How to move or remove an app from the home screen 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 › Drag it › Remove

Real screenshots

8 of 8 steps

Checked

October 2026

Sources

1 official, linked below

Step by step

1. 

   Press and hold the app

   Press and hold the app icon; we used Gmail. A menu opens with App info, Pause app, Widgets, Remove and Bubble, and the app's shortcuts below. To move it, keep holding and start dragging instead.

   Done

2. 

   Drag it to a new spot

   The home screen shrinks into a card, with Remove at the top. Drag Gmail over an empty spot; an outline shows where it will go.

   Done

3. 

   Lift your finger

   Gmail stays in its new place, and the other apps keep theirs. Google says that to put it on a new home screen, you slide it to the right until you get a blank one.

   Done

4. 

   To remove it, drag it to Remove

   Press and hold the app again and drag it up onto Remove at the top. Remove lights up when the app is over it. Lift your finger.

   Done

5. 

   Undo if you change your mind

   The icon goes and a bar at the bottom says Item removed, with Undo. We did not tap Undo; we put Gmail back from the apps list instead.

   Done

6. 

   Find it in the apps list

   Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen. Gmail was still there in the A to Z list, so it was only off the home screen, not uninstalled.

   Done

7. 

   Put it back

   Press and hold the app in the list. The menu has Add to home screen; we kept holding and dragged it instead.

   Done

8. 

   Drop it where you want it

   The home screen card opens with Cancel at the top. Drop the app in an empty spot; we put Gmail back between Play Store and Photos, where it was.

   Done

If you do not see this option

• Remove says Cancel? When we dragged Gmail from the apps list, the top of the screen said Cancel, not Remove. Dropping there cancels the move. Remove shows when you drag an icon that is already on the home screen.
• No Uninstall in the menu? Google says you can find Remove, Uninstall or both. Ours showed App info, Pause app, Widgets, Remove and Bubble for Gmail. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens
• Want it on a new home screen? Google says to slide it to the right until you get a blank home screen. While we dragged, the edge of our second screen showed at the right of the card. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens

If this does not work

• Removed the wrong app? Tap Undo on the Item removed bar at the bottom. Or swipe up to the apps list, where the app still is, and drag it back to the home screen, as we did.
• Worried Remove deleted the app? Google says Remove takes an app off your home screen only; Uninstall takes it off your device. Gmail was still in our apps list afterwards. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens
• Can't move the date and weather? Google says you can't move the At A Glance information at the top of the home screen. You can change what it shows: home screen and search settings. Source: Add apps, shortcuts & widgets to your Home screens

About this guide

Google's Pixel help says Remove takes an app off your home screen only, while Uninstall takes it off your device. On our Pixel, Remove showed a bar with Undo, and the app was still in the apps list afterwards.

The screenshots are from our Google Pixel 10a with Android 17 (build CP3A.261005.005), in Dark mode. We moved Gmail, removed it, and put it back in its old spot. We blurred the account email in Gmail's shortcuts.

Good to know

Group apps instead of spreading them out: make an app folder on a Pixel. Bubble in the same menu opens the app in a floating window: split screen and bubbles.

Change how many icons fit: change the home screen grid. On a Xiaomi phone: move or remove an app on a Xiaomi phone.

In short: Press and hold the app, drag it, lift your finger. Remove: drag it up to Remove. Put back: swipe up, drag it out.