Mobile Data appear as separate tiles on many devices, so you can place each where you need it. A new Keyboard tile lets you switch input methods without opening Settings. Long-press the Keyboard tile to open the full keyboard apps list.

Tap the back button or the Done control to exit the editor. Your arrangement is saved automatically.

Resize tiles for denser layouts

Pixel lets you shrink tiles so more of them fit on one page.

1. In the editor, tap a tile.
2. Drag the size handle (or swipe the tile’s edge) left to shrink it to icon-only size, or right to restore the full label.
3. Tap another tile or the back button to confirm.

Smaller tiles work well for icons you recognize instantly (flashlight, hotspot, screen recorder). Keep full-size tiles for less familiar controls so the label remains visible. You can mix sizes on the same page.

Change the overall panel layout

Starting with Android 17 QPR2 Beta 3 (and present in later Canary and QPR builds), Pixel adds a Layout tab inside the Quick Settings editor.

Open the editor as described above, then tap Layout at the bottom. You can reorder three fixed sections:

• Brightness bar
• Tiles area
• Media player

There are six possible orders. The default places brightness at the top, tiles in the middle, and the media player at the bottom. You cannot remove any of the three sections, but you can put the media player first if you control playback more often than you adjust brightness, or move the tiles to the top for faster one-handed reach.

The Layout tab is not available on every Android 17 build yet. It ships with QPR2 and later preview releases and is expected in the stable QPR2 Feature Drop. If you do not see the tab, your device is still on an earlier stable build; the classic tile editor still works.

Practical tips for daily use

Put the tiles you toggle most often in the first row of the expanded shade. That row stays visible after a single swipe on many layouts, so flashlight, Do Not Disturb, and hotspot become reachable without a second gesture.

Resize rarely used tiles (cast, screen recorder, wallet) to icon size and place them on the second page. Swipe sideways in the full shade to reach them when needed.

If you frequently switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data, keep both tiles adjacent. The split tiles on Android 17 make this cleaner than the older combined connectivity tile.

Reset is available if you experiment too far. In the editor look for a Reset or undo control (the exact label varies by build). It restores the factory tile order without touching other settings.

The media player section in the Layout editor respects whatever app is currently playing. Reordering it does not change how media sessions behave; it only moves the visual block.

Conclusion

Customizing Quick Settings on a Pixel with Android 17 is straightforward. Open the full shade, tap the pencil, then add, remove, reorder, or resize tiles. On builds that include the Layout tab you can also rearrange the brightness bar, tiles, and media player. The changes stick across reboots and make the most-used controls reachable with fewer gestures.

Check for a system update if the Layout tab is missing; it arrived with the QPR2 preview cycle and is rolling into stable releases. For the latest beta details, including how to enroll, see the Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 install guide.

Sources

• Google Pixel Help, Change settings quickly on your Pixel phone, official steps for opening, adding, removing, and reordering tiles.
• 9to5Google, “Android 17 QPR2 lets you customize Pixel Quick Settings layout,” 14 August 2026, describing the new Layout tab and the six section orders.
• Android Canary 2608 notes and subsequent QPR2 beta reports confirming the Layout editor on Pixel devices.