How to Put Contacts on Home Screen of Android Phone

Your Android phone’s home screen is the central hub for accessing all your apps, widgets and important information at a glance. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could also quickly call or message your favorite contacts right from the home screen? Luckily, Android allows you to easily put contacts shortcuts and widgets to your home screen for one-tap access to your most frequently contacted people.

How to Put Contacts on Home Screen of Android Phone

How to Put Contacts on Home Screen of Your Android Phone

In this guide, we’ll explore in total three methods to add contacts on your Android home screen.

Method 1: Using the Google Contacts App

The Google Contacts app which comes pre-installed on Pixel phones and is available on the Play Store for other Android devices, provides a quick way to add contact shortcuts to your home screen. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Google Contacts app on your Android phone.
  2. Tap on the contact you want to create a home screen shortcut for.
  3. Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
  4. Select Add to Home screen.
  5. You can then drag the contact icon to place it manually on your home screen or tap ADD AUTOMATICALLY to let the phone place it for you.

Tap on Add automatically

The contact shortcut will now appear on your home screen. When you tap on it, it will open the contact details page, from where you can quickly call, text or email them. You can also long-press the shortcut to move it around or group multiple contact shortcuts into a folder for better organization.

Method 2: Using Contact Widgets

Many Android phones especially Samsung Galaxy devices, allow you to add contact widgets to your home screen that let you directly call or message a contact without opening their details page first.

Note: Below given steps were performed on Samsung Galaxy F22. The exact steps may vary slightly depending on your phone model and Android version.

  1. Long-press any empty space on your Android home screen.
  2. Tap Widgets from the pop-up menu that appears.
  3. Scroll through the list of widgets until you find the Contacts widgets.
  4. You will typically see 3 types of contact widgets:
    • Contact: Opens the contact details page, similar to a shortcut.
    • Direct Dial: Immediately a call to the contact.
    • Direct Message: Opens your default SMS app to message the contact.
  5. Touch and hold the desired widget, then drag it to an empty space on your home screen.
  6. Select the contact you want to use for that widget.
  7. The contact widget will be added to your home screen, which you can tap to quickly call or text that person.

select your Desired widget and drag it to an empty space | How to Put Contacts on Home Screen of Android Phone

Some Android versions and launchers also allow you to resize widgets. To do this long-press the widget and release. If resizing is supported then handles will appear on the sides of the widget that you can drag to make it larger or smaller.

Method 3: Using Third-Party Contact Widget Apps

For even more customization options and widget styles, you can use dedicated third-party apps like Contacts Widget, Speed Dial Widget and more. These apps even let you create your own personalized widget layouts.

  1. Install the Contacts Widget app from the Google Play Store.
  2. Open the app and tap on + icon or Pin widget.
  3. Select your preferred size – 1×, 4×1, 4×2, etc.
  4. Once the contact widget is set up. Go to your home screen.
  5. Tap on the icon that resembles a blue gear icon to open the contact widget app editor page.
  6. Now, tap on Contacts.
  7. Tap on IMPORT at the top-right corner.
  8. Select the Contact to include in widget.
  9. Tap on Done icon.

tap on Contact

The widget will now display the contacts you selected. When you tap a contact’s icon it will perform the action assigned to it – call, text, email, WhatsApp, etc. You can repeat the process to add multiple contact widgets in different styles.

Also Read: How to Resize a Photo on Android

By following the steps outlined above, you can easily put contacts on the home screen of your Android device. Moreover, using the different methods and widget styles you can find the home screen contacts setup that works best for your needs.

1 thought on “How to Put Contacts on Home Screen of Android Phone”

  1. When I bought my current phone, I was able to place contacts on the home screen with an icon. Since then, only with a widget(!). Method One does not work as only the Widget option is shown. ???

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