Moto G Phone Guide

Moto G Home screen

What is Moto G Home screen?

Just like other Android phones, Moto G Home screen is usually the start point for you to use the phone.

By default, some apps, Google app folder and  a few widgets are already put in the Moto G home screen.  You can tap on the app to use the apps immediately.

Of course, you can customize the Moto G home screen, e.g.,  add more apps (actually app shortcuts) to home screen, add widgets to Mot G home screen, change wallpaper for Moto G home screen, add app folders to Moto G home screen.….

How to access Moto G home screen?

After unlocking the lock screen, you are directed to Moto G home screen.

You can also return to Moto G Home screen by tapping the on-screen Home button (please refer to Moto G layout page on the on-screen buttons) at any time.

Another way to return to Moto G home screen is to keep tapping the Recent apps button.

The look of Moto G Home screen

Moto G home screen is shown below.  There are several components in the home screen.

In the home screen, by default, you can find status bar, Google search bar, clock widgets, Google app folder, Play store apps and favorite tray .

Some carriers  may add other apps or widgets to the home screen.

Moto G Home screen

Status bar

The top of Moto G home screen is the status bar.

Status bar gives you quick glimpse of system status such as, time, battery level, signal strength, WiFi status, notification icons. Most of such info is presented as small icons. You may check this page on the meaning of Moto G status and notification icons.

You can swiped down from the the status bar with one finger to access Moto G notification panel.

If you swipe down with two fingers, you can access Moto G quick settings panel. The Moto G quick settings panel in Android Lollipop is different from that in KitKat.

Google search bar

Google search bar is a widget which you cannot remove from the Moto G home screen because Moto G is using Google Now launcher by default.

Favorites tray

Favorites tray is always in the bottom of  Moto G home screen.  The tray is on all Moto G home screen pages except the Google Now page (the leftmost page).

You can put up to 4 apps and/or app folders in the Favorites tray. You can use App folders if you want o add more apps to Favorites tray for quick access.

The All Apps (middle one) icon is not movable. Tap it to access App drawer (Apps screen).

Apps and App folders

You can also find the Google App folder and Play store in the home screen by default.

You can add more apps or app folders to the home screen. Please read this guide on how to add app folders to the home screen of Moto G.

Clock widget

By default, clock widget showing date and time is in the home screen of Moto G as well.

This widget, different from Google search bar widget, can be removed from home screen.

You can also use other widgets in home screen.

Can I remove Google search bar in Moto G Home screen?

Unless you are going to use other third-part launchers, you cannot remove Google search bar from Moto G home screen.

As mentioned, the search bar is hard-coded in the Google Now Launcher, which can be found in Google Nexus devices as well.

Of course, Android allows you to use any launcher. You can choose other launchers if you want to removed the Google search bar.

Can I remove Google Now page in Moto G home screen?

Again, Google Now page is part of the Google Now launcher.  You cannot remove it when using the default Google Now launcher.

To remove the Google Now page from Moto G home screen, you have to use other Android launchers.

Do you have any questions on home screen on Moto G now?

If you have problems or questions on Moto G home screen , please let us know them in the comment box below.

The community will try to hep you.

For more Moto G online manual pages, please check this page.

For detailed step-by-step guides, please check Moto G How-to guides page.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ruth says

    I like apps to not clear until I have finished with them. App pinning, I guess it would be called. I had this feature on my LG phone and am surprised I can’t find it here. I want to be able to “Clear All” and have the ones I have marked stay open until I close them manually.

    Reply

  2. Brian French says

    Hi. My Moto G5 plus screen has become unresponsive. When I touch anything on it, a green frame surrounds what I have touched but nothing opens. I have tried the power button/volume down combination and
    recovery but all that happens is that when I restart, it starts optimising all the apps and when this is finished the screen still puts a green frame around whatever \i touch and nothing else happens.

    Reply

  3. Yemi says

    Hello, I am having a big problem with my dark mode on my Moto Z4. On my home screen, I have a dark wallpaper on and Immersive Mode is on (notification bar and bottom bars aren’t visible). However, there is left a grey bar at the top and bottom of the home screen that I cannot get to turn black. I don’t want it to be grey, just black. Then for example when I go on Instagram, the bottom part of my screen stays grey, eve tho the entire app is in dark mode. It bothers my eyes, especially in the dark. Does anyone know how to get the entire screen to black and STAY black no matter what app I open? I can screenshot pictures if need be.

    Reply

  4. Kimberly says

    Hello, I have a moto g stylus. I’ve been having an issue with my home screen. When I recently added an app from play store it placed it on my home screen which is normal. But usually your able to drag it to me removed from the home screen or uninstalled. I am not able to do this and I don’t know how to enable it or get it to function like that again. If you can please explain a way for this to go back to normal, Thank you for your time.

    Reply

  5. Duncan M says

    My app page has suddenly (without asking me) arranged my apps in alphabetical order, removing the four most used apps from the top. This has inconvenienced me as I most now scroll down to find them.

    How do I restore my apps page to the way it was (and how do I convince the company to ASK before they sneakily rewrite my phone’s lay-out behind my back)?

    Reply

  6. Steve says

    @ Barbara – I noticed the same thing and also would like to have that restored to the clock widget. Anyone have an answer?

    Reply

  7. Barbara Segal says

    Hi, Since the recent Android update the circular clock & weather widget on the home screen of my Moto G7 no longer shows the battery level in the circle. I found this really useful as my eyesight is poor and I find the level on the small battery icon hard to see. Id there any way of getting the previous version back?

    Reply

  8. Rick S says

    Is there any way to lock the app icons in place so they can’t accidentally be swiped to remove? This is a major problem for me. On my Android lg stylo5 there was a on off switch in settings to keep the apps from accidentally being moved.

    Reply

  9. Philip Kozloff says

    Of course there is nothing stopping you putting all the app icons you want to appear in the “home” or left-most screen and moving those already there out to other screens. In that way, your default screen has your priority apps.

    Reply

  10. Tom Williams says

    I just purchased the Moto G6 and have been loading apps and changed wallpaper. I have 3 screens and when I hit the home button it jumps to the home screen which is the 1st one or far left. Is there a way to reprogram the home button to select another screen….like the far right screen?

    Reply

  11. Archana says

    hie, this might be a lame question but its very important for me,
    so I had a photo on my lock screen and my home screen and I deleted the original photo by mistake but it was still visible as the wallpaper. if it’s still visible as the wallpaper there surely must be a copy of it somewhere in the system, but im unable to find it. This might be very lame to you but please help me restore that image it is very very important for me, if anyone knows any method that could possibly help please let me know. My device is Moto g5 s plus.

    Reply

  12. D. H. Silver says

    I recently upgraded to Nougat (Android 7.1.1) on my Moto G4 Play. That seems to have changed the grid on my home pages from 4×4 to 4×5——thus making the icons too small for my poor eyes. So is there any way to customize the icon grid on my screens? Or at least return them to 4×4?

    Reply

  13. Chris Gendreau says

    I just got my Moto g4 two weeks ago and I have only added 6 apps to it.. My ram is up to 1.6 gs.. I’m wondering what system or default apps iIcan disable or uninstall.. Plz help out. My phone is lagging and gets hot all the time. I can’t seem to keep it cool. ItsItgoing to over heat and freeze up.. Thanks.

    Reply

  14. Sid says

    Hey actually my phone was detected with some viruses ! I did the safe mode thing but after restarting it is showing some apps in grey ! What should I do ?

    Reply

  15. Irina says

    The apps on my home screen keep disappearing from the home screen every the phone does some sort of upgrade. They are still in the main app area but get removed from my home screen. How can I fix this?

    Reply

  16. Tom in Palm Springs says

    The three icons at the bottom of my home screen disappeared. Seems like it happened after I set up the fingerprint function, but not sure if the two things are connected. How can I get them back?

    Reply

  17. EMMA Pick says

    Hi there, I just purchased a motorola g5 and after I logged in I noticed that it doesn’t have the circle with 6 dots on the homescreen page to enable me to access the apps. Could someone help me find out how to get them on the homescreen please.
    Many thanks in advance

    Reply

  18. Eric Gillespie says

    At the bottom of my Moto G4 phone, the circle and square have stopped functioning. Thankfully, the triangle still works. Any idea what went wrong or how to fix it?

    Reply

  19. Pratibha says

    I am facing an issue in moto g5 plus phone, even though my screen saver is off, clock is displaying when ever i lift my phone also even the phone is inactive it consuming much battery.

    Reply

  20. prachi shah says

    i recently bought moto g5 plus, and i am having an issue. whenever i receive a notification about any app, it does not show pop up notification above the app icon on the screen. I can only see them on top left bar. So i cannot see how many notifications are their for my apps. i have checked all the apps setting but there is nothing which can help me. as far as i know this pop up notification above the app are always enabled in all other phones which i have used.

    Reply

  21. Cat says

    Hi. I was trying to delete a couple icons from my home screen and instead of removing them they are now overlapped on top of one another and are appearing on top of the screen on my Google now, as well as my other 2 home screens I actively use. I am not able to use the icons as there is no response when I try to tap them or hold down to remove. Thanks!

    Reply

  22. Nabeela says

    Hi, I am facing problem regarding clock displayed as screen saver after certain intervalseven when the phone is left inactive. This is consuming a lot of battery. Help..

    Reply

  23. Diane says

    How do I get the Home, Recent, Back feature on my home screen?
    It left when I started using large thumb button on my Moto G5.

    Reply

  24. Nidhi says

    Hi ! I am unable to get back the weather and time widget on my lock screen for my new moto g play 4th gen.
    It appeared before the phone took an update.
    Kindly help.

    Reply

  26. JF says

    The Google search bar on my Moto G4 covers the “remove” and “uninstall” that appear if I hold an icon for an app that I want to delete. How am I supposed to access those commands?

    Reply

    • JF says

      Never mind. I just figured it out. I have to slide the icon to the command while the google bar isn’t showing.

      Reply

  27. Prafulla Joshi says

    Hi there

    I am using moto g4 plus. I want to remove the clock from the lock screen and keep a pic. I repeat … I m writing about the lock screen and not about the home screen.

    I m able to keep a pic on the lock screen but unable to remove the clock. It is not even allowing me to shift the clock anywhere. It comes on the face area of the pic selected.

    Pls help.

    Reply

  29. Alex says

    Hi, I’m having a few issues since I bought my Moto g4 play (1gb RAM,which I didn’t actually order I ordered the plus but hey ho I needed a phone so carried onwith this)the phones ok ish,I like it but there’s some​ real basics I can’t work out.There are no options to turn on ‘now on tap’ or ‘google detection from any screen’ and train my voice.I’ve done everything I can think of to get the options there but they simply don’t exist.all apps up to date.tried clearing cache,uninstalling reinstalling.resets etc.nothing.the options aren’t greyed out they just are not there at all. Anyone got any ideas on this ??Does this phone just not come with this option because that’s pretty rubbish if so .Thanks for your help

    Reply

  30. Rosy says

    I have a screen lock in place and cannot see the battery percentage without unlocking the screen. Is there a way to display it with the other items I can see before unlocking?

    Reply

  31. Amit kumar says

    My setting panel is not showing while swiping down. It’s take pause to notifications only when I tried to swipe twice. I am unable to swipe it twice what to do????? PlZz help meeee…..

    Reply

  32. Geoff. says

    I am a total novice and new to smart phones(sorry) My Moto G 2nd generation bought this year, only shows accept or reject on numbers in my contact list. I have as yet not been able to answer my phone when this does not appear on numbers not in my list. How do I answer the phone ???? I have touched the screen, swiped the screen, only to see it disappear to missed call very quickly. What am I doing wrong??

    Reply

  33. Anirban says

    Im using moto G4 plus and even after the screen is locked i can turn on the data connection and hotspot without opening the lock from the scrolldown bar….can you help me out with this issue. …?

    Reply

  35. Dipika says

    Plz tell me how to add more home screens in moto g4 plus… also i would lIke to know whether the apps that we dont use at all can be hidden on the home screen

    Reply

  36. Preeti says

    I use Moto G3 and all of a sudden my dial pad has disappeared from the home screen ..can you please help me out?I cannot dial a new no.i can just use my contacts n call.. how do I get the dial pad back?

    Reply

  39. Abhishek kumar sarathe says

    Hi,

    I recently bought the new moto G4 plus.. and i noticed that the stock icons in the apps menu, like settings and camera, all of them occur twice for some reason. I checked the apps version in settings, there the apps are only once, meaning only one app settings/camera app installed. How can i get rid of the duplicate icons?

    Reply

  40. Eksimar says

    My status bar of Moto G3 has got accidentally invisible that means it’s not showing till I don’t swipe down

    Reply

  42. Ian says

    How can I disable the Moto logos screen on startup to go straight to unlock screen ? (Moto G 3rd gen on android 6.0)
    I hate having to wait “for ever” for these logos to finish their little dance before I can make a phonecall….

    Reply

  43. Sushreeta Dey Chowdhury says

    How to disable the feature from moto g4 plus lock screen that helps the clock to reappear on the lock screen everytime the phone receives a jerk ? And also i cannot take a screenshot of it as the phone isn’t allowing it . But it feels just like that condition one faces when the “daydream” option of his/her phone stays on ! I think this feature is causing the battery to drain by a huge amount . So need help urgently .

    Reply

  44. Mohini mhetre says

    Hello,
    How can I swap the ‘Back’ & ‘Recent Apps’ Buttons on my Moto G 4 plus? I am using apex launcher.

    Reply

  45. Bhavesh says

    Hi,

    I recently bought the new moto G4 plus.. and i noticed that the stock icons in the apps menu, like settings and camera, all of them occur twice for some reason. I checked the apps version in settings, there the apps are only once, meaning only one app settings/camera app installed. How can i get rid of the duplicate icons?

    Reply

  47. Lesley Barbour says

    Help !!!Today i turned off my moto 3g as it was going slow , however wheni turned it back on it wouldnt go to the home screen , it stays at the moto symbol on the start up screen , tried turning on and off a few times but no success ! Any ideas ? Thanks !

    Reply

  49. Amit says

    I disabled the Google Now App, now after restarting the phone, it is not showing anything but the Moto Logo

    Reply

  51. Evn says

    Hi, I would like to know how to remove the default screen created by Google (search) from moto g4 plus.

    Reply

  52. Mohit says

    Is Nova Launcher is safe for Moto G Turbo?
    Also want to know if Nova Launcher drains the battery or not.

    Reply

  53. Irene says

    Don’t know what the circle at the bottom of my moto g is for. There are three geometrical icons, triangle, circle and square. I’m questioning the circle.

    Reply

  56. Caroline says

    If I set a screen lock on my phone (both pin and pattern) it opens in the phone log screen instead of the homepage. If I remove the screen lock it opens up in the homepage. Is there a way to change this? Cheers

    Reply

  57. kevin says

    If you want to get rid of the Google now task bar , disable the Google app in apps, then go back to home screen , switch phone off then on & the grey search bar will be gone, obviously you can’t use Google now or voice search , but that’s rubbish anyway , you can still add chrome browser widget to home screen to go straight to internet.

    If anybody knows how to disable the recent screen tab , the square right hand key, let me know , thanks

    Reply

  58. Tim says

    I was asked to upgrade my MotoG yesterday. It now has a circle in place of the little house (for the home button) but touching this does nothing. A long touch brings up a Google screen. How do I return the Home button to going to the home screen?

    Reply

  59. sumanth says

    Hi , in motog when i click for all apps (middle button bottom ) all apps listing in one screen i have to scroll down to see all apps is there any way to make it to scroll sides (left /right) insted of down .

    Reply

  60. Sruthi mamidala says

    Mine is moto g..I locked the screen.. But I don’t want to see the clock in the middle of the screen..wall paper does not look good when clock comes on my eye itself on wall paper.. I want to unable clock on lock screen..pls tell me the way..I tried much..

    Reply

  61. Sam says

    Hi , I am using Moto G and all app wigets are appearing in one screen of home screen. Unable to figure out the issue.

    Reply

  65. Colin Gruchy says

    Just updated to Lollipop on Moto G. Now when I turn on the phone the default launch screen is the Phone app screen. I need to press the little circle at the bottom to get the home screen. This is a pain. How do I make the home screen the default screen on start up?

    Reply

  68. Matthew says

    Hi, my kids removed the clock widget from my moto g home screen and I can’t figure out how to get it back again. Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers Matt.

    Reply

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