Randomly rearranged iPad Home Screen icons

System Software Updates can, on occasion, result in unexpected rearrangement of your Home Screen icons.

Be aware that the icon/widget layout for Landscape and Portrait screen orientation are effectively independent of each-other. As such, in rotating the iPad between orientations, you may observe unexpected movement in relative icon and widget location.

With this in mind, you would be well advised to arrange the icons to your preferred layout of your Home Screens for both Landscape and Portrait screen orientation. Once arranged, the icons should retain the set locations until you add or delete an App icon or widget to the relevant page - noting that download of an App from the App Store may automatically install a corresponding icon to one of the Home Screens.

Your preference as to layout may be entirely different for Landscape and Portrait presentation.

A forced-restart of your iPad will often clear an isolated software issue:

Force restart iPad (models with Face ID or with Touch ID in the top button)

If your iPad doesn’t have the Home button, do the following:

1. Press and quickly release the volume button nearest to the top button.
2. Press and quickly release the volume button farthest from the top button.
3. Press and hold the top button.
4. When the Apple logo appears, release the top button.

If the problem persists after performing the restart, it may be necessary to reset your iPad settings. While this reset will not cause any loss of data, as a precaution, it is always wise to ensure that you have a current iCloud or iTunes backup before performing the reset:

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

When you are happy to proceed, you can perform the reset from iPad settings:

Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad > Reset > Reset All Settings

If the problem still doesn’t clear, the next step is to reset the iPad to factory settings:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support

Otherwise, you would be best advised to seek assistance directly from Apple Support. You can contact the Support Team using the Support link at top-right or bottom-left of this page. Alternatively you can initiate and manage your support cases using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed on your iPad, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-support/id1130498044