Trying to find an app on your iPhone’s Home Screen, but all your app icons seem to have suddenly disappeared after the latest iOS 17 update? Whether it’s a matter of insufficient storage or software glitches, this can be quite an annoyance, especially when you’re in a rush. Do not worry; the fix for this is very simple. Just follow the steps we give in this article.
How to restore your iPhone app icons
Restart your phone
The first troubleshooting step is to restart your iPhone. This is easy and fixes the most common issues. Simply shut off your iPhone by going to Settings > General > Shut Down, and then drag the power off icon from the left to right. After your iPhone has fully powered off, press and hold the Power button (on the side of your phone) until the Apple logo appears. After restarting, you may see that the app icons have reappeared.
Use Search or Siri to find the missing app icons
Even though you may not see an app icon on your iPhone, it is possible that the app is still on one of your screens, but you may have accidentally moved it somewhere. You can use Search to locate it and then move it to your desired location again. Here is how:
- Open Spotlight Search by swiping down from the middle of the Home screen.
- Tap the search field, then type the app you are looking for.
- As you type, Search updates results in real time. You can open the app, or you can touch and hold the app until there is a click and a small menu appears; keep holding and drag the icon. Your Home screen will reappear, and you can drag it to your desired location on your iPhone screen.
Rather than spend time hunting down an app, you can tell Siri to launch an app. You can launch Siri and ask Siri something like “open ((name of the app,)” and Siri will launch the app, and then you can use the app as usual.
Check your App Library to bring back missing app icons
It’s possible that you removed the app in question from your Home Screen. When an app is removed from your Home Screen, you can still find it in your App Library. Thus, it is a good idea to check your App Library, find the missing app icon and then drag it to your Home Screen. Here is how:
- Go to the Home Screen, then swipe left past all your Home Screen pages to get to App Library.
- You will see all of your apps organized into categories. Look for the missing app icon. You can also use Search, located at the top of the App Library screen.
- Once you have found the missing app icon, press and drag it to your Home Screen.
Check Selected Home Screen Pages for Focus
If you use Focus profiles often to maximize your productivity, you may have configured it to allow certain Home Screen pages. While customizing your Home Screens and filtering out any apps that hinder your productivity can be a great way to focus on your tasks, it can also be the root cause of your apps disappearing.
If you’re currently using a Focus mode and are unable to find an app, follow the steps below:
- Launch Settings and tap Focus.
- Now, choose the Focus profile you’re currently using.
- You’ll see two display previews under Customize Screens. Since the issue lies with your iPhone’s Home Screen, tap Choose under the Home Screen option.
- Now, check if you’ve accidentally deselected the Home Screen page that houses the missing apps. If that’s the case, simply select the page.
Free up space on your iPhone to get your disappeared app icons back
In most cases, app icons tend to disappear due to insufficient storage. [If you’ve been getting the iPhone Storage Full" warnings. , we recommend checking how much free storage your device currently has. To see your iPhone storage, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. You can follow the suggestions listed such as:
- Offload Unused Apps
- Review TV Downloads
- Review Downloaded Videos
The apps are listed in descending order based on how much storage they are using. You can do the following to free up some space:
- Tap on each app to** Offload or Delete**the app. Some built-in apps can not be deleted.
- For some apps, such as Podcasts and Music, you can remove individual podcasts or songs.
- Note, for the Photos app, you need to go into the Photos app to delete photos and videos.
Reset your Home Screen layout
You can restore the default Home Screen layout. Doing this will not erase your content or data. However, any folders you’ve created are removed, and apps you’ve downloaded are arranged alphabetically after apps that came with your iPhone. You may want to take a Home Screen screenshot if you want before proceeding so you do not forget the arrangement of your apps and folders.
To do this, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone. Tap Reset, tap Reset Home Screen Layout, then tap Reset Home Screen.
After this reset, you will see the missing app icons are restored to your iPhone home’ screen.
Get Your iPhone App Icons Back
Hopefully, the troubleshooting fixes above helped bring your app icons back. If all fails, your best bet may be factory resetting your iPhone. While erasing your device is not ideal, it restores your iPhone to its default state and is a clear-cut way of solving most software glitches.
