How to add sticky notes to your iPhone or iPad Home Screen and Lock Screen

Stickies are great for quickly jotting down a short sentence or to-do item. I like having a few sticky notes on my iPhone Home Screen as it makes them always visible and forces my attention. I don’t have to go inside any app to see them, which surprisingly often results in finishing the job mentioned in those sticky notes on time.

If you feel the same or want to try it out, here’s how to add, edit, and use sticky notes on your iPhone or iPad Home Screen and Lock Screen.

Sticky notes on iPhone Lock Screen and Home Screen

Add sticky notes to the Home Screen

1) Download Sticky Widgets for free from the App Store.

2) Open the app and tap the plus button (+) to create a new note.

3) Type your short note and tap Done.

You can also create a to-do list by tapping List from the top. And tap Customize to personalize things like changing the font, alignment, or the yellow background color to something else like pink or blue. The free version does the job, but you can unlock several customization options with a small in-app purchase.

Make your first sticky note

4) After you tap Done and save the note, the app will take you to the main screen that lists all your notes. For each note, you’ll see a Note ID. Keep this Note ID in mind, as you’ll need it in step 7 below.

Alternatively, you can tap the three dots icon for a note > Rename > give a name > Save. Now, instead of the Note ID, you can use this note name in step 7 below.

Take a note of sticky Note ID or rename it

5) Go to your iPhone Home Screen and tap & hold over an empty area until all apps start jiggling. Then, from the top left, hit the plus button. Now scroll down and tap Sticky Widgets > Add Widget below one of the widget sizes.

Add Sticky Widgets to iPhone Home Screen

6) Once the widget is on the Home Screen, tap to edit it. Later in the future, you can edit the widget by pressing it from the Home Screen and choosing Edit Widget.

7) On the editing screen, tap the current Note ID and pick the Note ID you saw in step 4 above. To save yourself from scrolling, type the Note ID in the search box and select it.

Edit sticky widget and set Note ID

Besides using Note ID, you can enable the switch for Set With Name. After that, tap the text next to the Note name and precisely enter the note name you set in step 4 above. Next, tap Done.

8) Tap anywhere outside the widget to exit the editing screen. You’ll see the sticky note on your iPhone Home Screen displaying your note.

Sticky note added to iPhone Home Screen

Another easier way

1) Follow step 5 mentioned above to add Sticky Widgets to your iPhone Home Screen.

2) Once the widget is on the Home Screen, tap the widget that says Tap to edit text.

3) Type what you want the note to say and hit Done > Done. You’ll see that the sticky widget now shows this note on the Home Screen.

Quickly add sticky note to iPhone Home Screen

Edit the sticky note

To edit a sticky note, tap it from the Home Screen, make the changes, and hit Done.

Delete a sticky note

Open the Sticky Widgets app, tap the three dots icon for a note, and select Delete. The note will be removed immediately.

Add sticky notes to iPhone Lock Screen

1) Open the Sticky Widgets app to see all your notes.

2) Tap the three dots icon for a note and pick Set lock screen widget.

3) You have three slots, which means you can put three sticky notes on the Lock Screen. Pick Slot 1 for now.

4) Now, follow the regular steps to add a widget from Sticky Widgets to your iPhone or iPad Lock Screen.

Add sticky note to iPhone Lock Screen

Use the Apple Notes app

I prefer using the Sticky Widgets app (mentioned above) for quick notes on the Home Screen. However, if you don’t want to download an additional app, you can add the built-in Notes app widget to the iPhone Home Screen. But, the experience is nowhere like the Sticky Widgets app.

Pressing the Home Screen Notes app widget and choosing Edit Widget lets you pick the notes Folder. But you can’t set a particular note to show in the widget. Instead, the iOS Notes app widget shows a couple of lines of the note(s) inside that folder. Overall, this isn’t a sticky note but an easy shortcut to quickly go inside a particular note. So, to truly have sticky notes, I recommend using the Sticky Widgets app.

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