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How to Organize Shortcuts in Folders on iPhone and iPad

Sep 28, 2020

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If you’re a Shortcuts user, there are two main reasons why you should organize shortcuts in folders on your iPhone and iPad. First is the ease of use, and the second is to make the best of home screen widgets. Here’s how to sort Shortcuts into folders.

If your iPhone or iPad is running iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 and higher, you can sort all your shortcuts into different folders. This is much better than scrolling endlessly to find that one shortcut.

By default, the Shortcuts home screen widget will show all of your shortcuts. But it’s best to create a different folder just for home screen shortcuts. In fact, you can create multiple folders, each for a different widget instance. You can then stack the Shortcuts widgets on top of each other.

RELATED: How to Add and Remove Widgets from the Home Screen on iPhone

Let’s start by creating a new folder. Open the “Shortcuts” app on your iPhone or iPad. On your iPhone, go to the My Shortcuts tab and then from the top of the screen, select the “Shortcuts” button with the Back icon.

You’ll see a new screen that lists all shortcut types and a section for folders. Here, tap the New Folder icon from the top-right corner.

If you’re using an iPad, you’ll find the “New Folder” icon at the bottom of the left sidebar.

Now, give the folder a name and select an icon. Then tap the “Add” button.

You’ll find the folder at the bottom of the “Folders” section.

Now, select “All Shortcuts” to view your Shortcuts Library.

Here, tap the “Select” button from the top-right corner of the screen.

Check all the shortcuts that you want to move to the new folder and then tap the “Move” button.

Here, select the folder where you want to move the shortcuts.

They’ll be added to the folder instantly. The “All Shortcuts” section shows folders at the bottom of the page.

As we mentioned above, you can access all the folders by selecting the “Shortcuts” button from the top of the “My Shortcuts” tab.

RELATED: How to Add and Remove Widgets from the Home Screen on iPhone

Once you’ve created a folder, you might want to use it as a widget. Go to your iPhone home screen and tap and hold on an empty part of the display to enter the home screen editing mode. Here, tap the “+” icon from the top-left corner.

You’ll now see the widgets list. Scroll down and choose the “Shortcuts” app.

You can now swipe through and select a widget size. A small widget will show one shortcut, a medium widget will show four, and the large version will show eight. For this example, we’re going with the medium option. Switch to it, and tap the “Add Widget” button.

The widget will now appear on the home screen. As you’re already in the customization view, simply tap the widget to reveal options. In the future, you can tap and hold the widget and select the “Edit Widget” option.

Tap the “Folder” option.

Here, switch to a folder.

Now, when you go back to the widget, you’ll see shortcuts from the newly selected folder.

Learn more about the Shortcuts automation app in our detailed guide.

RELATED: What Are iPhone Shortcuts and How Do I Use Them?