I noticed a problem with my widgets on my Android device where the app widgets were not showing up. I had all of the standard widgets like Music, News & Weather, and Power Control, but no option for Facebook, Twitter, or any other apps I installed.
Fix 1
It turns out that this is a feature of Android where widgets are blocked for apps that are installed to the SD card. This was my problem since I had just moved all of my apps the SD card to save space.
To resolve this issue, the app had to be moved back to the memory of the phone using these steps:
- Open the “Settings” app.
- Select “Apps“.
On many Samsung devices, you would select “Applications” > “Application manager“.
These selections may vary between devices depending on the version of the Android OS you are running. - Select the app that isn’t showing up in the widgets list.
- Tap the “Storage“ button.
- Select “Change“.
- Switch the selection from “SD card” to “Internal storage“.
Repeat these steps for any other apps you are experiencing the same issue with.
Fix 2
Sometimes the Home screen data may get corrupted. You will have to clear the Home screen data and start fresh. These steps will reset your icons on the Home screen back to defaults.
- Open “Settings“.
- Select “Apps” or “Applications“.
- One some devices, choose “Manage applications“.
- Select the menu icon or “More” option at the upper-right corner of the screen, then choose “Show system“.
- This step may be tricky. You have to find the name of the app that runs the Home screen. On my Galaxy S7, it’s called “TouchWiz“. On the Moto X, it’s called “Launcher“. On the Nexus 5X, it’s called “Nexus 5X Home screen“. Try to find the one that applies to your device, then select it.
- Select “Storage“.
- Choose “Clear Data“.
The Home screen should be restored, along with the ability to use widgets.
Rachael says
Thanks so much! Not sure why it won’t display apps that are on the SD card, but super glad I finally have the widgets back!
Ahmed says
Thanks I’ve did what you say in “fix 1” and it work !
Zylam says
Thanks!!! Helped me out! You’re a legend!
JOHN WAITMAN says
I have a galaxy7 and just did a update now all my game widgets are gone. not happy about this as I pay for coins and now can’t find widgets to play I have to go into play store find the game I was on and open there to play the game. It’s late so will be calling my carrier to see if they can fix the problem.
Colin borner says
Followed the instructions and got my BA widget back on my Android phone. I thought I had moved only photos and video’s to the SD card. Thanks Mitch.
Mary Knight says
Hi I moved whatsapp from internal to sd card on my Honor 7 phone. Since then the whatsapp widget stopped working so I deleted it with the intention of re-installing the widget. But it had vanished from the widget section.
I tried suggestion 1 n it worked.
Suggestion 2 was preferable but I do not know the app that runs home screen on Honor 7 n some of the steps suggested are not available on this version of Honor 7
Jef says
Thankyou ! Deezer’s data was saved on my SD card. Once switched back to internal, the widget appeared.
Good call !
Craig walker says
Nope majority of the step pages are not on my 5.1 Android phone. Settings apps shows it running but cannot get the widget to home screen to use it.
Lk says
Thank you. #2 helped
Pam Tucker says
I have a widget on my android phone. I recently got a tablet for Christmas. It was linked to my phone, by my daughter. But, I miss my widget. I used it for screenshots.
Any advice?
Technologically Challenged