How to make a widget-sized folder on your Samsung phone

Illustration of a Samsung app folder being customized, showing social media icons grouped together, color options, and floating 3D shapes around.

Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police

By Faith Leroux Published 48 minutes ago Faith writes guides, how-tos, and roundups on the latest Android games and apps for Android Police. You'll find her writing about the newest free-to-play game to hit Android or discussing her paranoia about digital privacy and poor smartphone practices. She will occasionally dabble in Samsung's latest features in One UI. On the games side, her area of expertise is in action RPGs and gacha games, but she will play and study the occasional competitive shooter. But most of all, her appetite for new stories still goes unquenched — as shown with her personal love for the Trails series. Before joining Android Police, Faith studied Chemistry and graduated with an honors specialization in Chemistry in 2016, leading her to spend many hours toiling around the lab as an undergraduate. Eventually, all those hours spent at the lab led Faith to develop her analytical mindset. So now, if you give Faith a problem, she will relentlessly tackle it to find a solution. Her favorite pastime as a student was always writing reports, presentations, tutorials, and literature reviews, which guided her into completing a graduate certificate in technical writing. Thanks to her time writing for Android Police, she has an ignited passion for user security and privacy and is currently pursuing her certification in Cyber Security. Faith's first Android phone was the Samsung Galaxy Note II in 2012, giving her a taste of how a small piece of powerful hardware can open up endless opportunities for her favorite hobbies. Though if you ask her about her purchasing regrets, she will always say missing out on the Google Nexus still stings to this very day. She's also been a gamer for over 20 years, starting with Super Mario Bros. on the NES; she has owned over 15 devices for gaming, ranging from handhelds to consoles. Now, with her analytical mindset, passion for writing, and core identity as a gamer, she can finally chase her dreams as a technical writer and gaming journalist. Nowadays, you'll find Faith studying spreadsheets and assembling data to theorycraft new teams and builds for Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Wuthering Waves, and Zenless Zone Zero. You'll also see her digging deep to discover Android gaming's most hidden gems, along with productivity apps and AI features. Sign in to your Android Police account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

The way your phone looks needs to be appealing. Most people spend at least half of their waking hours staring at a phone screen.

According to Harmony Healthcare IT, Americans spend an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on their phones. It's an alarming amount of time.

However, for the sake of your eyes, it's better to keep your screen less cluttered and easier to read. That's why you should consider using folders with customized sizes so you can turn your phone into a visually appealing canvas.

You can do this on any Samsung phone running One UI 7 or newer, or on a device compatible with the Home Up plugin.

Our guide will show you how to customize your app folder size and grid through both methods.

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How to add a folder to your home screen or app screen

Adding a folder is easy. Just open your home screen or app screen and have the app icons placed in the same location.

Our tutorial teaches you how to easily add a default folder to your Samsung home screen or app screen.

Follow these steps to add a new folder to your home screen or app screen.

Unlock your Samsung phone to access your home screen or app screen.
Tap and hold over an app icon.
Drag the app icon next to another app icon to create a folder. Close
Tap the Folder name field to edit the name.
Tap the color palette circle next to the plus icon to change the folder's color. Close

You can remove apps from a folder by opening the folder, tapping and holding the app icon, and dragging it out of the folder. If there are only two apps in that folder, the folder will be deleted.

How to change a Samsung folder's grid size

Your default folder size should be 3X4, but you can change it to 4X4. Changing the internal folder size also means you can add one extra app to that folder.

All it requires is a simple settings change. Here's what you need to do:

Open Settings on your Samsung device.
Tap Home screen.
Select Folder grid. Close
Tap 4X4 in the drop-down menu. Close

All created folders should be converted automatically. You can check by opening your home screen and app screen, tapping the folder, and confirming that it now supports the new grid size.

How to enlarge a folder on your home screen

After you've created new folders and customized the grid size, you can change a folder's physical size natively.

Tap and hold a folder on your home screen, then select Enlarge. Tap and hold the same folder to shrink it down to the original folder size.

Opened options to edit folder on home screen with the Enlarge button

Displaying an enlarged folder on a Samsung home screen

You can only use this method if your device has One UI 7 or newer installed.

How to change your folder's physical size using Home Up

Samsung has a collection of One UI customization tools through the Good Lock app. Though the Good Lock app availability varies by region and device.

Before you can install the plugin, you will need to download the Good Lock app via the Galaxy Store or the Google Play Store. We've included the Play Store widget below this section.

After you've installed the Good Lock app, you can install the Home Up module by searching for it inside the app.

Just note that if you don't see the Home Up module, it is likely because it isn't compatible with your current One UI version, and you will need to wait for Samsung to update it.

If you have both the app and module installed, proceed below to learn how to use it to change your folder size.

If you see an error that the Home Up module isn't compatible with the new One UI version, try manually pushing an update via the Good Lock app.

How to use Home Up to customize your home screen's folder size

Open the Home Up module via the Good Lock app.
Tap the Off toggle to turn it on. Alternatively, return to your home screen, tap and hold a space on your home screen, then select Settings > More customizations (located at the bottom of the Home screen settings section).
Tap the Home screen grid in the Home Up module. Close
Toggle on DIY Home screen.
On the same page, scroll down to the Folder section, then choose Folder screen grid or Folder icon grid to change the size. Close
Tap Apply to confirm your new size settings.

You can also enable Popup folder, Large folder, and Apply folder background color to gain more control over your folder's appearance.

How to change your folder size on your home screen using Home Up

Return to your home screen.
Tap and hold an app icon, then drag it onto another app to create a folder.
Tap and hold an empty space on your home screen.
Select the DIY icon (the filled home screen icon with a pencil) in the upper-right corner to open the Home Up options.
Choose the folder you wish to resize. Close
Drag the folder's edges to resize it; pinch in with the white dot corners to make it smaller, and pinch out to make it bigger.
When done, tap anywhere on your home screen to keep the size changes, and tap again to exit the DIY menu. Close

If you wish to change how many apps fit in a folder, return to your Home screen settings, tap Folder grid, and choose another option.

Red rectangle outline highlighting Folder grid with a Home Up custom size in Home screen settings on One UI 8

Red rectangle outline highlighting new size options in drop down menu in Home screen settings on One UI 8

You can also return to the Home Up module, tap the Home screen grid, and fine-tune your grid options. Newly added grid options will appear in your regular Home screen settings.

Keep changing your home and app screens' appearance

Customizing folder size isn't the only way to revamp your home and app screen.

If you tidied your One UI Home, and it still doesn't do your device justice, consider checking out a reputable third-party launcher to freshen up the UI.

Sometimes, a brand-new look with even deeper, more unique customization options is all that's needed to enhance your Android experience.

Operating Systems
Samsung

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