To change a widget on your iPhone, touch and hold it until a menu appears. Tap Edit Widget to change what it shows (a different city, album or list), or pick a different size from the same menu. To swap it for a different widget altogether, tap Remove Widget, then touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit in the upper-left corner and tap Add Widget.
These steps work on iOS 18, iOS 26 and iOS 27. On iOS 17 and earlier, you add widgets with the + button in the upper-left corner instead of Edit. Lock Screen widgets are changed a different way, covered near the end.
How to change what a widget shows
Many widgets have settings of their own: Weather can show a different location, Photos a specific album, Reminders a particular list, and Clock a different city.
- Go to the Home Screen and touch and hold the widget. Don’t press too long, or the icons start to jiggle.
- Tap Edit Widget in the menu that appears.
- Tap the setting you want to change, such as Location or Album, and choose a new option.
- Tap anywhere outside the widget to close the editor. The widget updates right away.
If Edit Widget isn’t in the menu, that widget has no options to change. You can still resize it or replace it.
How to change a widget’s size
- Touch and hold the widget.
- In the menu, tap one of the size icons (small, medium, large) shown above or below the menu options.
On iOS 18 and later you can also resize while the icons are jiggling: drag the curved handle at the widget’s bottom-right corner until it snaps to the size you want. Not every app offers every size, and iOS 27 adds an extra-large size for some apps that fills a whole Home Screen page. Larger widgets push apps around to make room, so you may need to move some apps afterward.
How to replace a widget with a different one
iOS doesn’t have a “swap” button, so replacing a widget means removing the old one and adding the new one.
Remove the old widget
- Touch and hold the widget.
- Tap Remove Widget.
- Tap Remove to confirm.
Add the new widget
- Touch and hold an empty area of the Home Screen until the apps jiggle.
- Tap Edit in the upper-left corner.
- Tap Add Widget. The widget gallery opens.
- Scroll through the suggestions or use the search field at the top to find an app, then tap it.
- Swipe left and right to see the sizes and styles on offer.
- Tap Add Widget, or drag the widget to the spot you want.
- Tap Done in the upper-right corner.
Third-party widgets only appear in the gallery once you’ve installed the app and usually after you’ve opened it at least once. If an app you expect is missing, open it, then check the gallery again.
How to change widgets in a Smart Stack
A stack is a pile of widgets in one spot that you swipe through. A Smart Stack also rotates on its own to show what iOS thinks is useful at that time of day. Apple lets you hold up to 10 widgets in a stack.
- Touch and hold the stack.
- Tap Edit Stack.
- Drag widgets up or down to reorder them, or swipe left on one and tap Delete to take it out.
- Turn off Smart Rotate if you don’t want the stack to change by itself.
To build your own stack, drag one widget on top of another widget of the same size while the icons are jiggling.
How to change the color or look of widgets
Widgets follow the Home Screen appearance you choose. Touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit > Customize, and choose a look such as Dark, Clear or Tinted. The choice applies to all app icons and widgets together; you can’t color one widget on its own. Our guide to changing app icon colors explains each option.
How to change widgets on the Lock Screen
Lock Screen widgets sit in a row below the time and are edited with the Lock Screen itself (iOS 16 and later).
- Unlock your iPhone with Face ID or Touch ID but stay on the Lock Screen.
- Touch and hold the Lock Screen, then tap Customize.
- Tap Lock Screen, then tap the widget area (or Add Widgets).
- Tap the minus button on a widget to remove it, or tap a widget in the list to add it.
- Tap Done.
For more on the time, wallpaper and controls, see how to customize the iPhone Lock Screen.
Change widgets in Today View
Swipe right from the first Home Screen page or the Lock Screen to open Today View. It holds its own set of widgets. Touch and hold an empty area until the widgets jiggle, then edit, add or remove them the same way as on the Home Screen.
Why won’t my widget change or update?
- The widget shows old information: widgets refresh on a schedule iOS controls, not constantly. Open the app once to force fresh data. If Low Power Mode is on, updates happen less often.
- A location-based widget shows the wrong place: make sure the app is allowed to use your location in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
- A widget is blank or gray: remove it and add it again. If that doesn’t help, update the app from the App Store.
- The icons jiggle but there’s no Edit button: on iOS 17 and earlier, look for the + button instead. You can check your version in Settings > General > About.
Apple’s own widget guide covers the same controls for iPad. If you’re tidying your Home Screen at the same time, grouping apps into folders frees up room for bigger widgets.
Matthew Roberts is the founder and editor of ARS Digitech. He started the site to answer the iPhone questions his friends and family kept asking him, and it has grown into a library of iPhone and iOS how-to guides. Matthew writes and maintains every tutorial on the site, checking steps and menu names against Apple’s official support documentation and updating guides when an iOS release moves a setting.