How to Add a Widget to Your iPhone Home Screen

Tap each step to see how to add a widget to your iPhone's home screen.

  1. Long-press an empty area of the home screen

    Press and hold a blank spot on the home screen until the icons start jiggling.

  2. Tap the "+" button in the top-left corner

    Tap the "+" icon that appears at the top-left of the screen.

  3. Choose the widget and size you want

    Find a widget for an app like Weather, Calendar, or Photos, and pick a small, medium, or large size.

  4. Tap "Add Widget" to place it on the home screen

    Tapping "Add Widget" adds it to your home screen, and you can drag it to whatever position you like.

  5. Why it helps

    You can check information like weather, your schedule, or battery status at a glance right on the home screen, without opening the app, making your phone noticeably more efficient to use.

You can add the same widget more than once

Widgets aren't limited to one instance per app -- you can add the same app's widget multiple times with different individual settings, such as two weather widgets showing two different cities, or two calendar widgets showing different calendars. That makes it possible to build a home screen that surfaces several pieces of related information side by side instead of forcing you to pick just one.

Rearranging widgets works just like moving app icons

A widget already placed on the home screen can be repositioned at any time the same way you'd move a regular app icon -- long-press it, then drag it to a new spot, even onto a different home screen page. This makes it easy to keep experimenting with layout until the most useful information ends up exactly where you naturally look first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add the same widget more than once?

Yes. You can add the same app's widget several times, each with its own separate settings, such as showing the weather for two different cities.

Can I move a widget's position later?

Yes. Long-press the widget, then drag it to wherever you want, and you can reposition it freely on the home screen at any time.