How to make an app folder on a Google Pixel (Android 17)

Device

Android

Shown on

Google Pixel 10a, Android 17 (build CP3A.261005.005)

App

Home screen

Path

Home screen › Hold an app › Drop it on another app

Real screenshots

6 of 6 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Drag an app onto another

   Press and hold an app and start dragging. The home screen shrinks into a card, with Remove at the top. Hold the app over the one you want to group it with; we dragged YouTube onto Photos.

   Done

2. 

   Lift your finger

   The two apps become one folder icon with both apps inside. Ours was named Google by itself, as both are Google apps.

   Done

3. 

   Open the folder and tap the name

   Tap the folder. It opens with Photos and YouTube and the name, Google, underneath. Tap the name to change it.

   Done

4. 

   Pick a suggested name

   The keyboard opens with suggested names above it: ours offered Videos, Photos and Social. Tap one or type your own. We pressed Back without typing, and the name stayed Google.

   Done

5. 

   Take an app out

   To undo it, open the folder, press and hold an app and drag it out onto the home screen. We dragged YouTube out of the Google folder, back to its old place.

   Done

6. 

   One app left: no folder

   With only Photos left, our Pixel turned the folder back into the plain Photos icon by itself. The home screen was as before.

   Done

If you do not see this option

• Folder already has a name? Ours named itself Google, as Photos and YouTube are both Google apps. Tap the folder, then the name, to change it. Google says you can tap a suggested name or type the one you want. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens
• Want more apps in it? Google says to drag each one on top of the group. Press and hold the app first, as when you made it. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens
• No suggested names? On ours they showed above the keyboard after we tapped the folder name: Videos, Photos and Social. Google says you can also type the name you want. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens

If this does not work

• Folder disappeared? When only one app was left, our Pixel turned the folder back into that app's icon. Drag another app onto it to make a folder again.
• App vanished from the home screen? You may have dropped it on Remove at the top, which takes it off the home screen only. On ours a bar said Item removed, with Undo: move or remove an app on a Pixel. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens
• Name did not change? Ours kept Google when we pressed Back without typing. Tap a suggested name or type one before you close the keyboard.

About this guide

Google's Pixel help calls a folder a group: drag one app on top of another, then tap the suggested name or type your own. On our Pixel the folder got a name straight away, and it turned back into a plain app icon once only one app was left in it.

The screenshots are from our Google Pixel 10a with Android 17 (build CP3A.261005.005), in Dark mode. We put Photos and YouTube in a folder, then took them out again.

Good to know

Move an app to another spot or take it off the home screen: move or remove an app on a Pixel. Fit more on each screen: change the home screen grid.

Add a clock or weather widget: add a widget on a Pixel. On a Xiaomi phone: make an app folder on a Xiaomi phone.

In short: Press and hold an app, drag it onto another, lift your finger. Rename: tap the folder, then its name.