Your iPhone’s Home Screen is the grid of app icons you see every time you unlock the phone. By default, apps appear in the order they were installed, which usually means a jumble of things you use every day mixed in with apps you’ve never opened. A few minutes of tidying can make a real difference to how easy the phone is to use.

What the Home Screen Is

The Home Screen is your starting point. When you press the Side button or tap the screen to wake the phone, the Home Screen is what greets you. You can have several pages of it, swipe left to see the next page. At the bottom is the Dock, a fixed strip of four apps that stay put no matter which page you’re on (most people keep Phone, Messages, Safari, and something else they use constantly).

How to Move an App

You can rearrange any app on your Home Screen by pressing and holding it until it starts to wobble.

Press and hold the app icon you want to move. After a moment, all the icons will start gently wobbling and a small menu will appear, tap Edit Home Screen if it does, or just wait for the wobble to start.
Once the icons are wobbling, drag the app to wherever you want it. You can move it to a different spot on the same page, or drag it to the very left or right edge of the screen to carry it onto another page.
When you’re happy with where it is, lift your finger.
Press the Side button once, or tap Done in the top right corner, to stop the wobble and save your changes.

That’s all there is to it. If things get muddled while you’re dragging, just press Done and start again, nothing is permanent.

How to Create a Folder

Folders let you group related apps together, which is useful for keeping things like travel apps, banking apps, or games in one place instead of spread across several pages.

Start by pressing and holding any app until the icons start wobbling.
Drag one app slowly on top of another app that belongs in the same group.
Hold it there for a moment and the two apps will merge into a folder.
Lift your finger. The folder is created and opens automatically to show you what’s inside.

You can then drag more apps into the folder by dropping them onto it while the icons are still wobbling.

How to Name a Folder

When a folder is first created, your iPhone suggests a name based on the types of apps inside, it might say “Entertainment” or “Utilities”. You can keep that name or change it to anything you like.

While the icons are wobbling, tap the folder to open it.
Tap the name at the top of the folder. A keyboard will appear.
Delete the current name and type whatever you want, “Banking”, “Kids”, “Travel”, or anything else.
Tap Done on the keyboard, then press the Side button or tap Done at the top right to finish.

Short, clear names work best. If the name is too long it gets cut off under the folder icon on the Home Screen.

How to Remove Apps From Your Home Screen Without Deleting Them

Sometimes you want an app off your Home Screen, because you rarely use it but still want it on the phone. You can move it to the App Library, which is a searchable archive of everything installed on your phone.

Press and hold the app icon until the wobble starts.
Tap Remove App (or a minus sign in the corner of the icon).
A menu will appear with two options: Delete App and Remove from Home Screen.
Tap Remove from Home Screen.

The app is now off your Home Screen but still on your phone. To find it again, swipe all the way left past your last page of apps, the App Library is there, with all your apps organised automatically by category. You can also search for any app by pulling down on the Home Screen to open Spotlight search.

Tip: Keep Your Most-Used Apps on Page 1

Think about which apps you reach for most often, Messages, WhatsApp, the Camera, your banking app, the weather. Move all of those to page 1 so they’re the first thing you see. Apps you use occasionally can go on page 2 or into folders. Apps you almost never open can go into the App Library.

The goal is a Home Screen where you can find what you need without hunting. Even if you just move your five most-used apps to the top of page 1, that’s enough to make a noticeable difference.

If you’d like a hand with this in person, it’s one of the things we cover in our one-to-one sessions across Hebden Bridge and the Calder Valley. Get in touch and we’ll arrange a time that suits you.

How to Organise Your iPhone Home Screen