Android 101: how to organize your homescreen

Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

It's easy to get used to living with chaos if you've had an Android phone for a long time. If you're anything like me, you're constantly adding new apps, deciding they're okay but not great, adding another, and so on. When you scroll through your app drawer a few months later, you are surprised to see some apps that you didn't know were there.

It can become a mess very quickly. It can start taking up more space than you can spare if you are really an app enthusiast. The KonMari reference can be taken as written here.

You can either find a way to organize them or periodically remove all of the extra apps that you have accumulated. There are a few things you can do to do both. If you're new to the platform, this may help you stay organized, but if you're an experienced user, you might pick up a few tips.

You should keep in mind that not all interface are the same. This how-to was created using a phone that was running the latest version of the software, but the interface may be slightly different depending on the phone you are using.

You can use the app drawer, which is accessed either by pressing on the apps icon at the bottom of the phone, or by scrolling up from the bottom of the phone. Place the apps you use the most on one or more of your homescreens by long-pressing them while in the app drawer.

The app drawer is organized in alphabetical order, with your last used apps on top. You can go through the apps by moving your finger up and down, or you can go through the alphabet by moving your finger down. If you want, you can type in the name of your app at the top of the search bar.

You may want to create a more structured system once you accumulate apps.

Fill the Favorites Tray

You can quickly access your most-used apps by putting them Favorites Tray, the bottom row of apps that is always there no matter which homescreen you use. Is the tray already filled? No problem.

• Long-press on the app you no longer want to keep in the Favorites Tray. Move it to another place on the home page, or move it up until you see the Remove and Uninstall choices at the top of the screen. Choose one and move the app there.
• Long-press on an app from the homescreen or from the app drawer and move it into the tray.

Create folders on your homescreen

folders are a good way to organize your apps. You can put all of your social media apps in a folder called Social.

• Put the first two apps you want to include on your homescreen.
• Long-press one and move it on top of another. This will create a new folder.
• Android may give your folder a name. If you want to give it a different name, tap on the folder, tap on the name just below the apps, and type in your new name.
• Add more apps to a folder by long-pressing on the app and moving it into the folder.
• Remove an app from a folder by reversing that process: long-press on the app and move it from the folder to the home page.
• To remove the folder, simply pull all the apps out of it.

Sometimes when I install a new app, I'll know right away that it's not for me, and I uninstall it. I try out an app and decide that I want to use it someday, but I leave it there. Where it is. For a long time. Or a long time.

It's easy to forget about the ones you don't need once you accumulate apps. Allowing old apps to remain on your phone may not be as safe as it seems. They may be taking up too much storage space, and they may be collecting too much data. They could be draining your battery if they are working in the background.

It's a good idea to check out what apps you haven't used in a while and remove them from your phone. There are many ways to do this.

Use the app drawer

It has to be said, but this is the obvious one. If you want to see what's in the drawer, open it up and look. You may be surprised by what you have forgotten. You can uninstall anything you don't need.

Visit the Play Store

If you happen to be in the Play Store and want to get rid of a few unneeded apps, there is a way to do that.

• Once in the Play Store, tap on your personal icon in the upper right corner and choose “Manage apps & device.”
• Tap “Manage” on top of the page. You should be on the “Installed” tab; if not, it’s the first tab on top.

• Tap on the parallel lines to the right of “Apps & game,” and you’ll be able to sort according to the least-used apps. You can tap on the small arrow to the right of any app’s name to see if there’s anything new. For any app you no longer want, just tap the box to the right of the arrow, tap the trash can icon at the top right, and select “Uninstall.” (Don’t worry about accidentally uninstalling an important system app — or an app that your phone’s manufacturer thinks is important. You’ll simply be told you can uninstall updates but not the app itself.)

You can find and restore an app you deleted if you think you shouldn't have done that.

• Return to the “Manage apps & device” page. Tap on the “Installed” tab so that it now reads “Not installed.”

• Check the box for any app you want to reinstall and select the download icon on the top right. If you know you’ll never want to even look at that app again, next to that, there is a trash can with an “x” in it that will permanently delete the app from your list. (You can still install them from the Play Store.)

Use your voice

If you don't have a spare hand, don't forget to use the Google Assistant. If you want to, you can long-pressing your power button or say "Hey" to open the app.

Try Files by Google

Files by Google is a handy app that helps you get rid of unneeded files that are taking up space. If you decide to install Files, you can use this method to get rid of unused apps.

• If it’s not already selected, tap on the “Clean” icon on the bottom of the screen.
• Scroll down until you find the section labeled “Delete unused apps.” Tap on “Select apps.”
• Now you can see how much space each app is taking up and the date it was last used. You can sort the list by oldest to newest, largest to smallest, or in alphabetical order.
• Tap on the circle on the right of each app to select any you want to uninstall.

Use another app

There are a lot of apps in the Play Store that can help. There are other file managers that can make it easier to track and administer the contents of your phone. There are several apps called "File Manager" in the Play Store.

There are some people who create overlays to help organize your homescreen. Jina lets you create a sidebar that pulls out from the side of your screen and gives you a compact list view of all your apps. Taskbar has a Windows-like start menu.

Nova and Action Launchers allow you to more thoroughly modify your app drawer and homescreen with icons, animations, and different layout, if you want even more control over your environment.

The article was originally published on March 6th, but has been updated to account for updates to the OS and app.