How to move apps in and out of the App Library on iPhone and iPad

In this tutorial, we will show you how to move apps to or from the App Library on your iPhone or iPad so you can put rarely-used apps away from the Home Screen to declutter it.

An iPhone mockup showing the App Library

The App Library is there to help you keep your apps organized. It automatically categorizes similar apps into folders, offers a handy search feature, and provides you with suggestions and recently added items with a tap.

Here’s how to take apps in and out of App Library.

Move an iOS app to the App Library

Technically speaking, you cannot move an app to the App Library, as all installed and offloaded apps already show up there. However, you can remove an app from the Home Screen or the bottom Dock to ensure it only appears in the App Library. Here’s how to do that:

  1. Touch and hold the app icon on the Home Screen until a menu pops out.
  2. Tap Remove App.
  3. Choose Remove from Home Screen.
Remove app from iPhone Home Screen and move it to the App Library

Now, this app’s icon will not show up on the Home Screen and will only appear in the App Library inside a category it matches. When you want to use the app, swipe to your App Library and select it or search for it using Spotlight.

Extra info: On older versions of iOS, like iOS 14, touching and holding an app icon showed the option to “Move to App Library.”

Move App to App Library on iPhone

Related: How to create a blank iPhone Home Screen with no apps

Move an iOS app out of the App Library

Once again, you can not move an app out of the App Library, but you can make sure that the app also shows up on the Home Screen. Here’s how to drag an app from the App Library and make it appear on the Home Screen or Dock:

  1. Swipe left on the iPhone Home Screen to reach the App Library.
  2. Touch and hold an app’s icon, drag it left, and drop it onto the Home Screen page or the Dock.
  3. Finally, tap Done.
Move app from App Library to iPhone Home Screen

Tip: You can repeat the above steps to make multiple copies of the same app icon and have that app appear on various Home Screen pages or multiple times on the same Home Screen page.

iPhone Home Screen showing several app icons of the same app

Extra info: In older versions of iOS, you could touch & hold an app icon in App Library and get the option to “Add to Home Screen.”

Can you change the category of apps in the App Library or rename them?

You can’t add or remove categories from the iPhone or iPad App Library. You also don’t have permission to move a particular app to another category of your choice, as iOS automatically places apps inside the App Library category based on its understanding. Further, you can’t rename the App Library categories.

If you want customized app folders, learn how to create a folder of apps on your iPhone Home Screen. You can give a desired text or emoji-based name to these folders as well as add and remove apps manually.

On a related note: