Adding Widgets To Your iPhone Lock and Home Screen: Step-by-Step


If you’re anything like me and many other iPhone users, you probably unlock your device dozens of times a day (at least) to check notifications, read a text message, or access apps. But did you know you can make your Lock and Home Screen even more productive by adding widgets? Whether it’s Safari, Battery, Clock, or Spotify, widgets are mini-apps that provide quick access to frequent functions and can be a real game-changer on iPhone.

In this step-by-step guide, I share how to add, edit, and customize widgets on your iPhone’s Lock and Home Screen. Afterward, I provide a few troubleshooting tips in case widgets can’t be added to either screen, as well as ways to stack and add them to additional iPhone screens, like the Today View.

how to add widgets to iphone home screen lock screen today view

How to Add Widgets on Your iPhone Lock Screen

From version iOS 16 forward, you can customize your iPhone’s Lock Screen in a number of ways, one of which is the addition of widgets. With Lock Screen widgets, you can view a number of items without opening your iPhone, including the weather, AirPods case battery levels, and upcoming appointments from your Calendar. Here is how you can add widgets to your Lock Screen:

  1. Activate your iPhone by tapping on the screen, or pressing the Sleep/Wake button
  2. While on the Lock Screen, unlock your iPhone with Face ID
  3. Tap and Hold anywhere on the Lock Screen until the Customize menu appears along the bottom
  4. Tap Customize
  5. Tap the picture of your Lock Screen
  6. Tap Add Widgets below the Clock
  7. Tap or Drag any widgets from within the suggested group, or scroll down to add widgets from additional categories, such as Batteries, Calendar, and Clock.
  8. To make room for more widgets, tap the “-“ on the top left corner of the widget you want to remove.
  9. When done, tap the “x” button to close the window, then tap Done on the top right corner to exit Customize and return to the Lock Screen

Once you’ve completed your widgets additions and returned to the Lock Screen, you should now be able to see new information under the Clock without having to wake your iPhone.

How to Add Widgets on Your iPhone Home Screen

Widgets on your iPhone’s Home Screen allow you to quickly (and more clearly) view and access functions without having to search through dozens of app icons, like looking at Photos, recent Notes, and even your shopping list. Here’s how to add widgets to the Home Screen of your iPhone:

  1. Unlock your iPhone to enter the Home Screen
  2. From the Home Screen, tap and hold anywhere on the screen until the apps wiggle
  3. Tap the “+” button on the top left corner of the Home Screen
  4. As you enter the widgets menu, type to search widgets you want to add, tap on any suggested widgets in the group, or scroll down to add widgets from categories and apps.
  5. Once you select a widget to add, swipe left or right to choose from different widget sizes. Note: The larger the widget, the more room it will take up on the Home Screen, yet the more info it will display.
  6. Tap Add Widget to confirm your selection and return to the Home Screen
  7. While the apps are still wiggling, Touch, Hold, and Drag the just-added widget to move anywhere on the Home Screen pages.
  8. Tap Done to exit the Home Screen Edit function and return to the Home Screen

You can also add more widgets by repeating steps 2 through 8 from the Home Screen. Read further as I detail more on ways to resize, move, and edit widgets on the Home Screen.

On that note of moving: I recently published another article you can read here highlighting the steps to organizing apps from your Home Screen into Folders, so be sure to check it out!

How to Resize, Move, and Edit Widgets on the iPhone Home Screen

To customize the Home Screen on our iPhones even more and truly boost the productivity that they can provide, there are a number of ways you can change what and how widgets appear so they look exactly the way you want them to. Here’s how to resize, move, and edit widgets on your iPhone Home Screen:

To resize widgets on the iPhone Home Screen:

  1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold on to the widget you want to resize until it jiggles
  2. Tap the “+” button on the top left corner of the Home Screen
  3. Find and tap on the widget you want to resize
  4. Swipe left or right to choose the new widget size
  5. Tap Add Widget and return to the Home Screen
  6. While the widget is still jiggling in the Home Screen, tap “” to remove the old widget and replace with the new size.
  7. Tap Done to exit the Home Screen Edit function and return to the Home Screen

To move widgets on the iPhone Home Screen:

  1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold on to the widget you want to move until it jiggles
  2. Drag the widget anywhere on the Home Screen and release it to snap into position
  3. If you want to move the widget to another Home Screen page, drag and hold the widget to the far side edge of the screen until it shifts to another Home Screen page
  4. Release the widget to snap in position on the new Home Screen page
  5. Tap Done to exit the Home Screen Edit function and return to the Home Screen

For some widgets (like Weather) you can edit how they appear on the Home Screen, such as if you want the widget to display your current or a different location.

To edit widgets on the iPhone Home Screen:

  1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold on to the widget until the quick action menu appears
  2. Tap Edit Widget
  3. Edit any changes you’d like on the widget
  4. Tap outside the edit widget screen to return to the Home Screen

To remove a widget on the iPhone Home Screen:

  1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold on to the widget you want to remove until it jiggles
  2. Tap the “” button on the top corner of the jiggling widget
  3. Tap the Remove button to confirm
  4. Tap Done to return to the Home Screen

How to Add Widget Stacks to Your iPhone Home Screen

Once you’re feeling super productive adding numerous widgets all over the Home Screen, you might start to notice the iPhone screens starting to look a bit… cluttered. No worries though! As of version iOS 14 and later, there is a way to stack widgets on top of one another so that they’ll take up less room on the Home Screen pages.

You can even add Smart Stack widgets with Smart Rotate and Widget Suggestions (iOS 15 and later) so that key widgets will display throughout the day. Here’s how to add and edit widget stacks and Smart Stack on your iPhone Home Screen:

To create your own widget stack:

  1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold on to the widget you want to stack until it jiggles
  2. Drag the widget on top of another widget and release to create your own stack (up to 10 widgets).
    Note: Only widgets of the same size can create a stack. If two widgets will not stack, change one of the sizes until they align, then try stacking again.
  3. Tap Done to exit the Home Screen Edit function and return to the Home Screen

Now you can scroll on the widget stack to view each widget you added to the stack.

To edit a widget stack:

  1. Touch and hold on the widget stack until the quick action menu appears
  2. Tap Edit Stack
  3. To reposition a widget in the stack: hold and drag a widget to move position and release it to confirm.
  4. To turn on Smart Rotate: Tap the Smart Rotate button on the bottom left of the edit widget stack screen until the button is highlighted
  5. To turn on Widget Suggestions (iOS 15 and later): Tap the Widget Suggestions button on the bottom right of the edit widget stack screen until the button is highlighted
  6. To remove a widget within a stack: Tap the “” button on the top corner of the jiggling widget.
    Note: Removing all of the widgets within the stack will automatically delete the stack.
  7. Tap Done to return to the Home Screen

To add a widget Smart Stack:

  1. From the Home Screen, tap and hold anywhere on the screen until the apps wiggle
  2. Tap the “+” button on the top left corner of the Home Screen
  3. Scroll down and tap Smart Stack
  4. Choose sizing by swiping left or right
  5. Tap Add Widget
  6. Tap Done to return to the Home Screen

How to Add Widgets to the iPhone Today View

If you’re wondering what the Today View is, starting from iOS 10 and later, the Today View is an iPhone feature that shows quick glances at important information and frequently used functions.

Today View can be accessed by swiping right from the Home screen or the Lock screen, and like these screens, can be also customized by adding widgets! Here’s how to add widgets to the Today View screen on your iPhone:

  1. Swipe right from the Home Screen to access the Today View screen
  2. From there, touch and hold anywhere on the screen until the apps wiggle
  3. Tap the “+” add button on the top corner of the screen
  4. Tap on the widget to add from the suggested group, categories, or apps
  5. Choose a size by swiping left or right, then tap Add Widget
  6. Tap Done to return to the Today View screen

Why Can’t I Add Widgets On My iPhone?

If you’re having trouble adding widgets to your iPhone, here are a few possible reasons why:

  1. Your iPhone is running an older version of iOS: Widgets were introduced in iOS 14, so if your iPhone is running an older version of iOS, you won’t be able to add widgets. To check your iOS version, go to Settings > General > About > Software Version. Updating to the latest software, as long as it’s later than iOS 14, should enable adding widgets.
  2. Your iPhone is not compatible with widgets: While most recent iPhone models support widgets, some older models may not. If your iPhone is too old, you won’t be able to add widgets.
  3. The widget is not designed for the Lock Screen: Some widgets are designed to work only on the Home screen or in the Today View, and not on the Lock Screen. If you’re trying to add a widget that is not compatible with the Lock Screen, it won’t appear when you try to add it.
  4. You have too many widgets already: Each iPhone model has a maximum number of widgets that can be displayed at a time. If you’ve already added the maximum number of widgets, you won’t be able to add any more until you remove some.

Adding widgets to your iPhone’s Home, Lock, and Today View Screen is a simple process that can enhance your user experience and make your device more functional. By customizing your Lock Screen with widgets that matter to you, you can stay informed and productive throughout your day. Give it a try and see how it can improve your iPhone experience!

Have you been wondering how to find and create Shared Albums when sharing photos on your iPhone? I recently published another article that you can read here walking you through step-by-step how to discover, create, and invite others to Shared Albums on your iPhone.

John Hammer

Hi i'm John Hammer, Founder and Author of Gizbuyer Guide. Ever since the original Xbox, PlayStation, and iPhone I've purchased and worked on all kinds of consumer tech products, gaming gadgets and operating system softwares. To this day my curiosity has never left, and my aim is to guide and share my knowledge on technology as I continue to experience the latest of the consumer electronics industry.

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