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Waze has no official checklist of seven settings every driver should change. But these seven preference groups can make its routes, alerts and nearby fuel or charging results better match your needs. Treat them as choices, not universal recommendations: avoiding a road type can add time, and Waze may still include it when route availability requires it. Menu labels and availability can vary by platform and app version.
1. Choose which roads Waze should avoid
On your phone, open Settings > Navigation and enable only the avoidance preferences that suit you: toll roads, ferries or freeways. You can also adjust preferences for an upcoming route. Avoiding freeways, for example, may steer you onto slower local roads; avoiding tolls can lengthen a trip.
Waze says the first route should be toll-free when toll avoidance is on, unless no toll-free route is available. A route that includes tolls displays an amount icon. Avoidance is a preference rather than an absolute ban: Waze says an avoided road type may still appear if route availability requires it. See Waze’s route-avoidance instructions.
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If Waze keeps routing you onto dirt or gravel roads, look for its unpaved-road preference and choose the level that fits your driving:
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- Allow: Unpaved roads can be part of a route.
- Avoid long ones: Waze can still use shorter unpaved sections.
- Don’t allow: The most restrictive choice if you want to stay on paved roads.
Drivers in rural areas may prefer a less restrictive option so Waze has more routing choices. Waze warns that an unpaved road can still appear in a suggested route when availability requires it. Details are in Waze’s unpaved-road guidance.
3. Decide whether to avoid difficult intersections
On Android, Waze offers an option to avoid difficult intersections, with Always and Never choices. The feature is intended to avoid difficult turns, such as some junctions without traffic lights; it is a routing preference, not a promise that every tricky maneuver will disappear. Choose it if those intersections are a concern, or turn it off if you prefer Waze to consider all available routes. See Waze’s Android instructions.
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4. Choose whether Waze personalizes routes and ETAs
Personalized navigation uses past drives and routes you have selected or rejected to tailor route suggestions and estimated arrival times. Waze says these features are on by default, but you can disable them if you prefer suggestions that rely less on your driving history. This is a preference, not a claim that either approach is inherently better.
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The features may not be available in every area and may require enough navigation history. Waze explains the controls in its personalized navigation help.
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5. Set up the speedometer and speed alerts
Waze documents four related controls: Show speedometer, Show speed limit, Speeding threshold and Alert at threshold. Use them to choose whether the app displays your speed and the posted limit, and when it should alert you. Waze says the speedometer turns red and produces an alert when you are above the speed limit. Treat this as an aid to awareness, not a substitute for watching the road and posted signs.
Adjust these settings on your phone for in-car use. If you use Android Auto or CarPlay, Waze instructs you to disconnect the phone first. Follow the platform-specific steps in Waze’s speed-limit-alert guide.
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6. Select the vehicle type you actually drive
Waze documents Private, Taxi and Motorcycle as vehicle-type choices. It says the selection supports appropriate routing and ETA updates, so choose the type that matches the trip rather than leaving an old setting in place. Availability and feature behavior can differ by account, platform and location; Waze’s vehicle-type instructions describe the setting.
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7. Personalize fuel stations or EV charging results
For fuel stops, set a preferred fuel type and station brand, then sort station results by Price, Distance or Brand. This changes how you find stations; it does not mean Waze will always route you to a preferred brand. See Waze’s preferred gas station instructions.
EV drivers should use Waze’s separate preferred plug and charging-network flow rather than treating the fuel-station controls as equivalent. Waze directs EV users to its EV charging instructions.
What “less chatty” means—and what is rolling out
Waze’s July 13, 2026 product update also announced a “less chatty” mode and personalized navigation as global rollouts on Android and iOS. The same post said conversational road-update reporting was rolling out globally, while conversational voice destination discovery was rolling out to the global beta community. Rollouts can take time, so a feature described as global may not yet appear for every account. Check your app rather than assuming the setting is available.
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