Remove Icons from the Android Home Screen

If you've had your Android device for awhile, you Home screens may be getting a bit crowded and unorganized. The icons on your Home screen are shortcuts to your apps, and so you can quickly delete them without actually uninstalling the app or losing any of your data. If you need to clear a lot of icons at once, you can remove entire pages instead of individual icons. You can also keep newly-installed apps from appearing on your Home screen.

Steps

Removing Individual Icons

  1. Press and hold the icon you want to remove. Every version of Android is a little different, but generally the view will change a little, and a "Remove" option will appear at the top of the screen.
    • You can use the same process to remove widgets that you no longer use.
  2. Drag the icon to the "Remove" option. Continue holding the icon and drag it to the "Remove" option. If you accidentally release the icon before dragging it, you will have to press and hold it again.
  3. Release the icon on the "Remove" option. The icon will be removed from your home screen.

Removing Home Screen Pages

  1. Open the screen manager. The process for this varies depending on the phone and launcher that you are using. Below are some of the more common ways:
    • Samsung and LG devices - Use to fingers to pinch together on your screen. This will "Zoom out" and show all of your Home screen pages.
    • HTC, Motorola, and Nexus devices - Press and hold a blank spot on your Home screen. Make sure you're not pressing an icon. This will open the screen manager.
    • Nova Launcher - Press the Home button to open your home screen and then press Home again to display all of your Home screens.
  2. Press and hold the page you want to delete. When you delete a page, you will also remove all of the icons on that page as well.
  3. Drag the screen to the "Remove" or "X" option. If there isn't one, simply swipe the screen up or down to remove it.

Preventing New Apps from Automatically Adding

  1. Open the Google Play Store. By default, all new apps you install will automatically add an icon to your Home screen. You can turn this off if you're finding your Home screen becomes cluttered too easily.
  2. Open the Google Play Menu. You can access this by pressing the ☰ button, or by swiping in from the left side of the screen.
  3. Tap "Settings". This will open the Settings menu.
  4. Uncheck "Add icon to Home screen". This will keep newly-installed apps from adding an icon to your Home screen (they can still be opened from the App Drawer).

Tips

  • Removing an icon from your home screen will not delete the app, and you'll still be able to find it in your App Drawer. Uninstall-Apps-on-Android.

Related Articles

  • Uninstall Apps on Samsung Galaxy Devices
Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Remove_Icons_from_the_Android_Home_Screen&oldid=301910"