There is a common issue for Android users where the shortcut icons disappear from the Home or Apps Launcher screens. There are a few reasons this happens. Give these steps a try.
Icons Disappear from Home Screen
1. Restart
If you haven’t tried to restart the device yet, give that a try. Press and hold the “Power” button, then select “Restart“. In many cases, the Home screen will refresh and the icon(s) will return.
2. Reset the Home Screen Launcher
This step will reset your home screen completely and is only recommended if disappearing icons is a continuous problem.
- Go to “Settings” > “Apps & notifications” > “App info“.
- Select the app that handles the launcher. The app we are looking for will differ depending on the device. Looks for something related to or contains the words “Home“, “Quicklaunch” or “Launcher” (Example: Nova Launcher). If you have a Samsung device, it may be called “TouchWiz“.
- Select “Storage“. then choose “Clear data“.
3. Disable Game Launcher
If game icons are not displaying on your Home screen, it may be because your phone has a separate launched for games. Samsung Galaxy phones have this feature. If enabled, all games apps will only display within the launcher.
You can usually turn the game launcher off by opening “Game Launcher“, selecting “More” > “Settings” and changing the “Show game apps” setting.
4. Select “Full screen apps”
Go to Settings, then tap on “Display” then tap on “Full screen apps“. From there, turn on what apps you want to appear on your home screen. Go back to home screen after turning on all the apps you want icons for, scroll right to left, they should all be there.
Icons Disappear from App Launcher
1. Restart
If you haven’t tried to restart the device yet, give that a try. Press and hold the “Power” button, then select “Restart“. In many cases, the Home screen will refresh, and the icon(s) will return.
2. Ensure App is Not Disabled
Under “Settings” > “Apps & notifications” > “App info“. Choose the app that goes missing, and ensure the app is not disabled.
3. Ensure the Launcher Does Not Have the App Hidden
Your device may have a launcher that can set apps to be hidden. Usually, you bring up the app launcher, then select “Menu” (☰ or ⁝). From there, you might be able to unhide apps. The options will vary depending on your device or launcher app.
David says
My elderly friend has an Alcatel E10 smart phone but the home screen is limited to just 4 Apps and there are a couple more that he would like placed there. Is there a way of achieving this?
BTW: I’m an iPhone user and have no experience with Android phones.
Roy McFarlane says
Nothing I have seen fixes stolen web icons from my Samsung phones home screen. These are not apps. They are saved web icons to subscriptions and quick web links. They are removed continuously, usually at night. I have lookout security with VPN and Malwarebytes running and 2 step verification and all passwords are not compromised. I have nearly given up using the phone till someone can give me a solution. I see online this is causing havoc on many phones. How can I get help to fix this, Samsung? Google?
JEFF L RANK says
I adjusted screen resolution from 1080 to 1440, and all the icons reset!
Lorraine K. Cummings says
It is the buttons that disappeared on the bottom of my Android Fire from Amazon.. Back, home, and open Apps.Go on with these lesbiansbuttons
Alexa red line seems frozen on the bottom, and doesn’t respond. Usually if I ask, the icons come back. This is also an Amazon fire, but it responds correctly. How can I get those back?
J5 says
Thanks! Big help. It was driving me nuts! Lol