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How to make your iPad your own

by Stacey Butler

You can tailor your iPad to your own interests and preferences. You can change the look of app icons and widgets on your Home Screen, personalize your Lock Screen, keep your favorite controls handy, turn on built-in accessibility features, and check your privacy settings.

You can choose between light, dark, clear, or tinted for app icons and widgets, and many iPad features, like Silent mode and timer, are always handy in Control Center. And accessibility features support your vision, mobility, hearing, speech, and cognitive needs.

A customized iPad Home Screen with widgets.

Customize your Home Screen

Choose a light, dark, clear, or tinted look and feel for the app icons and widgets on your Home Screen.

Touch and hold the background on any Home Screen page until the apps jiggle. Tap the Customize button, tap Customize, then choose options for your app icons and widgets. Tap the Large Apps button to make icons bigger or smaller. Tap the Customize button, then tap Edit Wallpaper to select a different background image.

A screen showing customization options for the iPad Lock Screen, including an image chosen from the photo library.

Personalize your Lock Screen

Touch and hold the Lock Screen, then tap the Add New button at the bottom of the screen. Browse the gallery of wallpaper options, then tap one to customize it. On supported models, you see options where the time adapts to what’s on your screen, and also spatial scenes with 3D effects.

A screen showing controls you can add to Control Center, such as Text Size, Dark Mode, and Quick Note.

Set your favorite controls

Many iPad features—like Silent mode and timer—are just a swipe away in Control Center. To quickly open Control Center, swipe down from the top-right corner.

To add controls, open Control Center, then tap the Add New button. Tap Add a Control, then swipe up to browse the controls gallery. When you see a control you want to add, tap it.

A Settings screen showing Accessibility options such as VoiceOver, Live Recognition, and Audio Descriptions.

Use built-in accessibility features

To support your vision, mobility, hearing, speech, and cognitive needs, iPad provides many accessibility features. They let you change text size, make the touchscreen easier to use, control iPad with just your voice, and more.

To customize these settings, go to the Settings app, then tap Accessibility.

A Settings screen showing Privacy & Security options such as Location Services and Tracking.

Check your privacy settings

iPad is designed to protect your data and your privacy. You can grant or deny apps permission to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites.

To deny requests from apps to track your activity, go to the Settings app, tap Privacy & Security, tap Tracking, then turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track.

To make iPad even more your own, start with these guides:

Apple notes that the availability of features may vary depending on your country, region, and iPad model.

Tags: Home Screen, Settings
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How to customize apps and widgets on the iPad Home Screen

by Tyler Stephen

You can change how app icons and widgets look on your Home Screen—adjust their size, apply a color tint, or switch between light and dark appearances. Auto gives icons and widgets a dark look at night, and a light appearance during the day.

In large size, the app names disappear, and a clear look makes the icons translucent. You can resize a widget, too. Some apps don’t offer every widget size, though, while others offer sizes up to extra large.

The iPad Home Screen with clear app icons.

If you’d like to add, remove, or edit what a widget displays, see our article, Add, edit, and remove widgets.

Customize the look of app icons

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold the Home Screen background until the icons begin to jiggle.
  3. Tap the Edit button at the top of the screen. Then choose Customize.
  4. Do any of the following:
    • Make the icons larger: Tap the LargeAppIcons button. In large size, the names of the apps disappear.
    • Choose a dark appearance: Tap Dark. To show icons and widgets with a dark appearance at night and a light appearance during the day, tap Auto.
    • Give the icons a clear look: Tap Clear to make the icons translucent, then choose Light, Dark, or Auto.
    • Add a color tint: Tap Tinted. Use the sliders to choose the color and saturation (or use the eyedropper to select a color in your wallpaper). Then choose Light, Dark, or Auto.

Resize a widget

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold the app icon or widget on your Home Screen.
  3. Choose a widget size.

    Note: Not all apps offer every widget size. Some apps provide only small and medium widgets, while others offer sizes up to extra large.

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

See also

Tag: Home Screen
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How to add an app on iPad

by Moses Johnson

To add an app to your iPad, you can download it from the App Store. When you download an app, you can choose to add it to both your Home Screen and App Library, or to App Library only.

Apps in App Library can be moved to the Home Screen anytime, and you can choose where new apps get downloaded by default.

Here’s how to add an app on iPad.

Choose where apps get downloaded

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Home Screen & App Library. Choose Add to Home Screen or App Library only.

Move an app from App Library to the Home Screen

If you download an app to App Library, you can easily move it to the Home Screen.

  1. Swipe left past all your Home Screen pages to get to App Library.
  2. Touch and hold the background until the apps begin to jiggle.
  3. Touch and hold the app you want to move and drag it to the left.

See also

Tags: App Store, Home Screen
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How to open an app on iPad

by Emily Long

You can quickly open an app on your iPad from the Dock, one of your Home Screen pages, or App Library, and the app opens full screen. You can also open multiple apps at once and work in more than one app at a time.

A screenshot showing an example of an iPad Home Screen.

  1. To go to the Home Screen, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen.

    An illustration showing swiping up from the bottom edge of the screen to go to the Home Screen.

  2. Swipe left or right to browse apps on other Home Screen pages.

    An illustration showing swiping to browse apps on other Home Screen pages.

  3. To open an app, tap it.
  4. To return to the first Home Screen page, swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen.

Note: You can open multiple apps and work in more than one at once; read our guide, Work with multiple apps at once.

See also

Tag: Home Screen
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How to change the wallpaper on iPad

by Moses Johnson

On iPad, choose an image or photo as wallpaper for the Lock Screen or Home Screen. You can choose from dynamic and still images.

You can design your wallpaper with Photos, Astronomy, or Weather, or choose a wallpaper option from one of the featured sets, like Nature or Isle of Skye. You can use it on both the Lock Screen and Home Screen, or change the wallpaper color and blur it so the apps stand out. And you can set your wallpaper to change automatically when you switch to a particular Focus.

The Wallpaper Settings screen, with the button for choosing a new wallpaper at the top and images of the Lock Screen and Home Screen with the current wallpaper.

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap Wallpaper, tap Add New Wallpaper, and then do any of the following:

    • Tap a button at the top of the wallpaper gallery—for example, Photos, Astronomy, or Weather—to design your wallpaper.
    • Choose a wallpaper option from one of the featured sets (Nature, Isle of Skye, and so on).

      Note: If you don’t see wallpaper options you want to use (for example, Weather or Astronomy), scroll down to see more options, then tap Get below the one you like.

  3. Tap Add, then choose one of the following:

    • Choose whether to use the wallpaper on both the Lock Screen and Home Screen: Tap Set as Wallpaper Pair.
    • Make further changes to the Home Screen: Tap Customize Home Screen. Tap a color to change the wallpaper color, tap the Select a Photo button to use a custom photo, or select Blur to blur the wallpaper so the apps stand out.

Quick tip: Link your Lock Screen to a particular Focus, and your wallpaper can change automatically. (See our guide, Link a Focus to your Lock Screen.) When you switch to that Focus, your wallpaper switches, too.

See also

Tags: Home Screen, Lock Screen
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How to add, edit, and remove widgets on iPad

by Chris Smith

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.

The iPad Home Screen. At the top of the screen are customized widgets for Clock, Journal, Photos, Reminders, and Calendar.

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.

    A Home Screen showing an app pop-up menu being used to transform an app icon into a widget for the app.

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

Tag: Home Screen
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How to move apps and widgets on the iPad Home Screen

by Stacey Butler

You can change the layout of your Home Screen—move apps and widgets anywhere on the screen to frame your wallpaper, or move them to other Home Screen pages. If you have multiple Home Screen pages, each one can have a unique layout.

You can even make a new page, and the dots above the Dock show how many pages you have. You can also temporarily hide Home Screen pages, remove a widget, and change where new apps get downloaded.

Quick tip: Put all your apps and widgets related to a particular Focus, like your Work Focus, on one Home Screen page, and you can make that page accessible during that Focus.

Move apps and widgets around on your Home Screen

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold the Home Screen background until the items begin to jiggle.
  3. Drag the app or widget to one of the following locations:

    • Another location on the same page—including the top, bottom, or side of the screen
    • Another Home Screen page

      Drag the app or widget to the right edge of the screen. You might need to wait a moment for the new page to appear. The dots above the Dock show how many pages you have and which one you’re viewing.

      Jiggling apps on the Home Screen with an arrow showing one app being dragged to the next page.

      Tip: You can also drag an app to the Dock at the bottom of the screen.

  4. When you’re finished, tap Done at the top right.

Remove a widget from your Home Screen

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold the widget to open the Quick Actions menu.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • To remove a widget: Tap Remove Widget.
    • To remove a Smart Stack: Tap Remove Stack.

Reset the Home Screen and apps to their original layout

  1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
  2. Tap General, then tap Transfer or Reset iPad.
  3. Tap Reset and tap Reset Home Screen Layout.

    Any folders you created are removed, and apps you downloaded are arranged alphabetically after apps that came with your iPad.

See also

Tag: Home Screen
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How to organize your apps in folders on iPad

by Tyler Stephen

You can organize your apps into folders to make them easier to find on your Home Screen pages.

Each folder can contain multiple pages of apps. You can move an app from a folder back to a Home Screen page, where it’s easier to find and open, and when a folder is empty, it’s deleted automatically. Organizing your apps on the Home Screen, though, doesn’t affect the organization of apps in App Library.

Here’s how to organize your apps in folders on iPad.

Create a folder

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold the Home Screen background until the apps begin to jiggle.
  3. To create a folder, drag an app onto another app. Drag any other apps you want into the folder.

    A folder can contain multiple pages of apps.

  4. To rename the folder, touch and hold it, tap Rename, and then enter a new name.

    If the apps begin to jiggle, tap the Home Screen background and try again.

  5. When you’re finished, tap Done.

Note: The organization of apps in App Library isn’t affected by organizing your apps on the Home Screen.

Delete a folder from your Home Screen

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold the Home Screen background until the apps begin to jiggle.
  3. Tap the folder to open it. Then drag all the apps out of it onto the Home Screen.

    When the folder is empty, it’s deleted automatically.

Move an app from a folder to the Home Screen

It’s easier to find and open an app if you move it from a folder to a Home Screen page.

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Locate the folder that contains the app. Tap the folder to open it.
  3. Touch and hold the app until the apps begin to jiggle.
  4. Drag the app from the folder to the Home Screen.

See also

Tag: Home Screen
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How to remove or delete apps from iPad

by Stacey Butler

You can remove or delete some built-in apps from your iPad. If you remove an app from your Home Screen, it moves to App Library—it isn’t deleted—and you can still use it from there.

Deleting an app removes it and its data from your iPad, though any data stored in iCloud, like photos or documents, isn’t deleted. You can recover a deleted app later, too.

Here’s how to remove or delete apps from iPad.

To block an app to prevent its use, you can use Screen Time settings. See Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases.

If you want to limit access to an app without deleting it, see Lock or hide an app.

Remove an app from the Home Screen

  1. Go to the Home Screen.
  2. Touch and hold an app, tap Remove app, and tap Remove from Home Screen.

The app moves to App Library, where you can still use it. Read our article, Find and use your apps in App Library.

Delete an app from iPad

Deleting an app from your iPad removes both the app and its data.

  1. Touch and hold the app on the Home Screen or in App Library.
  2. Tap Remove App, then tap Delete App.
  3. Tap Delete to confirm.

If an app stores data in iCloud, like photos or documents you’ve saved through it, that data isn’t deleted when you delete the app. Available storage on your iPad may also take a moment to update afterward.

Note: Some Apple apps can be removed from the Home Screen but can’t be deleted from iPad. In the European Union, there may be other built-in apps you can delete.

Recover a deleted app

If it’s still available, you can reinstall any app you’ve previously downloaded from the App Store.

  1. Start the App Store app on your iPad.
  2. Tap the My Account button or your picture at the top right and tap Apps & Purchase History. Then tap Your Apps.
  3. If you’re part of a Family Sharing group, tap My Apps or choose a family member.
  4. Find the app you want to download (if it’s still available in the App Store) and tap the Redownload button.

See also

Tags: App Store, Home Screen
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