Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens

To quickly get to your favorite content, you can customize your Home screens. You can add and organize:

• Apps
• Shortcuts to content inside apps
• Widgets that show information without opening apps

Important: Some of these steps work only on Android 9.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Add to Home screens

Add, group, or remove apps on your Home screen | Pixel Phone

Add an app

1. From the bottom of your Home screen, swipe up. Learn how to open apps
2. Touch and drag the app. You’ll find images of each Home screen.
3. Slide the app to where you want it. Lift your finger.

Add a shortcut

1. Touch and hold the app, then lift your finger. If the app has shortcuts, you'll get a list.
2. Touch and hold the shortcut.
3. Slide the shortcut to where you want it. Lift your finger.

Tip: To use a shortcut without adding it to a Home screen, tap it.

Add or resize a widget

Add a widget

1. On a Home screen, touch and hold an empty space.
2. Tap Widgets .
3. Find the app that has the widget you want.
4. To check the list of available widgets for the app, tap the app.
5. Touch and hold a widget. You’ll get images of your Home screens.
6. Slide the widget to where you want it. Lift your finger.

Tip: Some apps come with widgets. Touch and hold the app. Then tap Widgets .

Resize a widget

1. On your home screen, touch and hold the widget
2. Lift your finger.
   • If the widget can be resized, an outline with dots is visible on the sides.
3. To resize, drag the dots.
4. When you're done, tap outside the widget.

Organize on Home screens

Make a folder (group)

1. Touch and hold an app or shortcut.
2. Drag that app or shortcut on top of another. Lift your finger.
   • To add more, drag each one on top of the group.
   • To name the group, tap the group. Then, tap the suggested folder name. You can also tap one of the suggested names at the top of the keyboard or type the name you want to use.

Move an app, shortcut, widget, or group

1. Touch and drag the item. You’ll get images of your Home screens.
2. Slide the item to where you want it.
3. Lift your finger.

Note: On Pixel phones, you can't move the "At A Glance" information at the top of your screen. Learn how to pick what kinds of information show.

Remove an app, shortcut, widget, or group

1. Touch and hold the item.
2. Drag the item up to Remove .
3. Lift your finger.

You can find "Remove," "Uninstall," or both. "Remove" takes an app off your Home screen only. "Uninstall" takes it off your device.

Note: On Pixel phones, you can't move the "At A Glance" information at the top of your screen. Learn how to pick what kinds of information show.

Add a Home screen

1. Touch and hold an app, shortcut, or group.
2. Slide it to the right until you get a blank Home screen.
3. Lift your finger.

Remove a Home screen

1. Move your apps, shortcuts, widgets, and groups off the Home screen.
2. After the last one is removed, the Home screen will be removed.

Customize your Home screen

Change info at the top

At the top of your main Home screen, you'll find "At A Glance" information. For example, you can find info about:

• Date
• Daily weather
• What's next on your calendar
• Nest package delivery reminders
• Flight baggage claim info

To change the information that is displayed:

1. Touch and hold that section.
2. Tap Customize Settings .

Change an app

At the bottom of your screen, you'll find a row of favorite apps.

• Remove a favorite app: From your favorites, touch and hold the app that you'd like to remove. Drag it to another part of the screen.
• Add a favorite app: From the bottom of your screen, swipe up. Touch and hold an app. Move the app into an empty spot with your favorites. 

Change other Home screen settings

1. On your Home screen, touch and hold an empty space. 
2. Tap Home settings.

Turn search bar animations on or off

You'll sometimes get animations in the search bar on your Home screen. The animations are temporary for special events, like holidays.

To turn off these animations, or turn them back on:

1. Touch and hold the search bar.
2. Tap More   Preferences.
3. Turn Searchbox effects on or off.

Change your favorite apps

At the bottom of your screen is a row of your favorite apps. Your phone suggests apps for your favorites based on your recent and most-used apps, as well as your routines. Your suggested apps have a colored shadow around the icon.

When there’s an empty space in the row, a new suggested app will appear. You can pin, remove, or add any of the suggested apps. You can also manually swap out any app.

Pin an app

1. Touch and hold the suggested app. 
2. In the upper right corner of the menu, tap Pin .

Remove a favorite app

1. Touch and hold the suggested app. 
2. In the upper right corner of the menu, tap Pin .

 To block an app as a suggestion, touch and drag the app to “Don’t suggest app.”

Turn off app suggestions for your favorites

Important: If you turn off suggestions, you won’t get any suggestions until you turn on the feature again.

1. On your phone's Home screen, touch and hold an empty space.
2. Tap Home settings Suggestions.
3. Choose to turn on or off:
   • Suggestions in all apps list
   • Suggestions on Home screen

Add a favorite app

Important: You can only manually add a favorite app if you turned off app suggestions through the Home screen settings.

1. From the bottom of your screen, swipe up. 
2. Touch and hold an app. 
3. Move the app into an empty spot next to your favorites.
4. Lift your finger.​ 

Related resources

• Find, open, and close apps
• Change your wallpaper
• Control notification dots
• Customize your phone
• Get around on your phone