The fastest way to rearrange your iPad home screen

To change your home screen on iPad, press and hold any app icon until a menu appears, then tap Edit Home Screen. From there you can drag icons to new positions, delete them, or organize them into folders. When you're done, tap Done in the top right corner. The whole process takes under a minute for most changes.

If you want to hide entire pages of apps instead of deleting them, you can do that too. While in edit mode, swipe to the far left to see all your home screen pages, then tap the dots at the bottom to uncheck pages you don't want to see. This keeps the apps on your iPad but removes them from view.

Key Takeaways

  • Press and hold any app icon, then select Edit Home Screen to start rearranging your layout.
  • Drag icons to move them, or drag them to the edge of the screen to move them to the next page.
  • Create folders by dragging one app icon onto another, then name the folder when prompted.
  • Hide entire home screen pages by tapping the page dots at the bottom while in edit mode, without deleting any apps.
  • Tap Done when finished, or press the home button to exit edit mode.

Moving apps to different positions and pages

Once you're in edit mode, tap and hold any app icon and drag it to a new spot on the same page. The other icons shift out of the way automatically. To move an app to a different page, drag it toward the right or left edge of the screen—your iPad will scroll to the next page and you can drop it there.

You can also rearrange the dock at the bottom of your screen the same way. Press and hold a dock app, tap Edit Home Screen, then drag the dock icons left or right to reorder them. The dock holds up to 15 apps on iPad, so you have room for your most-used tools in one straightforward-to-reach spot.

Creating and organizing folders

Folders let you group related apps together and free up space on your home screen. While in edit mode, drag one app icon directly onto another app icon. Your iPad will create a folder and suggest a category name based on the app types—for example, dragging Photos onto Camera might create a folder called "Photography."

You can rename the folder or keep the suggested name. To add more apps to the folder, drag them onto the folder icon. To remove an app, open the folder in edit mode, press and hold the app, and drag it out onto the home screen. Delete the folder entirely by pressing and holding it and tapping Remove Folder—the apps inside will move back to your home screen.

Changing the appearance of your home screen

Beyond rearranging icons, you can change how your home screen looks by adjusting your wallpaper and enabling dark mode. Go to Settings > Wallpaper > Add New Wallpaper to choose a new background image. You can pick from Apple's built-in collections, your own photos, or dynamic wallpapers that change throughout the day.

To enable dark mode, open Settings > Display & Brightness and tap Dark. This changes the color scheme of your entire iPad, including the home screen background and app icons, which can make your screen easier on the eyes in low light. You can also set dark mode to turn on automatically at sunset and off at sunrise.

Using Smart Stack and widgets on your home screen

Widgets are small app windows that show live information—weather, calendar events, news—without opening the full app. To add a widget, press and hold an empty area of your home screen, tap the plus button in the top left, choose an app, and select the widget size you want. Drag it onto your home screen and tap Add Widget.

A Smart Stack is a special widget that holds multiple widgets in one spot and automatically rotates between them, or lets you swipe through them manually. To create one, add a widget, then drag another widget directly on top of it. Your iPad will stack them together. You can add up to 10 widgets to a single Smart Stack.

Resetting your home screen to default layout

If you want to start over completely, you can reset your home screen to Apple's default layout. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout. This puts all your apps back in their original positions and removes any custom folders or pages you created. Your apps themselves are not deleted—only their arrangement changes.

This reset does not affect your wallpaper, dark mode settings, or any app data. It only touches the home screen layout. If you've made changes you regret but don't want a full reset, you can always rearrange things again using the edit mode steps described earlier.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have different home screen layouts on different pages?

Yes. Each page of your home screen is independent, so you can organize one page by app type, another by frequency of use, and another with just your favorite games. There's no limit to how many pages you can create—just keep dragging apps to the right edge to add new pages.

What happens to an app if I delete it from the home screen?

Deleting an app from the home screen does not remove it from your iPad. The app stays in your App Library (the last page, after all your home screen pages), and you can search for it or add it back to the home screen anytime. To actually remove an app from your iPad entirely, you need to delete it from the App Library instead.

How do I get back to edit mode if I accidentally tapped Done?

Just press and hold any app icon again and tap Edit Home Screen. You can enter and exit edit mode as many times as you want. There's no penalty for doing so, and all your changes are saved automatically.

Can I use different wallpapers on the lock screen and home screen?

Yes. When you add a new wallpaper, your iPad asks whether you want it on the lock screen, home screen, or both. You can set one image for your lock screen and a different one for your home screen, or use the same image for both.