iPhone (iOS) · Personalization
Organize the Home Screen and App Library on iPhone
Home Screen settings control how new apps are added and how your app pages are arranged, while App Library automatically sorts every installed app into categorized folders you can browse or search without needing a tidy Home Screen at all.
How to open Home Screen & App Library
- Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen to enter jiggle mode.
- Tap the page dots at the bottom to show or hide specific Home Screen pages.
- Open Settings → Home Screen to choose whether new apps install to the Home Screen or App Library Only.
- Swipe left past your last page to browse or search App Library directly.
What you should know
- App Library is reached by swiping left past your last Home Screen page and groups apps automatically by category.
- New apps can be set to install on the Home Screen and App Library, or App Library Only to keep the Home Screen minimal.
- Entire Home Screen pages can be hidden (not deleted) from the page-dot editor without removing the apps themselves.
- App Library includes a 'Suggestions' folder that surfaces apps based on time of day and usage patterns, plus a 'Recently Added' folder.
Hiding a Home Screen page doesn't uninstall its apps — they remain reachable through App Library or Spotlight search even while the page is hidden.
Why it matters
App Library solves the long-standing problem of a Home Screen overwhelmed with dozens of rarely used app icons, by automatically categorizing every installed app so nothing is ever truly lost even if it's not pinned anywhere visible. Setting new downloads to 'App Library Only' keeps a curated, deliberate Home Screen intact instead of every new install landing wherever there's free space. This combination gives you real control over how much visual clutter your phone shows daily, without sacrificing quick access to any app when you actually need it.
Best practices
- Set new app downloads to 'App Library Only' if you want your Home Screen to stay limited to a small, deliberately chosen set of apps.
- Hide Home Screen pages you rarely look at instead of leaving them visible and swiping past them out of habit.
- Use App Library's search (swipe down or tap the search bar at the top) to open an app quickly instead of hunting across multiple Home Screen pages.
- Check the 'Recently Added' folder in App Library after installing several new apps at once to quickly locate and organize them.
Common problems and fixes
- A newly installed app can't be found anywhere on the Home Screen
- Check App Library by swiping left past your last page — it's likely there if 'Newly Downloaded Apps' is set to App Library Only.
- An entire Home Screen page disappeared unexpectedly
- Touch and hold the Home Screen, tap the page dots, and check whether that page was accidentally toggled off rather than the apps being deleted.
- App Library categories seem to group unrelated apps together oddly
- This is expected behavior since categorization is automatic and based on App Store metadata; there's no manual way to recategorize an app within App Library.
- Deleting an app from the Home Screen also seems to remove it everywhere
- Tapping 'Remove App' (rather than 'Remove from Home Screen') during jiggle mode fully uninstalls the app; use 'Remove from Home Screen Only' if you just want it out of view but kept in App Library.
Tips and tricks
- Tap directly on a folder's small icon preview inside App Library to instantly reveal all the apps in that category without fully opening it.
- Swipe down anywhere on a Home Screen page to bring up Spotlight search as a faster alternative to browsing App Library for a specific app.
Frequently asked questions
Does hiding a Home Screen page delete the apps on it?
No, hiding a page only removes it from view — the apps remain fully installed and accessible through App Library or Spotlight search.
What's the difference between removing an app from the Home Screen and deleting it?
Removing from the Home Screen keeps the app installed and moves it to App Library only, while deleting uninstalls the app entirely and removes its local data.
Can I turn off App Library entirely?
No, App Library is a permanent part of iOS and can't be disabled, though you can choose to send new downloads to the Home Screen as well so you rarely need to visit it.
Related settings
- WallpaperWallpaper settings let you personalize your Lock Screen and Home Screen with photos, curated presets, or Photo Shuffle rotations, plus Lock Screen extras like widgets, filters, and a customizable time display.
- Control CenterControl Center gives you one-swipe access to frequently used toggles and shortcuts — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness, Flashlight, and more — and can be fully customized with the specific controls you personally rely on.
- Screen Time & FamilyScreen Time shows how you (or your family) use your devices and lets you set app limits, downtime schedules, and content restrictions — especially useful when set up through Family Sharing for a child's device.
More Personalization guides for iPhone (iOS)
- Lock Screen & StandByStandBy turns your iPhone into a glanceable bedside display of clocks, widgets, and Live Activities whenever it's charging and turned sideways, while Lock Screen settings control what you see without unlocking the device at all.
- Home Screen WidgetsWidgets show live, glanceable information from an app directly on the Home Screen or Today View, in small, medium, large, or Smart Stack sizes.
- Display ZoomDisplay Zoom scales the entire interface larger (Zoomed) or shows more content at once (Standard), changing the effective size of icons, text, and controls together.
- Action ButtonOn iPhone 15 Pro and later, the Action Button replaces the mute switch and can be assigned to trigger Silent Mode, Camera, Flashlight, a Shortcut, Accessibility features, and more with a press-and-hold.
- Back Tap GesturesBack Tap lets a double or triple tap on the back of the iPhone launch an action or Shortcut, without touching the screen or any physical button.
- Tap to Wake & Raise to WakeRaise to Wake turns the screen on when the iPhone is lifted, while Tap to Wake turns it on with a single tap anywhere on the display while it's lying flat.