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I am using a Samsung Galaxy A3 2016 (SM-A310F) smartphone with Android 5.1.1. I am trying to combine several icons on the home screens into folders, like I did on various other Android devices before.

Samsung's manual for SM-A310F indicates that creating folders works like on the other Android devices I used; by tapping and holding an icon for a few seconds, then by dragging it onto another icon (to create a new folder) or onto an existing folder (to add the icon to that folder).

However, this does not work on the phone I am using: Holding an icon does not do anything while in the normal mode:

normal mode

The home screen can only be edited after tapping Bearbeiten (Edit) in the top right corner of each of the home screen pages to switch to an edit mode:

edit mode

In there, icons cannot be dragged, only deleted (each icon is adorned with a little "minus" overlay icon in this mode). If this is not the standard behaviour of Android 5.1.1, I am seeing no indication of that in the system info.

So, my question is: How can I create folders on the home screens in Android 5.1.1?

I found one vaguely similar question, but I am not looking for installing any special launcher apps or exceed the built-in maximum number of apps per folder, I just want to access the folder feature that has always been around on previous Android versions on devices by different manufacturers.

One additional option is described on Solvemix, where it is explained that users should tap "at the top right on the three-point symbol" in the app menu. However, no such three-point symbol is present in the app menu on the device I am trying to configure.

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  • It's really been a while I've touched Samsung devices, but I remember there's a feature called "Easy Mode" that will disable home screen customization.
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Feb 14, 2022 at 18:44

2 Answers 2

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citation from side http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a3-review-1174p3.php : In the app drawer, icons are presented as a customizable or alphabetized grid. You can also view only the ones you've downloaded yourself or just hide the ones you don't need. You can also disable some of the pre-installed apps so they won't take up any RAM.

try change launcher (Nova): How to create folder in app drawer of galaxy A3?

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  • I see - so, does this mean I'm looking at this "app drawer" rather than the usual home screens? In that case, how do I get back to the regular home screens that let me drag icons and group icons into folders, like the home screens I am using on the other devices (Samsung and otherwise), and like it is described in the A3 manual?
    – O. R. Mapper
    Jul 24, 2016 at 18:07
  • you can only create folders in app drawer, without additional software you can not create folders in home screen.
    – Lu. Wi.
    Jul 24, 2016 at 18:10
  • I'm sorry, I don't quite understand yet. I never installed any additional software on the other devices, and yet I was able to create folders on the home screens. Has this feature been removed for Android 5.1.1, so I now need to use a 3rd party software like that Nova launcher?
    – O. R. Mapper
    Jul 24, 2016 at 19:40
  • I have added two screenshots to the question to illustrate what the home screens look like. So, is that the "app drawer", or is it not?
    – O. R. Mapper
    Jul 25, 2016 at 18:52
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I did it by creating the folder in the apps section choose edit, then create the folder by dropping the icons on top of each other. Once done, click on that folder and drag it to your home screen In my findings, doing it directly on the home screen doesn't work.

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  • There is no edit option in my apps section. There is only one on the home screen, but there, icons cannot be dragged.
    – O. R. Mapper
    Nov 13, 2016 at 15:07

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