4 ways to open the iPhone Settings

The Settings app on iPhone is your command center, helping you control and customize everything about your device. But how do you open Settings on iPhone? Whether you’re new to iOS or interested in new ways to access the iPhone Settings menu, this guide has all the answers you need. Furthermore, we also detail how to get the Settings icon back on iPhone if it’s missing from your Home Screen. Read this tutorial to learn four different methods of opening the iOS Settings:

Contents

1. 1. Use the iPhone Settings icon on your Home Screen
2. 2. Access the iOS Settings from the App Library
3. 3. Use Search to open Settings on iPhone
4. 4. Access the iOS Settings with Siri
5. How do you access the iPhone Settings menu?

1. Use the iPhone Settings icon on your Home Screen

Your Home Screen offers the most intuitive way of opening the app: just tap on the iPhone Settings icon. You can swipe left or right to look through multiple Home Screen pages on an iPhone. As you can see, Apple chose a gray gear for the Settings icon on iPhone.

The iPhone Settings app icon

This opens the iPhone Settings menu, seen below.

Opening the iPhone Settings application reveals a menu

If you can’t find the iPhone Settings icon, don’t worry: it is impossible to delete the Settings app from your iPhone, even if its icon can be removed from the Home Screen. And you can easily get the icon back, as detailed in the next chapters.

TIP: Do you have too many apps cluttering your Home Screen? Our guide on deleting apps on iPhone or iPad shows you how to remove them entirely or just their icons.

2. Access the iOS Settings from the App Library

The App Library holds all your installed apps, whether you removed their icons from the Home Screen or not. To access the App Library, swipe left on your Home Screen until you reach it.

Keep swiping left past your Home Screen pages

Locate the gray gear Settings icon in the iPhone App Library and tap on it.

Tap the Settings icon on iPhone

If you’re having a hard time finding the Settings icon, you can use the App Library search field at the top. Check out the next chapter for all the ways to search for the Settings app.

NOTE: To get the Settings icon back on your iPhone’s Home Screen, tap and hold on it inside the App Library to grab it. This opens a menu with shortcuts to the most used settings. You can start moving your finger on the screen as soon as the menu appears to drag and drop the icon on the Home Screen. Alternatively, you can continue tapping and holding a bit longer to enter the “Edit Home Screen” mode. Place the icon anywhere you want on your Home Screen and tap Done in the upper-right corner.

How to get the Settings icon back on iPhone

3. Use Search to open Settings on iPhone

There are several search fields one can use to open the Settings app on one’s iPhone. Access the App Library, as shown in the previous chapter, and you can see the search field at the top.

The search field inside the App Library

Tapping on the field reveals an alphabetical list of your installed apps.

You can find the iPhone Settings in the list

While you can also scroll down or tap the letters on the right to navigate to any section, we found it easier to insert “settings” in the search field and then tap on the appropriate result.

Search for Settings in the App Library

You can also use the Spotlight Search to open the iOS Settings. First, swipe down from the middle of the Home Screen or the Lock Screen to access the search bar.

Swipe down in the middle of the Home Screen for Spotlight Search

Next, search for “settings” and tap on the relevant result, as seen below.

Open the iOS Settings from the Spotlight Search

If you like the Today View, you can also use it to open the Settings on iPhone. First, swipe right on the Home Screen or the Lock Screen to access Today View.

Swipe right to access the Today View

You can see the Search field at the top. Tap on it.

Tap on the Search field

Type “settings” and tap the appropriate result to open the app.

Open the iPhone Settings from Today View

NOTE: You can tap and hold on the Settings app’s icon in the search results to add it to the Home Screen, as shown in the previous chapter. However, if you already have the app on your Home Screen, you should use the App Library to add another shortcut. Tapping and holding on the Spotlight Search or Today View results only helps you move the existing Settings app icon.

4. Access the iOS Settings with Siri

Last but not least, you can also ask Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, to open the iPhone Settings. Make sure she is listening (say “Hey Siri”) and then say “open Settings.”

Have Siri open the iPhone Settings app

Siri wastes no time in opening the app for you.

How do you access the iPhone Settings menu?

The iPhone Settings are a vital part of the operating system, so Apple offers plenty of options to access them. We prefer using the iPhone Settings icon found on the Home Screen or in the App Library section. Before you close this guide, tell us how you like to open the iOS Settings. Leave a comment below to let us know what works for you.