Galaxy Note 5 home screen

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen is usually the first screen you will get after unlocking the phone.  Like all other Android phones, Galaxy Note 5 uses home screen as a starting point to access apps, features and settings.

This guide will show you how to use and customize Galaxy Note 5 home screen.

The components of Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen

From any apps or screens, you can switch to Galaxy Note 5 home screen (and the home panel) by pressing the home button (see Galaxy Note 5 layout here).

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen is composed of (as shown below) :

• Widgets. Some apps offer widgets so that you can use certain features of the app without opening the app. Widgets are small apps that launch specific app functions to provide information and convenient access on your home screen.
• Apps. These are actually shortcuts to the apps listed in apps screen, aka app drawer.  You can access apps quickly from home screen without navigating to Galaxy Note 5 apps screen.
• App folders. Galaxy Note 5 home screen supports app folders. You can use folders to manage and group apps to keep your home screen neat. Otherwise, you may use too many home screen panels. Please check this guide if you want to know how to use app folders on Galaxy Note 5.
• Screen indicators. The indicator gives you a quick glimpse of where you are. In other words, the screen indicator shows you the location of current panel/page among all home screen panels.
• Favorite apps tray.  The favorite apps tray will be shown on all all panels of Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen.  The purpose of favorite apps tray is to let you access up to 4 apps quickly from any home screen panels. You can change the apps in the favorite tray to what you want.
• Apps screen icon. The apps screen icon links to Galaxy Note 5 apps screen (aka App drawer), where all apps (both pre-installed and those installed by you) are listed.

Please note, status bar, which is on the top of all home screen panels, is usually not considered as part of the home screen because it is shared with all apps as well.

How to navigate through Galaxy Note 5 home screen panels?

By default, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen consists of several pages (called panels).

To navigate to other panels of Galaxy Note 5 home screen, swipe to the left or right (see Galaxy Note 5 touch screen gestures here), or tap one of the screen indicators as shown above.

If you were a Galaxy Note 4 user or Galaxy Note 3 user, you may feel a bit disappointed that you cannot cycle through Galaxy Note 5 home screen panels.

This is one of the most annoying “new” features in the new TouchWiz introduced in Galaxy S6.

In previous Galaxy Note devices, once you reach the rightmost home screen panel, you can continue swipe to the leftmost panel. And vice versa.

But Galaxy Note 5 home screen does not support this cycling feature. Once you reach the rightmost or leftmost panel, you have to swipe back just like that you hit a wall.  Of course, you can tap home button to return to the home panel of Galaxy Note 5 home screen.

How to customize Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen

You can customize Galaxy Note 5 home screen by changing wallpaper, adding widgets to the home screen, changing  the themes of Galaxy Note 5, and setting screen grid.

On Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen,  you can tap and hold any empty area, or pinch your fingers together to enter the edit mode of Galaxy Note 5 home screen as shown below.

In the edit mode, you will have the following  Galaxy Note 5 home screen options to customize home screen:

• Wallpapers. You can change the wallpaper for the lock screen and home screen of Galaxy Note 5.
• Widgets.  This option allows you to add widgets to the Galaxy Note 5 home screen.
• Themes. Galaxy Note 5 supports themes. You can download and install themes from Galaxy apps. Galaxy Note 5 themes let you change visual elements of interface, such as colors, icons, and even wallpapers with one click.
• Screen grid. You can use this screen option to change the size of the app icons on Galaxy Note 5 home screen. You can set the home screen for 16 (4×4), or 20 (4×5) or 25 (5×5) apps. The size of app icons will be adjusted automatically.

How to add apps or widgets to Galaxy Note 5 home screen?

To add an app to Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen,  tap and hold an app or a folder from the Apps screen, and then drag it to the desired location on the home screen.  You can put the app on any home screen panels.

To add widgets to Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen, tap and hold an empty area on the home screen, tap Widgets as shown above, tap and hold a widget, and then drag it to a panel of  Galaxy Note 5 home screen.

Some widgets may allow you to re-size them.

How to move and delete apps or widgets on Galaxy Note 5 home screen?

To move an app or a widget on Galaxy Note 5 home screen, tap and hold it, and then drag it to a new location. Please check Galaxy Note 5 touch screen gestures if you are not sure about the operation.

You can also move frequently used apps to the favorite apps tray.

To delete an app or a widget from Galaxy Note 5 home screen, tap and hold the item. Then, drag it to Remove at the top of the screen.

How to manage panels (pages) of Galaxy Note 5 home screen?

Galaxy Note 5 home screen allows up to 7 (it seems there are no limit on number of  home screen panels) home screen panels/pages. You can add, move, delete these panels on the home screen. You can also re-assign home of the home screen.

You can only manage Galaxy Note 5 home screen panels in the edit mode as mentioned above.

To add a panel, swipe to the left, and then tap  + icon. The new home screen panel is always added to the rightmost in Galaxy Note 5.

To move a panel, tap and hold a panel preview, and then drag it to a new location.

To remove a panel, tap and hold a panel preview, and then drag it to Remove at the top of the screen.

To set a panel as the main home screen (home of home screen), tap the Home icon  in the top of the panel preview as shown in the green box above.

How to turn off flipboard briefing on Galaxy Note 5 home screen?

Please check this detailed guide on how to disable Flipboard briefing Galaxy Note 5 home screen.

How to use app folders on Galaxy Note 5 home screen?

Please check this guide on how to create and use app folders on Galaxy Note 5 home screen.

Can you use Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen? Can you customize Galaxy Note 5 home screen now?

If you have any questions or encounter any problems on using or customizing Samsung Galaxy Note 5 home screen, please leave a comment in the comment box below.

The community will try to help you.

For other Galaxy Note 5 features and detailed Galaxy Note 5 how-to guides , please check Galaxy Note 5 how-to guides page.

You may also download and read the official Samsung Galaxy Note 5 user manual here.