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How do I remove shortcuts from my home screen?

How do I remove shortcuts from my home screen?

Having too many shortcuts on your smartphone’s home screen can make it feel cluttered and disorganized. While some shortcuts provide quick access to your most-used apps, keeping your home screen tidy by removing unnecessary shortcuts helps you locate apps faster. Thankfully, removing shortcuts from your Android or iOS home screen only takes a few simple taps.

Why Remove Home Screen Shortcuts?

Here are some key reasons to prune your home screen shortcuts:

  • Cluttered home screen – Too many icons make your home screen feel cluttered and chaotic.
  • Harder to find apps – With so many icons, it becomes harder to quickly find the app you want.
  • Unused shortcuts – Eliminate shortcuts you no longer need clogging up space.
  • Organize by function – Group together shortcuts for work, social media, entertainment, etc.
  • App drawer – Android users can find apps in the app drawer so home screen shortcuts aren’t vital.

Keeping your home screen tidy by removing unnecessary shortcuts helps you locate your most important apps faster.

How To Remove Shortcuts on Android

Removing shortcuts from your Android home screen only takes a few taps:

  1. Long press on the shortcut icon you want to remove.
  2. You’ll see the icon enlarge and a trash can will appear on the top of the screen.
  3. Drag the shortcut icon to the trash can and release.
  4. The shortcut icon will disappear from your home screen.

That’s all there is to it! You can remove multiple shortcut icons at once too. Just long press on a blank area of your home screen, then tap the shortcuts you want to remove and drag them all to the trash can.

Here are some additional tips for managing Android home screen shortcuts:

  • Use app folders to group shortcuts logically, like Social, Entertainment, Productivity.
  • Swap widget shortcuts in for apps you use frequently, like Music or Calendar.
  • Only keep shortcuts for your absolute must-have daily apps.
  • Remove shortcut names with blank spaces to declutter.

Keeping only your most used app shortcuts on the home screen makes your Android device feel clean and organized.

How To Delete Shortcuts on iPhone

The process works similarly on an iPhone:

  1. Press and hold the shortcut icon you want to remove until all the icons start to wiggle.
  2. Tap the “X” that appears in the corner of the shortcut you want to delete.
  3. The icon will disappear from your iPhone’s home screen.
  4. You can tap any blank space to stop the wiggling when finished.

Just like on Android, you can multi-select shortcuts and mass delete them – just tap all the unwanted icons during the wiggle mode, then tap the “X”.

Tips for managing shortcuts on your iPhone home screen:

  • Use the App Library on newer iPhones to find apps alphabetically.
  • Group apps in folders to reduce clutter.
  • Add widget shortcuts like Calendar, Notes, and Music.
  • Only keep must-have daily use app shortcuts on the home screen.

Keeping things clean and minimal makes your iPhone home screen feel decluttered and organized.

Should You Remove or Disable Unused Apps?

In addition to removing home screen shortcuts, you may be wondering if you should delete unused apps entirely from your smartphone.

Here are some pros and cons to consider:

Remove or Disable Pros Cons
Remove App
  • Frees up storage space
  • Prevents background processes
  • Feels decluttered
  • Can’t reinstall without downloading
  • Lose app data/settings
Disable App
  • Stops notifications
  • Prevents accidental openings
  • Easy to re-enable
  • Still takes up storage space
  • Background processes may run

In general, removing little used apps entirely frees up more system resources and storage. But disabling apps can be a good middle ground if you think you may use them again in the future.

Removing Apps on Android

To fully remove apps from an Android device:

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Apps or Application Manager.
  3. Select the app you want to remove.
  4. Tap Uninstall and confirm.

Alternatively, you can often uninstall apps by:

  • Long pressing on the app icon.
  • Tapping the “i” icon in the Google Play Store app listing.

Removing Apps on iPhone

To fully delete apps from an iPhone:

  1. Find and tap the app icon you want to remove.
  2. Tap and hold the app icon until icons start to wiggle.
  3. Tap the “X” displayed on the app.
  4. Confirm you want to delete the app.

You can also go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage to view and delete infrequently used apps.

Conclusion

Cutting down on clutter by removing unnecessary home screen shortcuts makes your Android or iPhone feel clean, organized, and easier to use. Stick to only your most used apps on the home screen and utilize the app drawer or App Library to find other apps when needed. Periodically removing little used apps entirely also frees up valuable device storage and system resources.

A tidy, organized home screen speeds up app access and makes your smartphone less overwhelming to use. Give it a declutter try today by pruning those home screen shortcuts and extraneous apps!