You spend a lot of time using your iPhone, so it’s worth taking the time to organize your apps. Keeping your apps organized lets you open your favorites faster, open up space for useful widgets, and group your apps by category.
You can organize apps on your iPhone by moving them, creating folders, and more.
Whatever your strategy for getting organized, here’s how to move and sort your apps on an iPhone.
How to move apps on an iPhone
The most basic organizing skill you’ll need is knowing how to move apps on your iPhone home screen.
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Long-press on a blank portion of your home screen background until the items begin to jiggle.
- Tap and hold your finger on the app you want to move, and then drag it where you want it to go, then let go.
You can also move multiple apps at once, which is great for large-scale organization. Start to move one app icon, and with your other finger, tap other apps around it. They’ll start stacking up under your finger, letting you move all of them at the same time.
How to rearrange apps on your iPhone Home screen
Here’s how to rearrange the apps or widgets on your iPhone® Home screen:
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Long-press on a blank portion of your home screen background until the items begin to jiggle.
- Tap and hold your finger on the app or widget you want to move, and then drag it around the screen. You should see the app or widget icon move under your finger, and other apps will "flow" around it as you drag.
- When you’ve found the right spot for the app or widget, just release it. It’ll settle into place and start shaking again. Repeat this for as many apps or widgets as you’d like.
- When you’re done, press "Done" in the top-right corner or press the Home button (on an iPhone with a Home button) or tap the Home Screen background (on other iPhone models).
How to create multiple Home screen pages for apps on your iPhone
Do you have more apps than you can fit on one Home screen page? Most of us do. The solution is to add more pages. After you do so, consider putting the apps you use most often on your first page, or you can organize apps by category (one for entertainment apps, work apps, travel apps, etc.) To create additional home screens. Here’s how to move app on iPhone to another screen:
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Long-press on a blank portion of your home screen background until the items begin to jiggle.
- Drag the app to the right edge of the screen. You might need to wait a moment for the new page to appear. The dots above the Dock show how many pages you have and which one you’re viewing.
- When you’re finished, press the Home button (on an iPhone with a Home button) or tap the Home Screen background (on other iPhone models).
How to create folders for apps on your iPhone
A convenient way to organize your iPhone’s app collection is to sort your apps into folders. You can make any number of folders and give them unique names, making it an easy way to save space and quickly find similar apps.
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Long-press on a blank portion of your home screen background until the apps begin to jiggle.
- To create a Folder, drag an app on top of the other — you should see a frame appear around the app on the bottom — and let go. If you have trouble with this, be sure that you drag the app directly over the center of the other icon. If you approach it too far off-center, that app will simply land next to the other.
- To add additional apps to the Folder, just drag them into it.
- To rename the folder, tap the folder. If you’re still in "jiggle mode," you can rename the folder. Tap the name at the top of the screen and type to change it.
- When you’re finished, tap Done, then tap the Home Screen background twice.
If you want to remove an app from a folder, just enter "jiggle mode," tap the folder to open it, then drag the app from the folder to the Home Screen.
If you want to delete a folder from your Home Screen, just enter jiggle mode, tap the folder to open it, then drag all the apps out of it onto the Home Screen. When the folder is empty, it’s deleted automatically.
Remove apps from the Home Screen but keep their data
If you don’t want to have an app on your Home Screen, but still want to keep the app on your iPhone, you can move it to the App Library.
The App Library is the last page of your Home Screen, and contains folders with every single one of your apps. Removing an app from your Home Screen without deleting it will still let you find it in the App Library.
- Tap and hold your finger on any app that you want to take off the Home Screen.
- Select "Remove App."
- When you’re asked if you’d like to delete the app or remove it, tap "Remove from Home Screen."
The app will disappear, but you can still find it in the App Library.
How to delete an app
- Touch and hold the app icon, then tap Remove App.
- Tap Delete App, then tap Delete to confirm.
Download apps to the App Library
When you download a new app, it appears on your Home screen. If your Home screen is full, the app will show up on a new blank home screen. If you’d like your apps to go straight to your App Library, and not appear as an icon on your Home screen, here’s what to do:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Go to Home Screen & App Library.
- Select App Library Only.