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Fix: Android App Widgets Not Appearing

Fix: Android App Widgets Not Appearing

By Mitch Bartlett 50 Comments

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:

  1. Open the “Settings” app.
  2. 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.
  3. Select the app that isn’t showing up in the widgets list.
  4. Tap the “Storage“ button.
  5. Select “Change“.
  6. 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.

  1. Open “Settings“.
  2. Select “Apps” or “Applications“.
  3. One some devices, choose “Manage applications“.
  4. Select the menu icon or “More” option at the upper-right corner of the screen, then choose “Show system“.
  5. 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.
  6. Select “Storage“.
  7. Choose “Clear Data“.

The Home screen should be restored, along with the ability to use widgets.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jadon says

    So I have an Android 9 ZTE and all my apps are in my internal storage and I have no widgets even for apps like Keep Notes and WhatsApp
    Just basic shortcuts
    And it’s kinda annoying cause widgets are helpful
    Please help

  2. tania says

    I try Fix 2 for my Samsung note 4 but the Whatsapp widget still not appearing, other widget apps work but not Whatsapp :(

  3. Carmen says

    Hi Andriod Fanatics!

    Need some help here – I have a Note 10 + on UI 2.1. After the update, i noticed my HD Widget Weather App and some alarms on my home screen disappeared! I tried to re-add it, but its not showing up. The HD Widget weather app even gave me a “Widget Added Successfully!” but no where to be found on home screens. The Alarm widget also doesn’t appear even after i click to set it up.

    Anyone know how to fix this issue?

    Please and thank you – appreciate this so much!

  4. Aline Polikalas says

    Your step-by-step guide to restoring apps via deleting data on the TOUCH WIZARD restored everything back to normal in 60-seconds. For me, a miracle. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

  5. JB says

    Unfortunately the whole point of moving stuff to my SD card was to free up space on my internal storage (the one i really want back is Audible).

  7. Gene says

    I found out I could not put any widgets on my screen when I had this item turned on. System, developer options, Apps, force quit, quit all activity when app is closed. When I tried to add the widget again it said it was already there. As soon as I turned “force quit” off I could put widgets on screen again Don’t know if this will help anyone else but that is What I did after nothing I tried on the web helped. Oh yeah I had to get rid of the hidden widget first by clearing cache and data.

  8. Lyna says

    Thank you!
    Fix #1 works :).
    Wish we could do this to bring Spotify widget back too, but that they removed on their end :(.

  9. Greg Engelstad says

    After my last comment, I tried another app launcher which I like much better than Apex: Evie Launcher, a free app. I like the way it works more than Apex, and it has no adds.

  10. Gregor says

    I found the cause of the missing-widgets problem on my Nokia 1: the app manager (Launcher 3 which is a part of the Android OS, at least on my Nokia 1) was blocking all the widgets. Replacing it with Apex Launcher solved the problem. $9 or put up with the ads, but either way it solved the problem that was really messing with my attitude!

  11. Gregor says

    Just like Ayad on July 4, I also have a Nokia 1 which was recently updated. There was some widget-like thing that conveniently showed system time on the main screen, which is no longer there. I’m trying to install HD Widgets and several others, but when I get to the “Widgets” list, none of the new widgets are listed. HD Widgets is already in Internal Storage, so fix 1 isn’t an option. Fix 2 looks rather bloody, and since Tea tried it without success, I didn’t try it either. What did Android folks do to screw up the widget support? The same issue is appearing on other phones beside Nokia, so it doesn’t seem to be a manufacturer issue.

  12. Pamela says

    I was moving some apps on my S5, how the page with Settings, and Messages is gone. I have no Settings!

  13. Tea says

    I have a Nokia v2, all my apps are internally stored, and I tried fix2 and nothing happened. What is going on???? This is driving me absolutely insane!!! This stupid update is going to drive me to drink….

  14. Ayad says

    Dear, I have Nokia 1 and its OS is Android One. June 2019 update removed all the widgets on the home screen and from the add option too. Only few of them are available. The apps are installed on the internal memory. I did as you recommended (fix2) but still the same. I installed weather app but didn’t find the widget in the list.
    Do you please have another option(s) to solve that?
    Thank you.

  15. Richard Piper says

    Can anyone help me, I feel rather stupid, my S9 has been updated all of the apps on my home screen work fine but those not on the home screen cannot be accessed as the “Apps” widget has disappeared into the ether. AS a result I can only see about 17 of over 50 apps

    Thank you

  16. Nadine says

    Please help. I don’t have a settings widget at all in my widgets section. I need to get you notification log urgently.

  20. Mac says

    My problem is…
    When I install from the Play Store.. .NOTHING is added to my phone. This has been happening for almost a year, on both mine and my wifes phone. ALL apps installed new can only be accessed from the Play Store installed section.

    1} WHY??
    2} Can this somehow be fixed? I have searched and this forum seems to be the straightest shooter. HELP!!

  21. 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!

  24. 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.

  25. 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.

  26. 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

  27. Jef says

    Thankyou ! Deezer’s data was saved on my SD card. Once switched back to internal, the widget appeared.
    Good call !

  28. 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.

  30. 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

  31. Yves says

    Fix 1 has repaired it. *ThumbsUp* You are great! Thanks a lot! Fix 1 worked on my Motorola G4 plus with android 7.0 Nougat, trying to get back the VLC widget! You solved my problem ! :-)

  32. Ben says

    Did not help. There is no “change” button once you tap on Storage. Just Clear Data and Clear Cache.

  33. Noor. says

    God I was going crazy thank you so much nothing else on the Internet worked for my s5 Internet was touchwiz.

  35. User42 says

    Thanks a lot Mitch! I did the first fix and put Trello back on the phone memory, suddenly the ability to add that widget showed up again! A real shame Trello doesn’t indicate that anywhere or worked to restore fully-functionnal SD card storage… Thankfully we still got helpful fellows like you :)

  36. Peter Kohler says

    I’m on a Galaxy S7 and cannot find older notifications to save my life…no settings widget either

  40. John says

    Thanks greatly! On my stock Motorola G4 plus, after getting the Nougat OTA upgrade, my widgets were just plain weird. At times, the Transparent Weather widget would show a stale time and battery level and Battery Solo widget would be stale. The strangest was, when they were stale, if I tried to add a widget, the page of widgets would be blank. I did Settings, Apps, show system, selected Google App (which includes the launcher), storage, manage space and clear all data. I lost my home screens and had to put them back in. After that, the widgets seems to be working again. Note: take screen shots (power plus volume down) first so you don’t have to remember how your home screens were set up.

  43. Rob says

    Feedly widget hasn’t appeared for me in over a year – searched all over trying to resolve. I never connected that moving the app to external storage takes away the widget – Fix 1 solved it instantly. You’re awesome! Thanks.

  46. BGilbert says

    Thanks very much! I would have had this solved very quickly, but communities on the internet were saying that Android has abolished the facility of installing/starting apps from SD Card and so I didnt think android was doing this anymore…..such great news that theyve brought it back

  47. betmyace says

    This has always been a simple fix for me ……

    go to “settings” … then to “apps” …. then click the menu and tap “reset app preferences”

  48. Jihn says

    I cleaned data of launcher but couldn’t get widgets back there is white box if Ilong press the home screen.

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