Add, delete, rearrange home screens on Android

Android is fairly straightforward to use and most people can figure out how to use it, at least all the obvious functions. However, some things are not so obvious. For example, your phone might come with several home screens of widgets that you aren't interested in. You delete the widgets, but are then left with a blank screen. How do you delete empty home screens?

Another situation can arise where there are several screens containing widgets or icons and you wish the fourth screen was the second one because it has really useful things on it and it would save lots of swiping to get there. How do you swap the second and fourth home screens?

If your home screens are full of icons and widgets, how do you add more screens? How do you quickly browse them (other than swiping)?

These tips will work on most phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 for example, and tablets like the Google Nexus 7 and others.

Samsung Galaxy S4 and similar Android phones and tablets

On some devices, such as Samsung phones and tablets, this is very easy and you may have discovered some features yourself. For example, find a screen with an empty spot and press and hold until a menu appears. Select the Page option and a new empty home screen is added. Just add as many as you need.

You can move icons onto them by pressing and holding an icon, then dragging it to one of the thumbnail images of screens at the bottom. It is useful to group similar icons on the same screen.

Press any home screen with two fingers and pinch to display thumbnail images of all the screens as shown in the screen shot on the left.

The plus button adds a new empty screen to the collection and you can press, hold and drag empty screens you no longer want to the trash icon at the top of the screen to delete them.

Screens can be rearranged by by pressing and holding, then dragging them to a new position.

Press the Home button to return to the home screen and near the bottom, above the tray of icons, is a line of dots. Each dot represents a screen, so you can see how many there are. You can also see which screen you are on as the current dot is highlighted. A mini home icon shows the home screen - the screen that is displayed when you press the home button. It is useful to arrange screens to the left and right of the home screen, then they are just a swipe or two away, rather than have them all following the home screen.

A quick way to browse the screens is to press and hold the line of dots on the home screen. The screen is shrunk a little and displayed at the top and a number shows the screen you are on. Keep pressing and slide your finger left and right to flip between the screens. It's great for jumping between screens.

Google Nexus 7 and other stock Android phones and tablets

The functions described above are not part of the core Android functionality. If you have a stock Android phone or tablet, such as a Google Nexus 7, the techniques above won't work. It is a limitation of Google's OS and it isn't clear why the company hasn't added a simple home screen manager. It wouldn't be hard, so come on Google!

The only solution for users of stock Android devices at the moment is to add a launcher. Many phones come with launchers and that's why the Samsung GS4 and others have the ability to add, delete and move home screens - it's a launcher.

There are many free launchers in the Google Play Store that can be added to stock Android devices. Two examples which are typical of this type of app are Nova Launcher and GO Launcher EX, the latter has over one million five-star ratings, which gives you an indication of how highly users regard it.

With Nova Launcher for example, tap the Nova Settings icon and then select Desktop, then tap Home Screens. Press and hold on an empty screen and then drag it to the cross icon at the top of the screen to delete it.

To rearrange the home screens, press and hold on the one to move and then drag them to the position you want. The others scoot around to make room. The plus button in the top right corner adds new screens if you need them. GO Launcher EX has similar facilities and it is just the menus that are different.