The basic method depends on your phone type
Adding an app to your home screen is different on iPhone and Android, but both take less than a minute once you know where to look. On iPhone, you long-press an empty spot on your home screen, tap the plus sign, find the app, and tap "Add Widget" or "Add App." On Android, you long-press the app in your app drawer, tap "Add to Home Screen," and it appears. Some Android phones let you drag the app directly from the app drawer to your home screen instead.
The reason you might want to do this: apps live in your app drawer by default, which means you have to open that drawer every time you want to use them. Putting frequently used apps on your home screen saves you a tap or two. You can also organize them however you want — group messaging apps together, put games in one corner, keep work apps separate.
Key Takeaways
- On iPhone, long-press an empty home screen area, tap the plus sign, search for or scroll to your app, and confirm the addition.
- On Android, long-press the app in your app drawer and select "Add to Home Screen," or drag it directly to your home screen on some phones.
- You can organize home screen apps into folders by dragging one app onto another, which works on both iPhone and Android.
- Removing an app from your home screen does not delete it — it stays in your app drawer and you can add it back anytime.
Adding an app on iPhone
Start by going to your home screen — the main screen you see when you unlock your phone. Find an empty area with no app icons. Press and hold your finger on that empty spot for about a second until a menu appears at the bottom of the screen with a plus sign.
Tap the plus sign. A list of your apps will appear. You can scroll through the list or use the search box at the top to type the app name. Once you find the app you want, tap it. A preview will show you what the app icon looks like. Tap "Add to Home Screen" at the bottom right, then tap "Add" to confirm. The app now appears on your home screen where you held down.
If you want to move it to a different spot, press and hold the app icon itself until it enters edit mode (the icons will jiggle slightly), then drag it where you want it. Tap "Done" when you are finished moving things around.
Adding an app on Android
Open your app drawer — this is usually a grid icon or "Apps" button at the bottom of your home screen. Find the app you want to add. Press and hold the app icon for about a second until a menu pops up with several options.
Look for "Add to Home Screen" in that menu and tap it. The app icon will appear on your home screen, usually in the top-left area or wherever there is empty space. If you want to move it, press and hold the icon, drag it to a new spot, and release. On some Android phones, you can also drag an app directly from the app drawer to your home screen without using the menu.
If your phone has a different version of Android, the exact wording might vary slightly — you might see "Add to Home" or just "Add Home" — but the idea is the same. The menu appears when you long-press, and one option will add the app to your screen.
Organizing apps into folders
Once you have several apps on your home screen, you can group them into folders to save space. On iPhone, drag one app icon onto another app icon. They will combine into a folder with a suggested name. You can tap the folder name to change it to something more useful, like "Games" or "Social Media."
On Android, the process is similar: drag one app onto another, and they will create a folder. Tap the folder to open it and see what is inside. You can drag more apps into the folder by holding and dragging them over the folder icon. To remove an app from a folder, open the folder, press and hold the app, and drag it back out to your home screen.
Removing an app from your home screen
Removing an app from your home screen does not delete it from your phone. It just takes the icon off your home screen, and the app stays in your app drawer where you can still use it anytime.
On iPhone, press and hold the app icon on your home screen until the menu appears, then tap "Remove." You will see options to "Remove from Home Screen" or "Remove App." Choose the first one if you just want it off your home screen. On Android, press and hold the app icon and look for "Remove from Home Screen" in the menu that appears.
Widgets versus app icons
On iPhone, you might notice the option to add a "Widget" instead of just the app icon. A widget is a small preview of what is inside the app — for example, a weather widget shows today's temperature without you opening the weather app. Widgets take up more space but give you information at a glance.
Android also has widgets, though they work slightly differently. You can add a widget by long-pressing an empty home screen area, tapping "Widgets," finding the app, and selecting the widget size you want. Not every app has a widget, but popular ones like weather, calendar, and news apps usually do. You do not have to use widgets — regular app icons work just fine if you prefer.
Troubleshooting common problems
If an app will not add to your home screen, the most common reason is that you do not have enough empty space. Try removing another app from your home screen first, or moving apps into a folder to make room. Some phones have a limit to how many apps can sit on the home screen at once.
If the app you want does not appear in the list when you search for it, it might not be installed on your phone yet. Go to the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android), search for the app, and install it first. Once it is installed, you can add it to your home screen using the steps above.
On iPhone, if you see "Add Widget" but not "Add App," you are looking at widget options only. Scroll down in that menu or search for the app name to find the regular app icon option instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does removing an app from my home screen delete it?
No. Removing an app from your home screen only takes the icon off your screen. The app stays installed on your phone and remains in your app drawer. You can add it back to your home screen anytime by following the same steps.
Can I add the same app to my home screen more than once?
On Android, yes — you can add multiple shortcuts to the same app. On iPhone, you can only have one icon per app on your home screen, but you can add widgets from the same app if it offers multiple widget options.
What if my home screen is completely full?
Delete or move an app to make space, or create a folder to group apps together and free up room. You can also swipe to a different home screen page — both iPhone and Android let you have multiple screens, and you can add apps to any of them.
Why does my app icon look different after I add it?
Some phones customize app icons or use a theme that changes how they look. The app itself works the same way — the icon is just styled differently. You can usually change icon styles in your phone's settings under "Display" or "Themes."
Can I add apps to my lock screen?
On newer iPhones, yes — you can add widgets to your lock screen by long-pressing it and tapping the plus sign. On Android, this depends on your phone model and version. Check your phone's settings or long-press your lock screen to see if the option is available.