How to move apps from the App Library to the home screen

“All new apps don't appear on home screen” has 1,924 “me too” votes across 5 threads on Apple Support Communities. A thread from someone whose 7 pages of organized apps vanished after an update has 98, and the answer to “is there a better way to put them all back” was “one by one”.

First check: is a whole page hidden?

If a full page of apps disappeared at once, for example after an update, the page is often hidden rather than gone. Touch and hold the home screen until the icons jiggle, then tap the row of dots above the Dock. Any page thumbnail without a checkmark is hidden. Tap the circle to tick it, then tap Done. The page comes back with its apps in the same places, which is far quicker than rebuilding it.

A Focus mode can also show a different set of pages. If you use Focus, open each one under Settings > Focus and look at which home screen pages it is set to show.

Bring apps back one at a time

Add to Home Screen is only shown for apps that are not already on a page. That makes it a slow way to find out which apps are missing, but it works.

1. Swipe left past your last page to open the App Library.
2. Find the app. Tap the search field at the top to see every installed app in one alphabetical list.
3. Touch and hold the app. If it is not on the home screen, the menu shows Add to Home Screen. Tap it and the app is added to your home screen.
4. Or touch and hold, then start dragging it: the home screen appears and you can drop the app exactly where you want it.

Stop new apps going to the App Library

If none of your new apps show up on the home screen, this is the setting behind it. Go to Settings > Home Screen & App Library (called Home Screen on older versions) and under Newly Downloaded Apps choose Add to Home Screen. It does not move apps you already have; it only changes where the next ones go.

Some replies suggest Reset Home Screen Layout to get everything back on the pages. Be careful: it also removes all your folders and puts Apple's apps back in their original order.

Moving many App Library apps at once

TidyGrid reads your home screen over a cable and works out which installed apps are only in the App Library. You see them as a list next to your pages. Select several with Command-click or a selection box and drag them onto any page or into a folder in one move, or park them on the Shelf while you decide. You can also go the other way and move apps from a page to the App Library.

Press Apply when it looks right. TidyGrid saves a backup of the current layout, writes the new one, and checks the phone matches.

Who this works for

• The App Library and Add to Home Screen are part of iOS 14 and later.
• TidyGrid needs a Mac with Apple silicon and a cable. Reading is tested on iPadOS 15, iOS 16, iOS 17 and iOS 27.
• Applying from TidyGrid is tested on iPadOS 15.3.1 and iOS 27.2. iOS 16, iOS 17, iOS 18 and iOS 26 are still in testing, and on those TidyGrid opens the layout read-only.

What it cannot do

• TidyGrid cannot change the App Library's own categories. iOS decides those.
• TidyGrid cannot read hidden pages, so unhide them first or their apps look like App Library-only apps.
• TidyGrid has not been tested with Focus-mode custom pages.
• TidyGrid cannot reinstall an app that was offloaded or deleted. It only moves apps that are installed.

Questions