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rearrange apps in iOS 13 and iPadOS

Can’t delete or rearrange app icons on your iPhone or iPad home screen? How to fix

By 8 comments Last updated June 1, 2020

Did you know that you can rearrange apps on your Home screen? It’s surprising how many people don’t know how to do this! But with iOS and the new iPadOS, it’s easy to move, organize, and delete your apps on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with just a few simple steps.



With any iOS version, you can remove or move apps around your Home screen, put them into the Dock, or move them to other screens– but it’s a tad different in iPadOS and iOS 13+ versus earlier versions (ios 12 and below.)

So let’s start to rearrange your apps on your Home screen, organize apps into folders, and even move them to other screens, folders, or pages. Plus, you can reorder those screens too!

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How to remove, rearrange, and move apps in iOS 13+ and iPadOS

With iOS 13+ and iPadOS, removing apps or rearranging them has changed slightly. And that’s mainly due to the quick action menus that pop-up when you long-press an app!

Rearrange and move apps in iOS 13 and iPadOS

  1. Long-press an app icon (it can be any app icon)
  2. From the Quick Action menu tap Edit Home Screen (for earlier iOS or iPadOS versions choose Rearrange Apps) iPadOS and iOS 13 Edit Home Screen and Delete App options from Quick Action Menu Long-Press Haptic Touch
    1. Depending on the app, you also see app-specific actions iPhone rearrange apps iOS 13 and iPadOS
  3. Move by dragging and dropping your apps to new positions, place them in the dock or in folders, or delete them by pressing the x in the corner
  4. Keep consistent pressure on the app as you move it. If you lift your finger, the app immediately returns to its original location. If it’s not working for you, press harder on the app icon and then drag and drop it!
  5. Press Done or the Home Button when finished Done button when rearranging or deleting apps on home screen iPhone

 



PowerTip 

Tap an icon in the bottom row (not dock), wait for just a little, give it a quick pull to the bottom-right, release.
Boom! Instant wiggle mode in under a second! 

Delete apps in iOS 13 and iPadOS

  • Long-press an app you want to delete haptic touch delete app option in quick menu iOS 13 and iPadOS
  • Choose Delete App from the haptic touch Quick Action menu or continue pressing even when the quick action menu appears–this takes around 2-3 seconds
  • Wait until the quick action menu disappears and the apps start to wiggle, then release the long press delete an app on your iPhone or iPad home screen
  • Tap the x in the app’s corner to delete
  • Confirm you want to delete the app–deleting an app removes its data from your devicedeleing app on iPhone confirmation
  • Press Done or the Home Button when finished

Delete apps directly from the app store with iOS 13+ and iPadOS

There’s another new way to delete apps–directly in the app store itself.

  • Open the App Store
  • Tap on your profile photo
  • Scroll down to view available updates and recently updated apps
  • Swipe left on an app and choose Delete iOS 13 and iPadOS allow you to delete an app inside the app store
  • At the confirmation, verify you want to delete that app

And of course, you can offload app or delete apps in your storage settings by going to Settings > General > Storage. offload Apple books app from iPhone iOS 12

Can’t rearrange or move apps in iOS 13+ or iPadOS?

If you can’t get your apps to stay their new locations, take a look at your zoom settings

  • Go to Settings > Accessibility > Zoom and turn it off
  • Now try and move your apps again and see if they stay put
  • Some readers discovered that disabling QuickPath’s setting for slide to type fixed the issue for them. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > toggle off Slide to Type

Missing Apps on your iPhone’s home screen after iOS or iPadOS update?

If an app you always use is not on your home screen after updating your iOS or iPadOS, swipe through all your app home screens to see if it was moved during the update.

When users update, iOS & iPadOS sometimes place Apple’s native apps (and especially any new Apple apps) on your home screen, thereby rearranging your custom app organization and design.

That rearrangement often results in some (or even all) of your apps (especially third-party apps) getting moved to another screen.

You usually find that iOS/iPadOS moved these displaced and missing apps to the last home screen.

How to delete and move apps in iOS 12 and below

  1. Lightly press and hold any app on the screen until the app icon starts to jiggle.  Don’t press too hard or the apps might not jiggle around!
  2. To delete an app, tap the “x” in the left corner Delete Stock Apps iOS 10 to speed performance
  3. To move an app, drag its icon to a different location
    1. Another location on the same screen
    2. A folder on the same screen
    3. Move it to the Dock at the bottom of  your screen
    4. Move to a different screen (or page)—drag the app to the right edge of the screen. You might need to wait a second for the new page to appear. The dots above the Dock show how many pages you have, and which one you’re viewing.
  4. For iPads without home buttons and iPhone X and later models, tap Done. For other models, press the Home Button

Let’s say that you want to move the Settings App to the Dock

  • Just hold your finger down on the Settings App icon screen until all the icons start to shake

iPad troubleshooting, How to fix your iPad problems

  • Then drag that Settings icon to the Dock and drop it there! iPhone home screen with settings app in iPhone Dockl
  • After you arrange the icon the way you want, press the Home button or Done button to save this arrangement
  • The icons immediately stop shaking

It’s easy to create folders to organize your apps Making invisible folders on iPhone

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a ton of apps!

That means grouping them into folders really helps clear the app clutter so finding apps is easy from your home screen or dock

  1. Press and hold any app on the screen until the app icons jiggle
  2. To create a NEW folder, drag one app onto another app–iOS and iPadOS suggest a name (you can change it later)
  3. Drag any other apps into the folder if you want
  4. Each folder can  have multiple pages of apps
  5. To rename a folder, use a long press or 3D touch the folder name and choose Rename from the Quick Action menu OR tap the name field, then type in a new name
    When Using 3D Touch on Your iPhone Makes Sense: 12 Tips
  6. Tap Done (iPad with no home button and iPhone X and later) or press the Home button

Move a folder onto your Dock

  1. Make sure there is space for another icon in your Dock
  2. Press and hold any folder on the screen until the folder icons jiggle
  3. Drag the folder icon to the Dock and drop it
  4. That’s it!

Want to delete an app folder from your home screen?

  • Drag all the apps and any other content out of the folder first
  • The folder is automatically deleted once it’s empty (no apps or content)

Don’t like your iPhone, iPad, or iPod layout? Reset your Home screen and apps to their defaults!

  1. Go to Settings  > General > Reset
  2. Tap Reset Home Screen Layout How to Arrange apps on Home Screen iOS11
  3. iOS and iPadOS remove any folders you created,
  4. All downloaded apps are alphabetically ordered after the iOS/iPad OS native apps

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Show 8 Comments

  1. Ivy Arnold says

    Hello! I was hoping that this article would help me with my issue, but when I hold down on my apps and click rearrange apps it doesn’t start wiggling. I can’t force anything to move either. I’ve tried all of the tricks that I’ve read and I just don’t know what to do. I recently updated my iPhone to the new IOS so perhaps it’s a glitch in the update but I’m unsure of how to fix it. If you could lead me to where I could get help that would be great. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Elizabeth Jones says

      Hi Ivy, do you see the option to edit home screen? If so, tap that and see if you can rearrange your app icons. If not,Make sure you don’t have a management profile installed on your device. These are usually installed on iPhones and other Apple devices that are provided to you by your work place or school or other institution.

      Reply

  2. Van says

    I like iPhone but it has few things I don’t can’t rearrange icon apps to stay in place you want them to can’t tried several I didn’t want to cover wall paper part but can’t move icon out way not even on next page it goes back where I don’t don’t don’t want it to
    Android was easy at doing lot things that for one

    Reply

  3. Sun says

    When I press and hold the icons they don’t shake. A menus pops up with options for the particular app I pressed.

    Reply

  4. Carol says

    My icons will jiggle, but I cannot get them to move. Every time I try, they just go back where they were. This has happened after one of the later updates.

    Reply

  5. Bill T says

    Following the upgrade to IOS13, a translucent window that reads “Zoom Enabled” appears at random on my iPad. I use zoom often, but do not want to see the notification pop-up. Is there any way to prevent its appearing on screen?

    Reply

    • SK says

      Not sure if you can remove that zoom enabled thing unless you stop using zoom altogether. That being said, we will explore if there is any other way to do this and let you know.

      Reply