Folders let you organise icons on your Home screen. You can have up to 180 folders on your iPhone and since each folder can hold 12 apps, that means you can keep up to 2160 apps organised on your iPhone at any time.

Like individual icons, folders can be rearranged by dragging them around the Home screen. Folders can be moved to a new Home screen or to the Dock.

Create a Folder

To create a folder touch and hold an icon until the Home screen icons begin to wiggle, then drag the icon onto another icon.

iPhone creates a new folder, including the two icons, and automatically names it, based on the category of the initial app you used to create the folder such as Games, News, Sports, and so on. You can tap the name field and use the keyboard to enter a different name, if required.

To add more apps to a folder tap outside the folder and then just keep dragging apps onto the folder. For example, you can put all the games in one folder, all your news apps in another, and all your productivity apps in yet another.

When you finish organising your Home screen, press the Home button to save your changes.

Add an Icon to a Folder

Touch and hold an icon until the Home screen icons begin to wiggle, then drag the icon onto an existing folder. Press the Home button to save your changes.

Remove an Icon From a Folder

Touch and hold an icon until the Home screen icons begin to wiggle, tap to open the folder, then drag the icon out of the folder. Press the Home button to save your changes.

Rename a Folder

Touch and hold an icon until the Home screen icons begin to wiggle, tap to open the folder, then tap the name at the top and use the keyboard to enter a new name. Press the Home button to save your changes.

Open a Folder

Tap the folder. You can then tap an icon to open that application.

Close a Folder

Tap outside the folder, or press the Home button.

Delete a Folder

Touch and hold an icon until the Home screen icons begin to wiggle. Tap to open the folder to delete and move all the icons out of the folder and onto the Home screen. The folder is deleted automatically when empty.

Folder Alert Messages

Many applications, such as Phone, Messages, Mail, and the App Store, display a badge on their Home screen icon with a number (to indicate incoming items) or exclamation mark (to indicate a problem). If these applications are contained in a folder, the badge appears on the folder. A numbered badge shows the total number of items you haven't attended to, such as incoming phone calls, email messages, and text messages, and updated apps to download. An alert badge indicates a problem with an application in the folder.

Create a Folder in iTunes

You can also create folders in iTunes. With your iPhone connected to your computer, select iPhone in the Devices list in iTunes. Click the Apps tab and in the Home screen near the top of the window drag an application on top of another. To add more apps to a folder just keep dragging apps onto the folder. Click the Apply button to save your changes.