How to add, edit, and remove widgets on iPad

Widgets show you information from an app at a glance, like today’s headlines, weather, reminders, and battery levels. You can add them to your Home Screen, and turn an app icon into a widget. A Smart Stack, a widget with dots next to it, shows the most relevant widget based on the time and your location.

What are widgets?

Widgets show you information from an app at a glance, such as battery levels, weather, reminders, today’s headlines, and more. You’ll find them in Today View. You can also add them to your Home Screen or Lock Screen to keep that information at your fingertips.

Quick tip: Look for a widget with dots next to it, which is a Smart Stack. It combines a set of widgets and uses information such as the time, your location, and activity to show the most relevant one at the appropriate time in your day. You can put one on the Home Screen from the widget gallery and swipe up and down through it to see what’s inside.

Add a widget to your Home Screen

1. Go to the Home Screen and then find the Home Screen page where you want to add the widget.
2. Touch and hold the background until the apps begin to jiggle, tap the Edit button at the top of the screen, and then tap Add Widget.
3. Scroll or search to find the widget you want and tap it. Then swipe left and right through the style and size options.
4. When you see the size you want, tap Add Widget.
5. While the apps are still jiggling, move the widget where you want it. Then tap the Done button.

Adding a widget to your Lock Screen works differently, so check out our guide, Edit your Lock Screen or create a new one.

Turn an app icon into a widget

You can quickly create a widget from an app icon.

1. Touch and hold the app icon on your Home screen.
2. To choose the size of the widget, tap one of the icons at the top of the pop-up menu.

   

To change the widget back to an app icon, touch and hold it, then tap the App Icon button.

Interact with widgets

You can perform tasks by tapping widgets on your Home Screen or Lock Screen. Tap an item in the Reminders widget to check it off, tap the Play button in the Podcasts widget to play an episode, or tap the Home widget to turn on your living room lights—all without opening an app.

Edit a widget on your Home Screen

To show the information you want to see, you can customize most widgets right from your Home Screen. A Weather widget, for example, can display the forecast for your location or a different area. A Smart Stack can rotate automatically through its widgets based on the time of day, your location, your activity, and so on.

1. Touch and hold a widget.
2. Tap Edit Widget (or Edit Stack, if it’s a Smart Stack). Choose options.

   For a Smart Stack, you can turn Smart Rotate or Widget Suggestions (below the widget) off or on, drag a widget from the Smart Stack to the Home Screen, or remove a widget by tapping the Remove button in its upper-left corner.

   When you turn on Widget Suggestions, widgets for apps you already use automatically appear in your Smart Stack at the right time based on your past activity. An option lets you add the widget to your stack so it’s always there when you need it.

3. Tap Done.

View widgets in Today View

To view widgets in Today View, swipe right from the left edge of the Home Screen, then scroll up and down.

View widgets in Today View when iPad is locked

1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Face ID & Passcode (on an iPad with Face ID) or Touch ID & Passcode (on other iPad models).
3. Make sure Today View and Search is turned on (below Allow Access When Locked).

See also

• Create a custom iPad Lock Screen
• Move apps and widgets on the iPad Home Screen