How to Change the Default Launcher on Android

Before you can set a launcher as default, you have to install one. Open Google Play, search for the launcher you want, and tap Install like any other app. Nothing happens to your home screen yet. The launcher just sits there until you tell Android to use it.

If you are not sure which one to pick, our roundup of launcher apps for Android walks through the current options. A few that are actively maintained in 2026 are Lawnchair, which closely mirrors the Pixel home screen and is free and open source; Smart Launcher 6, for people who want their apps auto-sorted into categories; and Niagara Launcher, a vertical list built for one-handed reach. Worth noting: Nova Launcher, for years the default recommendation, went through a rough patch, with most of its team laid off in late 2024 and its future in doubt through 2025, but it was acquired by Instabridge in January 2026 and is being actively updated again. The catch is that the free version now shows ads; the paid Nova Prime stays ad-free. It is still a capable launcher, just no longer the obvious no-strings pick it once was.

Once a launcher is installed, you tell Android to make it the one in charge. The reliable path on most phones is the same:

Open Settings > Apps > Default apps > Home app, then tap the launcher you just installed.

The menu wording shifts a little by manufacturer and Android version. Some phones label it Default apps, others Choose default apps, and the entry itself might read Home app or Launcher. If you cannot find it by tapping around, pull down and search Settings for "default apps" and go straight there. The moment you pick a new launcher, your home screen redraws in front of you. That is the whole switch.

Some phones also throw up a one-time prompt the first time you press the home button after installing a launcher, asking which app to use and whether to use it Always or Just once. Choosing Always does the same thing as setting it in Settings.

On a Pixel running a current version of Android, go to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Home app and select your launcher. That is it. The Pixel Launcher stays installed as the system default in the background, so you are not deleting anything, just pointing the home button somewhere else.

One thing to expect: the moment you leave the Pixel Launcher, the At a Glance widget, the search bar at the bottom, and the Google Discover feed you swipe to from the left may disappear or move, because those are features of the Pixel Launcher specifically. Your old Pixel layout is not wiped, though. Select Pixel Launcher again under Home app and it comes back the way you left it.

Samsung phones run One UI Home as the stock launcher. The path is Settings > Apps > Choose default apps > Home app, then pick the launcher you want. On older Galaxy devices the route may instead read Settings > Applications > Default applications > Home screen. If the Choose default apps option is hidden, open the Apps list, tap the three-dot menu in the corner, and look for Default apps there.

As on a Pixel, switching away from One UI Home does not remove it. Samsung-specific touches like the Edge panels behaving the way they do under One UI Home, or the particular folder style, may change once another launcher takes over. Switch back to One UI Home and the Samsung experience returns.

This is the part that trips people up, so be clear about it before you commit. Changing launchers does not touch your installed apps, your photos, your messages, your contacts, or any account you are signed into. All of that lives outside the launcher.

What does not follow you across is the arrangement. Your home screen layout, the position of each icon, your folders, and your placed widgets are stored by the launcher that created them. A new launcher starts with its own blank or default layout, so you rebuild your home screens once. Widgets in particular have to be added again from the new launcher, since each launcher manages its own. The upside is that your old layout is preserved inside the old launcher, so flipping back restores it. If a clean, deliberate rebuild is what you are after anyway, our guide to building a minimalist home screen with Niagara is a good template for starting from scratch instead of recreating clutter.

If the new launcher is not for you, going back is identical to switching forward. Return to Settings > Apps > Default apps > Home app (or your phone's equivalent) and pick the original launcher, named Pixel Launcher on a Pixel or One UI Home on a Samsung. Press the home button and you are back where you started, with your old layout intact because the stock launcher kept it the whole time.

There is no penalty for trying a few. You can bounce between launchers as often as you like, since each one holds onto its own setup independently.

When you have settled on one launcher and want to clear out the others you tried, do the steps in the right order or the home button has nothing to fall back on. First, set the launcher you intend to keep as the default Home app. Only then uninstall the ones you no longer want, from Google Play or by long-pressing the icon and choosing App info > Uninstall.

Here is the honest limit. You can fully uninstall any launcher you downloaded yourself, but you generally cannot remove the launcher your phone came with. The Pixel Launcher and Samsung's One UI Home are system apps, and Android blocks removing them on a normal, non-rooted phone. This is deliberate: it guarantees there is always a working home screen if something else fails. The most you can do without rooting is leave the stock launcher installed and simply not use it as the default. Rooting can remove it, but that risks bootloops and voids the safety net, so it is not worth it for almost anyone. Leaving the stock launcher sitting unused costs you nothing and keeps you a single tap away from a known-good fallback.

For more ways to tailor the look and behavior of your phone beyond the launcher, the rest of our personalization guides cover icons, widgets, and home screen setups.