Unable to move or organize apps after iOS 26 update on iPhone 16 Pro

Thank you to posters in this discussion thread for a solution that actually allows me to MOVE AN ICON or GROUP. Here is the painstaking process (I use iOS 26.3 iPhone 14):

• hold your finger (I suggest your index finger) on the specimen you wish to move and watch closely for an almost indiscernible change to the screen indicating that the icon/group can be moved. If you miss the subtle change you can check if the button can be moved yet by trying to slightly move the selected icon. 
• do not attempt to move the button too quickly or too far from the position it currently occupies, but slowly & firmly drag it to its new destination. If the new location is a screen or two away, your best option is to drag the button a screen at a time allowing it to “settle” on each screen and then repeat the process. 
• once you get the icon/group to the screen you want to drop it on, you may have to “jockey” it around a little before it will occupy an empty space.
• Once you get a spot to settle the icon, leave it on this space and watch your screen closely again. You will see a very slight change in the icons on the screen and this is the signal you can lift your finger from the icon/group you moved.  It “should” remain at that location.  
• DO NOT LIFT YOUR FINGER DURING THIS ENTIRE PROCESS or you will have to restart. 
• Expect this process to move one icon/group to take up to 60+ seconds (sometimes longer) each time. It took a few moves to get the hang of it. I had to restart the process on several attempts. 
• Be creative. If you want to move a group/icon through more than two screens your best bet is to toggle to the view showing all screens and rearrange the screen containing the icon you want to move next to the screen you want it to actually appear upon. Make use of the Dock by moving one of your icons put of it and  into a screen with space on it, then move the icon you want to relocate into the dock. Swipe to the new screen location then pull that icon out of the Dock onto the new screen. (Remember where you spotted the Dock icon you moved temporarily so you can put it back in the Dock without hunting for hours.)

Be patient. This is the ONLY workaround that I have found that allows an icon or group to be moved in iOS 26.x. I have opened two Feedback Tickets FB21***** & FB2154***** but have had no response by Apple. 

[Edited by Moderator]

I found somewhat of a fix…..

 try resetting your Home Screen layout, which can resolve layout issues after an update.

I would backup phone first and then take screen shots of you app location. If you you have filing cabinets loaded with apps I would just write down the names so you can organize easier.

1. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.

2. Tap Reset, then tap Reset Home Screen Layout, and confirm.

After you do this every filing cabinet will be gone and you will have to manually move and recreate the location you had previously setup with all of the apps one at a time. It does work and the apps can be moved but it is painstakingly slow and inefficient. Some of you can get it done in hours but for me it will take a couple months or longer due to how many apps and web pages were all organized before IOS 26.

one good thing is that I am deleting old unused apps and webpages I don’t want or need which frees up space.

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[Edited by Moderator]

I figured out a slight hack that seems to work. Go to a screen that isn't full, take one of the 4 icons on the "dock" (the bottom row that stays constant on every screen), and move it to the screen that has room. Then go to the app you really want to move, and move it (very gingerly) to the vacant space on the dock. Be sure to position the icon exactly, because if you don't, it will vanish momentarily and then go back where it came from. Go to the screen containing the new folder for that app, and move it out of the dock and into the new folder. Then, if you're through, restore the app you originally moved from the dock. I don't know if this works with folders -- I have no idea if they can be moved to the dock.

I can only surmise that this is a ploy to get people to upgrade their older phones. I'm using a 12 mini and have 2 second gen SE's, and had hoped to go another year before upgrading.

The suggestion to hold the icon for an extended amount of time works. A very long press. Be patient.

It takes about three minutes to move an app using edit Home Screen.

First, I hold on an app and it starts to jiggle, and then I select edit home screen. Then I hold onto the app as long as it takes until finally, it will allow me to start to move it. I slide it down toward the lower part of the screen over on the far left side and hold it there with it just partially showing and wait a long time until it finally shifts to the next home screen that is there if I want to put it into a folder that exists, I can move it up to that folder and then hold it over that folder until finally the border around the folder, changes color and I can let go of the app. After that, then I take the app and with my finger and slide it into whatever part of that folder that I want it to be at.

If I accidentally hold the app, just a little bit too much off center or trying to slide to a different home screen and miss holding it exactly on the edge of the Apple screen it will not take affect, and the app will go back to where it was originally.

This whole process takes up to three minutes just to move one app. Sometimes the app will disappear and end up back in its original position instead of where I’ve tried to place it. Yes it is frustrating.

I am using iOS 26.one on an iPhone 17 air.

Moving apps has been a challenge, but all of a sudden I’m able to do it with lots of patience.

I have an iPhone 17 Air, iOS 25.1, with 1GB memory. Yes, I have a hundreds of apps, but that should not be a reason that I can’t move them around the screen easily like in previous iOS versions.

However, I have noticed that yesterday I finally figured out how to move apps and folders, even though it takes up to five minutes or more for each move.

Here’s what I have to do:

HOW TO MOVE A FOLDER TO ANOTHER PAGE

1 - press gently and hold on the folder until the window opens with the message “Edit Home Screen”

2 - Select “Edit Home Screen”.

3 - hold your finger gently against the folder that you want to move and wait patiently until it starts to expand just slightly.

4 - Then slowly move your finger with the folder toward the left side of the screen until you can just barely see your folder on the page. Then after a minute or so, the next page will arrive coming across slowly to put you on that next page. Never let go of with your finger on the screen.

5 - if this is not the correct page that you want then continue holding where you’re at on the left edge of the screen so that it will move to next page.

6 - Wait until the page stabilizes completely holding your finger with the folder into the position where you exactly want it to be left. Sometimes other folders will start to move around and not allow you to put the folder where you want it. You have to move it around slowly until finally it will give up and let you put it where you want it. Sometimes after a couple of minutes, it will give up and you will see the folder name appear at the bottom of the folder.

7 - Once this happens it is an indication that you should be able to let go with your finger. Don’t touch anything yet, but wait just a little bit and then you should be able to touch the END button at the upper right of the screen letting it know that you have completed the operation.

8 - hopefully after about five minutes working time, the folder will remain where you want it and you have successfully completed your task.

HOW TO REARRANGE OR MOVE AN APP INTO A FOLDER

1 - the steps are similar to moving a folder to another page with some exceptions.

2 - 1st place your finger on the app that you want to move and wait until the screen starts to jiggle the apps. Then select “Edit home screen.”

3 - once the app starts to expand in size just slightly you can then slide your finger to move where you would like it to be placed on the screen. If you’re moving it into a folder, slide it over the top of the folder and hold it there for at least a minute and a half until the folder starts to change its look. If it starts to expand in size a little you should be able to place that app inside the folder. But wait!

4 - don’t let go of your finger until you’re sure that that app is setting in a safe place inside that folder before you release the finger.

5 - once everything looks good then let go of your finger and don’t touch anything for another minute or so. Then you can click the END button at the upper right of the screen to stop the operation.

DEDICATION, PATIENCE, AND LOTS OF TIME IS REQUIRED TO DO EACH OF THESE OPERATIONS UNTIL THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL. A lot of trial and error until you can successfully complete these steps is required.

I don’t know if it’s a matter of memory problems that’s causing these operations that used to only take a few seconds to do.

I hope Apple can resolve this as quickly as possible.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE. 😎

musky580 wrote:

Even after latest update 26.3 and a new iPhone 17 the same problem still exists. When are they going to address this? It must be a software issue as it occurred on my previous phone and now it is on a brand new one.

This is a user to user only forum. You are making an assumption that because you are having an issue moving and organizing your apps, that everyone else must have the same issue which requires something to be fixed on the Apple side. This is NOT a common issue and out of the more than 1.5 Billion Apple users out there, we're seeing very few reports from users. I wouldn't be expecting Apple to resolve something which doesn't affect the vast majority of users. For example on two iPhones under iOS 26.3 (the newest update, which you should update to, if you haven't), I can organize my apps exactly as I've always been able to organize them, by doing the following:

1. Hold my finger on the app and tap Edit Home Screen
2. Apps start to jiggle and I hold my finger on the app and slide it where I want it to be placed

What troubleshooting steps have you tried? Make sure your phone is updated. Then Force Restart your iPhone --> https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/force-restart-iphone-iph8903c3ee6/ios

If that doesn't help, Reset All Settings --> https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/reset-iphone-settings-iphea1c2fe48/ios

musky580 wrote:

It’s more common than you think. I upgraded to a new phone and the problem still exists. It has nothing to do with a reset as that did not work. I have spoken with others who had the same issue.

OK. But I have 4 devices on iOS 26 (currently iOS 26.3.1), and on none of them do I have any issue reorganizing apps as I want to organize them. That includes two iPhones and two iPads.

You should reach out to Apple directly for help. If you're in the US, you can call Apple at: 800-MY-APPLE or you can visit your Apple Store Genius Bar for in-person help.

RobertM13 wrote:

Well, it is a problem for me, as well as a number of others, so I am grateful to see the comments on it.

More importantly, I hope the engineers who care about producing and properly updating Apple products will take a hint and send out an update to the update!

None of the engineers you hope might see your post, participate here on this user to user only forum.

If you want to be heard by anyone at Apple, use this link --> https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/

I still maintain that iOS 26 itself did not make if impossible to organize apps. If it did, this forum would be flooded with people complaining, yet their not. And the tech press would be all over it, yet their not.

What you need to figure out is why YOU are having an issue organizing apps.

Have you Force Restarted your phone --> https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/force-restart-iphone-iph8903c3ee6/ios

Have you contactrd Apple directly for help? You can schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar for in-person assistance --> https://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

If you're in the US, you can call Apple at: 800-MY-APPLE too.

Still haven’t seen any update since 26.2

I’ve talked to some people about it even in stores and they don’t know what’s going on. One person even said that maybe I have too many apps and that could be causing the problem. However, I don’t understand why that would be the situation because it didn’t happen in the previous operating systems before iOS26 came out. So Apple definitely did change something that is causing the problem.

I even noticed that when I slide between screens since I have a lot of screens with apps on them that it takes time before they refresh with the pictures. Something is slowing down the processing.

Unless it’s a flaw in the new chip that they put in that can’t handle the situation anymore. What do you think?

I talked to the senior rep from Apple yesterday and they said there still has been nothing progress wise on being able to move apps without any problems. And I’m using iOS 26.3. All we can do is hurry up and wait. It’s a shame since it affects so many people’s operating systems when moving apps.

When I use different methods, sometimes I’ll spend as much as five minutes to move one app. At least I can look out my balcony window and not have to worry about it on the cruise.

Rrwcm wrote:

Wait a minute lobsterghost1. This problem appears to be widespread. I have it and I know people who also have it and from the looks of this forum there are many others as well.

My Apple devices and software have been really suffering since the Fall 2025 upgrades. I hope they can find a way back to having the highest standards in the industry.

I'm sorry to see you have an issue with this. No one I know does. And if this was really widespread, this forum would be flooded with complaints, yet it's not. And the tech press would be all over this, yet they're not. Keep in mind there are, according to Apple and Tim Cook, approximately 2.5 Billion Apple users out there. The number of people posting an issue moving apps here on this forum, the most highly visited forum in the work for all things iPhone are statistically beyond tiny in comparison to how many users there are.

That said, you should let Apple know you're having an issue as they certainly won't know from you posting here. Feedback can be shared with Apple here --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Me too! I regret downloading iOS 26 because of this! I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and rely HEAVILY on being able to relocate apps and folders to reorganize them. Please fix this ASAP! This is an unacceptable glitch for releasing a new iOS. Apple should have caught this months ago.

I have the same problem with iOS 26.1. I cannot move my apps or put them into folders or move them to a different screen that contains more folders.

Another issue I have found is that the screen is very slow to refresh when I move from one screen panel to the next screen panel, which I have quite a few since I have many apps in folders. This is getting frustrating because any new apps I might add end up at the end screen that has new apps showing. But I can’t move them and put them into folders that I want to put them in elsewhere on my phone.