The top bar of your Android phone contains a whole of symbols and icons. Here's a guide to what the most common ones mean.

The icons resting at the top of our screens have changed a lot over time—from their design to their meaning. As more features are added to our smartphones, more icons appear.

Let's explore some of the most common Android status bar symbols, so you never have to question the status of your phone again.

The status bar on Android is the bar of icons running across the top of your screen. The top right corner is dedicated to the major status of your device, while the left is used for app notifications.

Swiping down from the top of your screen, you'll find access to a selection of recognizable tools like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, and maybe location and power saving. You can easily customize this quick settings panel as well.

Tapping one of these will enable or disable the feature. While enabled, an icon representing the tool should be displayed alongside the battery icon in the top right corner of your screen. The top left corner of your screen is reserved for notifications, so the icons that appear here usually correlate to an app, like Instagram or a missed phone call.

Try enabling and disabling Wi-Fi on your device, and you'll find that the icon on your status bar will appear and disappear appropriately. The status bar will serve as a way for you to quickly determine the state of your device. Having issues loading a webpage? Quickly glancing at your status bar might tell you that you have no mobile service or Wi-Fi.

Now that we've covered the location and purpose of Android's status bar, let's look at the common icons you'll find in the top right corner of your screen. You'll certainly recognize a few of these, but there is still a surprising amount to learn about these little icons.

Perhaps the most recognized and easiest icons to interpret are the battery icons. These include the typical battery status, which might be accompanied by a percentage. A simpler version of this will show only an appropriately filled battery. There is also the battery charging icon, which is displayed when your phone is currently charging.

There are more that you'll commonly see:

The network bars and Wi-Fi icons represent your mobile and Wi-Fi network connections, respectively. These icons display a rough approximation of the strength of either signal with variations.

The number of filled-in bars can be used to gauge how strong your signal is, but some carriers also display the network speed alongside this icon. This can be a small LTE, 4G, or 5G hovering beside the bars icon; though, these symbols can also stand on their own.

There are other icons that correspond to data:

There are several icons that focus on sound and vibration. The most obvious of these is the phone icon, which varies between an ongoing call and a missed call. There is also a unique icon for devices that allow Wi-Fi-enabled calling, which is as simple as a combination of the Wi-Fi and phone icons.

A line with an arrow, pointing up or down towards the line, notifies you of an active upload or download.

Some icons are used to alert you to various methods of connection, whether physical or Bluetooth.

There are a host of other icons you'll see in your status bar from time to time.

One common icon that often confuses users is the N icon. This tells you that NFC, or Near Field Communication, is active on your device.

This is the technology that allows you to share data between two phones within a tight proximity, or tap your phone at the payment portal to use your phone like a debit card. We've detailed the process of using NFC and Google Pay to make payments from your phone.

In addition to these, you'll see app-specific icons whenever you receive notifications. These could relate to an email in the Gmail app, incoming tweets or Instagram messages, an indicator showing you've taken a screenshot, and many more.

Now that you can recognize some of the most common Android status bar icons, your phone can easily communicate to you its various statuses with a quick glance in the top corners of the screen.

It's important to maintain the wellness of your Android device, especially as it ages. One thing to keep in mind as your device gets older is battery health. Luckily, we can help you collect and review data regarding your Android device's battery.

Nico is a writer at MakeUseOf and Hardcore Droid. He enjoys writing Android and gaming content while he pursues a bachelor's degree in computer science. He hopes to one day become a systems engineer at a game studio.

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