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Context: I previously had Settings and Messages as the first two icons on my home screen. But then "something happened" (I don't recall doing anything that caused a change) and now the first icon is a folder named "Utilities" with both Settings and Messages within.

Desired Outcome: I want to get back to the previous configuration, without the Utilities folder.

Request: I have not figured out how to get the two apps out of the Utilities folder. Holding the folder until things wiggle and then dragging an app out of the folder has no apparent effect - the app just slides back into the folder. What's the secret?

Environment: iPhone 13 Pro Max, ios 17.6.1 enter image description here

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This happens when you tap & hold on an app icon, and drag it over another app icon. iOS assumes you want to combine these apps into a folder. It has pre-defined names for the folder, such as Utilities, but you can change that.

To undo this, open the Utilities folder, tap and hold on one of the icons within, then tap on the Edit Home Screen option. The icons will then 'wiggle'. Tap and hold on one of the icons and drag it out of the Utilities folder, and let go of the icon. It will then move onto the home screen. Let go of the icon and it will insert itself where you place it. The Utilities folder will still exist, however, and you will need to move the second icon out using the previous steps. Once you have moved all the icons out of the Utilities folder, the Utilities folder will auto-delete itself.

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  • I was good up to “ drag it out of the Utilities folder. It will then move onto the home screen. Let go of the icon and it will insert itself”. When I let go, it reverted to its place in the Utilities folder. No joy…
    – fearless_fool
    Commented Sep 3 at 20:44
  • You have to move the icon out of the folder, then let go of the icon. I've edited my response.
    – IconDaemon
    Commented Sep 3 at 23:39
  • Turns out that I had to make space on my Home Screen first; without that, the dragged icon would retreat back into the folder.
    – fearless_fool
    Commented Sep 5 at 2:57
  • Actually, if you drag the icon towards the right, it'll put the app on the next home screen.
    – IconDaemon
    Commented 2 days ago

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