Resetting Your iPhone Home Screen Layout Back to the Default

If your iPhone Home Screen has become cluttered, scattered, or hard to navigate, iOS includes a built-in option to reset the Home Screen layout back to its default arrangement. This can quickly restore Apple’s standard app placement and make it easier to find the apps that came with your iPhone.

This reset is useful if you moved apps around too much, changed folders, or want to return to a cleaner starting point without erasing your photos, messages, or personal data.

Resetting Your iPhone Home Screen Layout Back to the Default

What the Home Screen reset does

Resetting the Home Screen layout puts Apple’s default apps back in their original positions as closely as iOS allows and removes any custom folder organization you created. Apps you downloaded from the App Store stay on your iPhone, but they are moved out of folders and returned to later pages of the Home Screen in alphabetical order.

Key Fact This reset does not delete apps, app data, photos, contacts, or messages. It only changes how app icons are arranged.

Warning If you rely on a carefully organized Home Screen or custom folders, be prepared to rebuild that layout after the reset.

How to reset the iPhone Home Screen layout

Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
Tap General.
Scroll down and tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Tap Reset.
Select Reset Home Screen Layout.
Confirm the reset when prompted.

After you confirm, your Home Screen will return to the default arrangement. Built-in Apple apps will be restored to their standard positions, and downloaded apps will be moved back to the main app pages.

What to expect after the reset

Custom folders are removed.
App icons return to the default Home Screen order.
Downloaded apps remain installed.
The App Library is not erased.
Your widgets and wallpaper are not deleted, but widget placement may need to be adjusted again.

Why It Matters This reset is one of the fastest ways to undo a messy or confusing Home Screen without affecting the rest of your iPhone setup.

When this option is especially useful

Best For People who have rearranged apps so much that core Apple apps are hard to find, or anyone who wants a quick way to return to a familiar default layout.

It is also helpful if you are handing an iPhone to someone else and want the interface to look familiar again before setting up a more personal layout later.

Before you reset

Quick Tip If you only want to move a few apps back into place, it may be faster to rearrange them manually instead of resetting the entire layout.

Note The exact menu names can vary slightly depending on your iPhone model and iOS version, but the reset option is usually found under General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset.

If the reset option is not where you expected

On newer versions of iOS, Apple has moved some reset-related options into the Transfer or Reset iPhone menu. If you do not see Reset Home Screen Layout immediately, check inside the Reset submenu rather than looking for it on the main General screen.

If you still cannot find it, use the Settings search field and search for "reset home screen layout" to jump directly to the correct setting.

Topics

iPhone & iPad